What distinguishes a leader? How do you know if you’re ready to lead? And how do you make the transition into a leadership role? In this episode, two leadership coaches, Amy Su and Muriel Wilkins of Paravis Partners, explain how to develop a leadership presence that’s both authentic to you and resonates with others. You’ll also learn some deeper questions to ask yourself during your transition into leadership.

In early 2003, the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere. All seven astronauts on board were killed. This was not the first NASA mission to end in disaster, and it inspired Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson to write a business case about what went wrong. Edmondson studies psychological safety and organizational learning. Her most recent book is Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well. In this episode, she breaks down the organizational challenges within NASA that contributed to the Columbia tragedy, offering a window into the organization’s leadership. Edmondson also shares lessons for all leaders about the dangers of unyielding hierarchy and of failing to listen to dissenting voices.

You’ve likely heard the phrase, “Move fast and break things.”  But Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei says speed and experimentation are not enough on their own. Instead, she argues that you should move fast and fix things. In this episode, Frei explains how you can solve any problem in five clear steps. First, she says, start by identifying the real problem holding you back. Then move on to building trust and relationships, followed by a narrative for your solution — before you begin implementing it.

GitLab, which builds and manages an open-source software development application, started off with employees fully dispersed and has stayed that way. Now with more than 1,300 people spread across more than 60 countries, it’s said to be the world’s largest all-remote company. In this episode, the company’s CEO Sid Sijbrandij shares the lessons he’s learned about how to manage a distributed workforce. He explains how to recruit talent who are well-suited for remote work and how to onboard them effectively. He also shares how GitLab leaders reinforce company culture remotely and how they create virtual space for informal relationship building.

In 2014, Deloitte launched Pixel to facilitate open talent and crowdsourcing for client engagements that need specific expertise — like machine learning or digital production. But uptake across the organization was slow, and some internal stakeholders resisted outsourcing consulting work to freelance talent. In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Mike Tushman discusses his case, “Deloitte's Pixel (A): Consulting with Open Talent,” which breaks down the challenges the firm’s leadership faced in growing Pixel within the firm — and how they overcame them.

Managing difficult personalities, stalled productivity, and conflict are inevitable parts of leading a team. But how do you know if your leadership is part of the problem? Leadership coach and author Melanie Parish says that many leaders see problems on their team as external without considering the impact of their own behavior on team dynamics. As she says, “There are so many different challenges. They circle. You have one challenge one week, and another challenge another week. That’s the work of leadership.” Parish takes questions from listeners who are struggling to manage tough teams and offers advice on how to mitigate common tensions.

Nashater Deu Solheim argues that there are proven techniques to help you understand your colleagues’ thinking and win their respect—even in virtual work settings. Solheim is a forensic psychologist and a leadership coach who studies how people gain influence within organizations. In this episode, she explains that the key to influencing others is understanding them, and she offers a three-part framework to help you do just that. She refers to it as ABC: advanced preparation, body language, and conversation.

If you’ve invested in someone you manage, it’s natural to feel hurt when that person tells you they’re leaving—especially if they’re a strong contributor. In this episode, three HBR leaders join managers drawn from the Women at Work audience to share their experiences losing team members. They discuss how to manage your emotions in the moment and how to look for learnings that will help you move forward. They also offer ideas for how to share the news with your boss and the rest of your team.

Some leaders are too comfortable talking about themselves and others — at work. Their teams may struggle to trust them because they have no boundaries. Other leaders are reluctant to share anything at all, and risk coming across as remote and inaccessible. But there is a way to strike the right balance, according to Lisa Rosh, an assistant professor of management at the Sy Syms School of Business at Yeshiva University. She explains how you can build greater trust on your team when you get self-disclosure just right. As she says, “Be yourself but be it very carefully.”

When you’re in the middle of a conflict, it’s common to automatically enter fight-or-flight mode. But HBR contributing editor and workplace conflict expert Amy Gallo says it’s possible to interrupt this response, stay calm, and find a path towards a more productive discussion. In this episode, you’ll learn some simple techniques that will help you manage your emotions when conflict arises at work.

In early 1915, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship became trapped in ice, north of Antarctica. For almost two years, he and his crew braved those frozen expanses. Then, in December 1916, Shackleton led them all to safety. In this episode, Harvard Business School professor and historian Nancy Koehn analyzes Shackleton’s leadership during those two fateful years that he and his men struggled to survive — including how he assembled a team capable of weathering a crisis and the important role that empathy played in his day-to-day leadership.

In 1863, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln wrote a scathing letter to his top Union general, who had squandered an opportunity to end the American Civil War. Then Lincoln folded it up and tucked it away in his desk. The letter was never signed and sent—just one example of how Lincoln’s legendary emotional discipline enabled him to rise above mundane arguments and focus on a larger mission. In this episode, Harvard Business School professor and historian Nancy Koehn analyzes Lincoln’s leadership both before and during America’s greatest crisis. You'll learn how emotional self-control can impact your day-to-day leadership as well as your long-term legacy.

There are no simple answers for the tough decisions that managers face. Harvard Business School professor Joe Badaracco says that hard and fast rules only go so far in these sorts of situations. In this episode, he explains how to approach what he calls “gray-area decisions.” First, gather as much information as you can, taking different perspectives into account. Then, consider the consequences of the different possible actions you can take, the values of your organization, and your own personal values.

Problem solving skills are invaluable in any job. But Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg says that all too often, we jump to find solutions to a problem without taking time to really understand the dilemma we face. Wedell-Wedellsborg is an expert in innovation and the author of the book, What's Your Problem?: To Solve Your Toughest Problems, Change the Problems You Solve. In this episode, you’ll learn how to reframe tough problems by asking questions that reveal all the factors and assumptions that contribute to the situation.

Would you promote an employee who’s a top performer, but mistreats their colleagues and disregards company values? It’s a dilemma that many managers face. In this episode, you’ll learn how to imagine multiple perspectives, so you can work through your decision making. You’ll also learn how managers should consider their own role in creating the incentives that motivate their employees.

Many of us are promoted into people manager roles without any preparation for the complexities involved in that work. But Harvard Business School professor Alison Wood Brooks says there are some basics that will help you get started as a first-time boss. Brooks is an expert in behavioral insights, emotions, and the psychology of communication. She takes questions from listeners who are struggling as first-time bosses.

Vanessa Bohns, a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University, and Raven Hoffman, who works in a construction role that involves recruiting new clients to her firm, break down how to build influence at work. They discuss which persuasion tactics are most effective and how to tell if someone is being swayed by your reasoning. And if you’ve failed to persuade someone but still believe in the cause, they offer smart tactics for trying again.

Some leaders spend their careers honing their relationships with employees. But Harvard Business School professor Boris Groysberg and corporate communications expert Michael Slind argue that leaders are at their best when they simply talk with their teams. In this episode, you’ll learn how to be more intentional about your conversations with employees—to ensure that you’re cultivating appropriate intimacy, inviting meaningful interaction, and including everyone. You’ll also learn how to make your conversations open, but not aimless.

Etsy, the online seller of handmade and vintage goods, was founded as an alternative to mass-manufactured products. The company grew substantially in its first decade but remained unprofitable. When Etsy went public, stakeholders demanded a new level of financial returns and accountability. But the company continued to struggle to contain costs—until a new CEO arrived with a plan for a “purpose-driven turnaround.” In this episode, Harvard Business School professor Ranjay Gulati discusses his case, “Etsy: Crafting a Turnaround to Save the Business and Its Soul,” which explores how CEO Josh Silverman made Etsy profitable by rediscovering the company’s commitment to social and environmental sustainability.

The key to success as a leader is to strike a careful balance between ambition and humility. In this episode, Amer Kaissi explains how to get this balance right and how to avoid the pitfalls that can accompany being too humble or not ambitious enough. Kaissi is a professor of health care administration at Trinity University in Texas and an executive coach. He’s the author of the book Humbitious: The Power of Low-Ego, High-Drive Leadership.

If you’re leading innovation, you need very specific leadership skills. Harvard Business School professor Linda Hill has studied leadership and innovation for decades and is the coauthor of Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation. She says that leaders who shepherd innovation can’t rely on formal authority. Instead, they need to understand how to get people to co-create with them, which requires a different kind of leadership. As Hill says, “You cannot tell people to innovate. You can only invite them.”

John Kerry has spent more than 40 years in public service, including several decades in the U.S. Senate, leading the U.S. Department of State from 2013 to 2017, and more recently serving as U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. He shares the leadership lessons he learned over many years of leadership in the public sector—from influencing people to recovering from defeats, handling leadership transitions, and staying focused on important long-term goals.

Growing up in the heart of the Confederacy, Maggie Lena Walker started work as a laundress at age nine. At the urging of her mother and mentors, she turned to education, and used it to propel her life forward — graduating high school at 16, working as a teacher, and learning accounting. Those experiences, coupled with her strong work ethic, culminated in Walker rising to lead the Independent Order of St. Luke and found several other businesses, all of which created jobs and opportunities for many women and Black people where there had been none before. In this episode, Harvard Business School senior lecturer Tony Mayo traces Walker’s approach to leadership on her journey to becoming the first female bank president in America. You’ll learn how she led the turnaround of the Order of St. Luke starting in 1899 by cutting costs, increasing membership, and launching new businesses that catered to unmet needs in Richmond's Black community. You’ll also learn how Walker relied on her personal networks and deep local roots to overcame challenges rooted in systemic racism throughout her career.

Julie Zhuo was Facebook’s first intern, and she became a manager there in her mid-twenties. Those early years as a manager at the company—now named Meta—were tough. She says she often felt like she was in over her head and she made a lot of mistakes. But Zhuo did eventually learn how to manage team dynamics. When she left Facebook in 2020, she was leading a team of hundreds, as vice president of product design. She takes questions from listeners who are struggling to manage their own team dynamics.

As the host of two successful business podcasts, Guy Raz has interviewed hundreds of entrepreneurs and leaders. And he’s identified three key behaviors that successful leaders have in common: They create a culture of collaboration. They encourage risk-taking. And they allow for failure. In this episode, he discusses how to incentivize internal collaboration and why that approach often leads to innovation. He also shares the insights he’s gathered on how to inspire your team to take risks and embrace learning from failure.

Therese Huston, a cognitive scientist at Seattle University who specializes in giving and receiving feedback, and Jessica Gomez, an elementary school principal whose job involves observing teachers and giving them feedback on their teaching, break down the art and science of giving effective feedback. They discuss what to prioritize when you give feedback, how to make sure your message is clear, and how to lay the groundwork for these difficult conversations.

Kristie Rogers, an associate professor of management at Marquette University, has identified two types of respect that employees value: owed and earned. She says that owed respect refers to basic workplace civility whereas earned respect is related to an employee’s achievements. In this episode, you’ll learn how to practice both types of workplace respect, and what happens when their balance isn’t quite right. You’ll also learn how managers can unknowingly communicate disrespect to their employees.

When was the last time you practiced your active listening skills? HBR contributing editor Amy Gallo says it is a skill you need to practice. In this episode, you’ll learn how you can use listening skills to make other people feel heard and understood. Specifically, you’ll learn different styles of listening and how to use each one to fit your goals. You’ll also learn how to use thoughtful questions to deepen your conversation and make sure you’re getting the information you need.

The business world is beginning to recognize the importance of mental health. That’s why writer, entrepreneur, and podcast host Morra Aarons-Mele says that the more we understand and talk about our own mental health, the better we are as managers and colleagues. In this episode, you’ll get tips on how to work with—and through—your anxiety. If you’re a senior leader or a human resources professional, you’ll also learn ways to help your organization prioritize employees’ mental health.

With the explosive growth of generative AI, businesses are beginning to integrate artificial intelligence into all aspects of their operations, products, and services. This shift is posing a particularly difficult challenge for leaders, who must quickly learn enough about this new technology to make sound decisions for their companies, in the short- and long-term. In this episode, NVIDIA CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang discusses how he leads his company in the face of accelerating change.

Harvard Business School professor Sandra Sucher, who has been studying layoffs for years, says that companies often overlook their hidden costs: lost institutional knowledge, weakened employee engagement, higher turnover, and lower innovation. She says that it can take years for companies to bounce back from these setbacks. In this episode, you’ll learn better ways to approach layoffs—with real-world examples from Twitter, Nokia, and Fidelity Investments. You’ll also learn how to regain your employees’ trust in the aftermath.

Becoming a manager for the first time comes with many common challenges: balancing your time, managing team conflicts, and delegating work to direct reports. But leadership coach Jen Dary says there are also subtler challenges—like learning to see yourself as a leader. Assuming responsibility for other people’s professional development and personal happiness does change you. In this episode, Dary discusses how you can explore your new identity as a manager. You’ll learn how to plan your own professional development, deal with disillusionment, and set priorities and boundaries with your team—all while juggling the responsibilities of your new role.

Are leaders born or made? University of Michigan Ross School of Business professor Sue Ashford has studied leadership for decades. She says that leadership does come more easily to some people than others, but that leadership is dynamic and only as real as a group decides. In this episode, you’ll learn how to cultivate leadership within yourself and those you manage. You’ll also learn about alternative models, like shared leadership, that can benefit any team.

Most of us can point to a few key people who have made a real difference in our lives and careers—the coach who pushed you to outperform, the teacher whose passion for a subject inspired your own, or the boss who showed you what it is to be a leader at work. In this episode, NBA star Chris Paul shares how his own mentors guided him through the early years of his professional basketball career and helped him develop his leadership skills on and off the court. Paul is regarded as one of the best point guards of all time and led the National Basketball Players Association from 2013 to 2021. He shares what he’s learned about mentorship and leadership—and the important role communication skills play in enabling both. He also explains how to communicate with colleagues in a high-pressure situation and why it’s so important to listen to the people you lead.

Do you trust the people you work with? Without trust, organizational psychologist Liane Davey says it’s hard to have the two key ingredients for any healthy team: effective communication and productive conflict. Davey takes questions from listeners who are struggling to build trust at work. She offers advice for what to do when your new boss doesn’t trust you, or when you want to earn the trust of people who work for you.

When you think of good leadership, what comes to mind? Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter argue that good leadership isn’t rooted in power or public speaking skills. They say that, in fact, mindfulness, selflessness, and compassion are the key components. In this episode, you’ll learn how to cultivate selflessness as a leader without being a pushover. You’ll also learn a simple ritual that could help you start you day with more focus and a clearer sense of your priorities.

Are you struggling to motivate your team? You’re not alone. Professor and author Richard Boyatzis says there’s a motivation crisis in workplaces. He places the responsibility for workers’ demotivation with immediate supervisors. He argues that they’re in the best position to shift a demotivated employee into a go-getter – or the reverse. Boyatzis takes questions from listeners who are struggling to motivate their teams and retain their employees.

As the head of science at NASA, Thomas Zurbuchen managed an $8.6 billion dollar budget. A typical Monday, for him, might have involved hitting an asteroid with a space craft or trying to launch a rocket. Zurbuchen left that role in 2022, but he’s still the longest continually serving head of science in NASA’s history. He and his team accomplished a lot in that time. In this episode, he shares what he learned about leading extremely technical, complex, and expensive projects with a high risk of failure.

When was the last time you disagreed with your boss? Did you tell them — or just let it go? HBR contributing editor Amy Gallo says it’s much easier to just agree with your boss. But sometimes it’s important to speak up.

Most of us think of mentoring a colleague as a one-way street—a gift of professional guidance and advice. But Sylvia Ann Hewlett says sponsorship needs to be a reciprocal relationship. Hewlett is an economist, consultant, and the author the book The Sponsor Effect: How to Be a Better Leader by Investing in Others. In this episode, she breaks down the building blocks, risks, and potential rewards of sponsorship. She also offers advice for choosing the right protégé and effectively launching and managing these long-term relationships.

When Rosalind Fox took over as manager of John Deere’s largest factory in Des Moines, Iowa, she had to adjust to a more strategic role. But Fox was also the first Black female manager at the Iowa factory, and her employees there were mostly white men. So she also had to figure out how to engage with her staff and build credibility. In this episode, you’ll learn how Fox balanced the pressure to assimilate into the factory’s dominant cultures with her own sense of authenticity.

Management decisions almost always involve uncertainty. But what if you just can’t get the facts you need—or if your colleagues disagree about what you should decide? Harvard Business School professor Joseph Badaracco calls these “gray area problems.” In this episode, you’ll learn which questions to ask yourself, as you work through a problem. You’ll also learn how to balance your business acumen with the needs of your organization and your human instincts.

Delegating is an essential part of leadership, but leadership coach Deborah Grayson Riegel says delegating effectively is harder than it may seem. In this episode, you’ll learn how to decide which tasks to delegate and how to handle the specific challenges that come with delegating to peers in your organization, in addition to direct reports.

Some managers give meaningless positive feedback. Others are unreasonably critical. But Kim Scott, cofounder of the executive coaching firm Radical Candor, says good leaders can give honest feedback in the moment—as long as it’s rooted in a strong relationship.

Do you have a difficult employee on your team—someone who might be underperforming or resistant to taking feedback? Do you know how to help them? Melvin Smith says that coaching can be harder than you realize. Smith is a professor at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and coauthor of the book Helping People Change: Coaching with Compassion for Lifelong Learning and Growth. First you have to figure out which approach will work well for that specific employee. But you also have to know how to measure the success of your coaching and when it’s time to move on to other options—like performance management. In this episode, he offers advice for what to do when your new employee is slacking off, or when they’re struggling to adjust to your organization’s culture and communication style. He also has suggestions for coaching two direct reports who are in conflict with each other.

When the SS El Faro tragically sank on October 1, 2015, it was the deadliest American shipping disaster in decades. But who was to blame for the tragedy and what can we learn from it? Harvard Business School professor Joe Fuller discusses the culpability of the captain, as well as his fellow officers, and what it reveals about how leaders and their teams communicate under pressure.

How do you define authenticity as a leader? Herminia Ibarra, a professor of organizational behavior at London Business School, says that if you want to grow as a leader, you must leave your comfort zone. In this episode, you’ll learn how to try out new leadership behaviors in lower stakes, less visible settings while you improve your skills. You’ll also learn how to balance authenticity with vulnerability when you communicate with your team.

Are you struggling to give and receive feedback at work? Executive coach and organizational consultant Ben Dattner says giving good feedback is really about how you deliver it. He takes questions from Dear HBR listeners about what to do when an employee isn’t making changes based on your feedback, and how to respond when your employee offers you unexpected feedback.

Generational differences may get laughs online, but in the workplace, productivity can suffer when older and younger workers struggle to communicate and find common ground. Mimi Nicklin, a business coach and advertising executive, argues that older managers should spend less time forcing their Millennial and Gen Z employees to conform to company culture and more time listening. But Nicklin says listening isn’t enough. Practicing empathy across generational divides is key to improving team collaboration and creating better business and individual outcomes – and that can go both ways.

Fabricio Bloisi was just 21 years old when he founded Movile as a small start-up in a garage, in the late 1990s. The company is now a global technology player, serving more than more than 150 million mobile customers worldwide. But Harvard Business School professor emeritus Lynda Applegate says that to scale the company successfully, Bloisi had to evolve his leadership away from day-to-day operations. In this episode, you’ll learn how Bloisi’s role as founder and CEO changed as the company grew. Key to this growth was Movile’s executive team, who managed operations so that Bloisi could focus on the company’s strategy.