The Questions Leaders Need to Be Asking Themselves

What makes a leader truly effective? Is it about strategic vision, time management, confidence?Robert Steven Kaplan says the best leaders are exceptionally good at asking tough questions so they can make the right decisions. He is the author of the book What to Ask the Person in the Mirror: Critical Questions for Becoming a More Effective Leader and Reaching Your Potential.He explains how to frame better questions to get the answers you need to make decisions. He also discusses how to use questions to clarify your key priorities and how to make sure you’re then spending your time in service of them. Key episode topics include: leadership, managing yourself, critical questions, decision-making, tough questions, analysis. HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Key Questions for Leaders (2011)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

If you had to describe your company’s culture in a single word, what would it be? Are you super flexible and casual? Are you collaborative and inclusive?Software executive Richard Sheridan argues that one key quality is missing from too many workplaces today: joy.As CEO of Menlo Innovations, an enterprise software company based in Michigan, Sheridan deliberately focuses on cultivating joy in his company. His 2018 book, Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear, offers guidance for how to create joy at work — and why it’s so important for innovation.He explains the difference between joy and happiness and how to harness joy in service of a larger project. He also discusses how, as a leader, you can model joy for your team and why joy and a culture of fear are incompatible. Key episode topics include: leadership, managing people, emotional intelligence. HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: How One CEO Creates Joy at Work (2018)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.]]>

Are you stuck in a negative rut with someone at work? HBR contributing editor and workplace conflict expert Amy Gallo says repairing a broken professional relationship will improve your work life — whether it’s your boss, a coworker, or even your employee. In this episode, she breaks down the different types of relationship conflicts that are common at work and the steps you can take to move forward — starting with more empathy and less ego. Key episode topics include: leadership, careers, managing conflicts, difficult conversations. HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week. · Watch the original HBR Guide episode: Fixing a Broken Relationship at Work (2024)· Find more episodes of the HBR Guide series on YouTube.· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.]]>

Do you have an employee who just gets on your nerves? In this episode, Dear HBR cohosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn answer listener questions with the help of Art Markman, former professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and now the school’s Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. They talk through how to manage someone who is difficult, overly polite, or passive aggressive. Markman also offers advice for how to give your initial feedback and then follow up. He also has tips for coaching an employee who needs to improve their communication skills.Key episode topics include: leadership, managing people, managing conflicts, difficult conversations. HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original Dear HBR episode: Annoying Subordinates (2018)· Find more episodes of Dear HBR.· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.]]>

Amid the racial reckoning that followed George Floyd’s murder in 2020, many U.S. business leaders promised to make workplaces more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. But these efforts have now slowed, and many DEI teams have faced cuts, and calls for anti-racist leadership have all but disappeared. In this episode, James White, the former CEO of Jamba Juice, and his daughter and coauthor Krista White offer advice on how corporate leaders can promote lasting change in their organizations and society at large. They also discuss why it’s so important to engage middle managers in inclusion work—and how to do that. James and Krista White are coauthors of the book Anti-Racist Leadership: How to Transform Corporate Culture in a Race-Conscious World. Key episode topics include: leadership, race, diversity and inclusion, leadership and managing people. HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: DEI Isn’t Enough; Companies Need Anti-Racist Leadership (2022)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.]]>

Think of a large company you admire. What kind of leadership culture do they have — and how does that affect their ability to innovate? If you went right to command-and-control leadership, you’re not alone. It’s a common approach to leading large organizations. But MIT Sloan School of Management researchers Deborah Ancona and Kate Isaacs argue that big organizations can be nimble if they have three types of leaders in the mix: entrepreneurial, enabling, and architecting. In this episode, Ancona and Isaacs explain how some large organizations continually develop new talent by empowering employees to lead in their area of expertise and make choices about the projects to which they contribute. They also discuss the structures these companies have created to support leaders and their teams as they transition from hierarchical leadership to more autonomous ways of working. Key episode topics include: leadership, innovation, business management. HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: The 3 Types of Leaders of Innovative Companies (2019)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.]]>

What’s the best way to determine whether or not your business should engage on potentially controversial societal issues? In this episode, Harvard Business School senior lecturer Hubert Joly explains how to create a process for decision-making around these issues, in collaboration with your board. Joly wrote a case study based on his own time as chairman and CEO of electronics retailer Best Buy. When George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis in 2020, just a few miles from their global headquarters, Joly led the organization through weeks of unrest and protests in their community and within the firm. The episode also offers lessons from other organizations, like Nike, Disney, and Starbucks, whose leaders have spoken out on issues related to racism and LGBTQ rights. Key episode topics include: leadership, business ethics, social movements, corporate social responsibility. HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Should Businesses Take a Stand on Societal Issues? (2024)· Find more episodes of Cold Call· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org]]>

Do you know how your best employees feel about their work? Are they actually engaged and motivated? Or are they already looking for a better opportunity? If so, what would it take to make them want to stay? In this episode, you’ll learn how to retain your best employees for the long term, including tactics you can use to help the people you manage feel valued and respected. You’ll also learn what to do when a valuable employee says they have another job offer. Key episode topics include: leadership, employee retention, career coaching, managing teams. HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original Women at Work episode: The Essentials: Retaining Talent (2022)· Find more episodes of Women at Work.· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.]]>

Joel Peterson has spent a career leading teams, building businesses, and managing people at every level. Along the way, he’s learned valuable lessons about the best ways to bring on new talent, as well as when and how to let people go. Peterson is the former chairman of JetBlue Airways. He also teaches at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He shares his approach to hiring for top leadership positions and why it’s so important to slow down and take plenty of time with interviews. He also explains how he coaches new hires who are struggling and how he knows when it’s time to let someone go. You’ll learn why Peterson says you shouldn’t wait for a “triggering event” to fire someone who’s not performing. And you’ll learn why he never outsources that difficult conversation to human resources. Key episode topics include: leadership, dismissing employees, hiring and recruitment, managing people, difficult conversations, firing. HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week. · Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Rules for Effective Hiring — and Firing (2020)· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.]]>

Knowing how to get people to listen to you is an important part of leadership. But HBR contributing editor and workplace conflict expert Amy Gallo says being heard isn't about how loud you say something. It's about saying the right thing at the right time—in other words, it’s about having a communication strategy. In this episode, Gallo offers research-based tips for how to lay the groundwork for your ideas. She also offers advice on how to manage your body language and what to watch out for in your counterpart’s body language as well.