Being a great manager isn’t enough to lead others to success. You also need to deeply understand your organization’s core business. Amanda Goodall studies the relationship between leaders and organizational performance. She argues that the best leaders are technical experts — for example, doctors who head up hospitals or all-star basketball players who go on to manage teams. “We find that if your boss understands the nature of the work, then they can actually help you,” says Goodall, a professor...
Jul 19, 2023•22 min•Ep. 15
If uncertainty and turbulence are the new normal, how does that change the way we lead? In this episode, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman explains how ongoing volatility can be transformed into an opportunity for innovation. “So there’s a couple places where structurally you should look at the opportunities. One is the classic aphorism, ‘never waste a good crisis,’” he tells Adi Ignatius , host of HBR’s The New World of Work video series. “Everything’s volatile, it’s been shaken up some. Try to ...
Jul 12, 2023•38 min•Ep. 14
We all have preconceived notions about the personality types are associated with good leadership — like confidence or emotional intelligence. But what about shyness? If you’re more reserved but truly competent, can you become a leader? In this episode, an emerging leader speaks candidly about how her introversion affects her ability to lead. Then author and former clinical psychologist Alice Boyes explains why being shy and being a leader aren’t always in conflict. “The goal is not to become les...
Jul 05, 2023•42 min•Ep. 13
Is your job pushing you outside your comfort zone? Executive coach and former venture capitalist Jerry Colonna has coached leaders on how to make the most of stretch responsibilities. “When a leader is able to connect with the reality of what they know and don’t know and speak truthfully from that, there’s this lovely, lovely corollary benefit that occurs called trust,” he tells Dear HBR hosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn . “Then all of a sudden you start to pull the team together and people star...
Jun 28, 2023•37 min•Ep. 12
Becoming a manager for the first time can be stressful. Sometimes it’s because of others, but often it’s because of the misconceptions many people bring into the job. In this episode, three new managers speak candidly about the surprises, the rewards, and the challenges of leading. “When I was offered this position, the first thing I said was, ‘Wow, that’s a scary thought,’” one manager tells Women at Work hosts Amy Bernstein and Amy Gallo . “I knew I could do it on a day-to-day basis, but I was...
Jun 21, 2023•47 min•Ep. 11
Cynthia Carroll was only a few months into leading the global mining firm Anglo American when she suspended operations in their South African platinum mine. She was concerned about worker fatalities there. But it was an unprecedented move, and it came at a huge cost for the company. Harvard Kennedy School of Government research fellow Gautam Mukunda explains how Carroll, who he profiled in a business case , used that temporary shutdown to make changes to the company culture at Anglo American. “T...
Jun 14, 2023•15 min•Ep. 10
Some managers are like teachers, sharing their skills and experience with their teams. Others are more like cheerleaders who encourage their direct reports to learn on their own. But Sari Wilde explains that the best managers are “connectors” who facilitate peer-to-peer coaching to help their people learn and grow. Wilde is part of a team at Gartner Research that surveyed 5,000 managers around the world to understand how management style affects the success of a team. And they found that employe...
Jun 07, 2023•30 min•Ep. 9
Managing a team in good times is one skill set. But how do you motivate people when things aren’t going well? Toto Wolff is the team principle and CEO of the Mercedes team, one of the most successful teams in the history of Formula One racing. But when the team’s eight-year winning streak unexpectedly ended, Wolff had to adjust his leadership style to get them back on track. “This year, I got it wrong on several occasions, and probably to an effect where my control freakishness and trying to sol...
May 31, 2023•13 min•Ep. 8
Do you feel like your true self at work, or is going to work like putting on a mask? As leaders, we know we’re supposed to be authentic, but that is often easier said than done. Babson College management professor Tina Opie explains how leaders can bring their best selves to work and help others do the same – by focusing on good communication and expressing emotion effectively. “Humans automatically categorize other people. We automatically think, ‘OK. This kind of person is going to be more pro...
May 24, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 7
In this era of global business and hybrid work, managers must find ways to unify teams that are geographically and culturally separated. Harvard Business School professor Tsedal Neeley explains how one real-life manager, who she profiled in a business case , approached the challenge of leading a hugely diverse, underperforming group back to success. “When you have this level of diversity, this many nationalities represented in a group, you have to have policies to make people effective,” Neeley ...
May 17, 2023•16 min•Ep. 6
Filmmakers are the ultimate team leaders. Every auteur — think of Stanley Kubrick, Wong Kar-wai, Robert Altman — must manage tens of millions of dollars, staffs of hundreds, and intense deadlines, all while executing a creative vision. “It’s exciting when you can keep refreshing the talent pool for a television show,” legendary actor, producer, and director Ron Howard tells IdeaCast host Alison Beard . “What’s going on behind the camera, it does affect the outcome of a film. And so casting the c...
May 10, 2023•31 min•Ep. 5
What does it take to get to the C-suite? Venture capitalist and former tech CEO Mike Troiano has direct experience with that journey. “The most important thing you want to do to get to the next level is to be effective at the level you’re at,” he tells Dear HBR hosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn . “Yes, dress for the job you want, but perform the job you have.” Troiano takes questions from Dear HBR listeners about what to do if you’re falling off the executive track, or if you’re moving up but do...
May 03, 2023•35 min•Ep. 4
What can jazz great Miles Davis teach us about leading for innovation? “I love Miles Davis’s quote. He says, if you’re not making a mistake, it’s a mistake,” says jazz pianist and management professor Frank Barrett . “So if everything you play is clean and fresh and slick, that means you’ve given up experimentation. And so, for jazz improvisation to work, there’s going to be mistakes and wrong notes.” Barrett tells IdeaCast guest host Jeff Kehoe that jazz also teaches leaders the importance of f...
May 03, 2023•21 min•Ep. 3
Rachel Carson is known as a gifted science writer and a trailblazing environmental activist. Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn argues that she also should be remembered as a great leader. Carson’s 1962 classic book Silent Spring revealed the dangers of DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) and led to an almost global ban on organic synthetic pesticides within 15 years of its publication. “She exercises such a profound impact on other people. That’s what leaders do,” Koehn tells IdeaC...
May 03, 2023•26 min•Ep. 2
Popular stereotypes of successful CEOs as charismatic white men with Ivy League degrees who never falter under pressure are often misleading. “The CEOs I get to know up close and personal really look nothing like this image of perfection. And so we decided to dig into this with the data,” says Elena Botelho , who co-leads the CEO Genome Project and advises top leaders. Botelho tells IdeaCast host Sarah Green Carmichael that actual success in the C-suite has more to do with being decisive, stayin...
May 01, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 1
