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HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

#7 in Business this week

A weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management.

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#982
Aug 6, 2024 · 25 min
The Right Way to Manage Emotions on Your Team
Many managers don't know what to say when a team member appears angry, frustrated, or sad. They might even feel it is unprofessional to acknowledge those feelings at all. But research shows that avoidance is costly. Doctoral student Christina Bradley and professor Lindy Greer, both of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, say teams perform better when their leaders respond effectively to members’ emotions. The researchers outline when and how to do that in a way that builds stronger relationships, teams, and organizational culture. Bradley and Greer are coauthors, with Michigan Ross professor Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, of the HBR article "When Your Employee Feels Angry, Sad, or Dejected."
#981
Jul 30, 2024 · 28 min
An Astronaut’s Advice on High-Stakes Collaboration
It's hard to imagine a more challenging work environment than the International Space Station. During her 24 years as a NASA astronaut, including a six-month stint on the ISS, Cady Coleman learned pivotal lessons about everything from managing stress and assessing risk to cross-cultural communication and navigating bias. She shares how the skills she picked up can be applied in all kinds of careers. Coleman is the author of the book Sharing Space: An Astronaut's Guide to Mission Wonder and Making Change.
#980
Jul 23, 2024 · 25 min
Trying to Persuade and Other Big Mistakes Marketers Make
Many marketers today focus on getting consumers to consciously change their behavior. But that’s a sure path to failure, according to Leslie Zane, founder of Triggers Brand Consulting. She says neuroscience research shows that mastering instinct is far more effective than persuasion. And she shares her key lessons for aligning with the instinctive mind to improve company brands, new products, social campaigns, or your own personal brand. Zane is the author of the book The Power of Instinct: The New Rules of Persuasion in Business and Life.
#979
Jul 16, 2024 · 29 min
Is People-Pleasing Holding You Back?
There's a fine line between pitching in to help your team and taking on too much at the expense of your mental health and performance. Author and coach Hailey Magee walks us through why some of us fall into people-pleasing patterns, the negative impact it can have on our careers, and how to stop. She also offers advice for managers on how to help employees identify and break out of these bad habits. Magee is the author of Stop People Pleasing and Find Your Power.
#978
Jul 9, 2024 · 28 min
Why We Should Pay More Attention to Departing CEOs
When news breaks of a CEO succession, much of the attention is given to the new leader and how they will change the company. But new research shows that the leave-taking process of the outgoing chief executive is often mishandled, with negative impacts on succession and the organization. Rebecca Slan Jerusalim, an executive director at Russell Reynolds Associates, and Navio Kwok, a leadership advisor at RRA, say that boards are often surprised when a CEO gives notice, and they often make that person feel excluded during the handoff process. The researchers share stories from the front lines about CEO psychology, best practices for outgoing leaders and their boards, and broader lessons for effective transitions. Jerusalim and Kwok wrote the HBR article "The Vital Role of the Outgoing CEO."
#977
Jul 2, 2024 · 22 min
Darius Rucker on Resilience and Reinvention
Darius Rucker has reached the top of the music charts in not just one but two genres: first as the lead singer of the 1990s band Hootie and the Blowfish, then in a second act as a solo country star. He shares lessons on following your passion, staying humble, working your way up, and defying stereotypes and expectations. He's the author of a new memoir Life's Too Short.
#976
Jun 25, 2024 · 25 min
When Your Employee Is Underperforming
Many managers struggle with initiating difficult conversations around an individual’s subpar performance. Often, leaders wait way too long to sit down with an employee who isn’t meeting expectations. Leadership coach Jenny Fernandez says that increasing the frequency of feedback and consciously developing better relationships with direct reports help make these conversations easier to start. And she shares how the right preparation, tone, and open-minded approach lead to more effective discussions that improve not just the one-on-one relationship, but also team morale and turnover rates. Fernandez is the author of the HBR article "How to Talk to an Employee Who Isn’t Meeting Expectations."
#975
Jun 18, 2024 · 27 min
Why Managers Play Favorites – and How They Can Change
While most good bosses try to be fair and balanced with their direct reports, it's only human to prefer the company and work styles of some team members over others, and employees are keenly aware of those preferences. They see favorites and non-favorites, ingroups and outgroups -- and when those divisions fester, they can destroy team culture and performance. Ginka Toegel, professor at IMD Business School, explains why even well-intentioned managers succumb to favoritism, how workers on both sides are affected, and what we can do to both avoid and rectify the problem. Toegel is the coauthor of the HBR article "Stop Playing Favorites."
#974
Jun 13, 2024 · 32 min
Tech at Work: The Future of Spatial Computing
The Apple Vision Pro is the latest in a long line of trendy, expensive spatial computing headsets. (Remember Google Glass?) But the augmented reality and virtual reality features that these devices enable can have an impact beyond video games. Pioneering companies are using these immersive tools to train employees and to engage with consumers in digital and retail settings. It’s growing increasingly important for senior leaders to explore the possible use cases and to understand the potential benefits and ongoing challenges that accompany these technologies. Tech at Work is a four-part special series from HBR IdeaCast. Join senior tech editors Juan Martinez and Tom Stackpole for research, stories, and advice to make technology work for you and your team. In this episode, researcher Srinivas Reddy and AR/VR entrepreneur and educator Dinesh Punni discuss how augmented reality can affect consumers’ brand awareness and purchasing behavior. The experts share business results from in-market research, identify challenges for the technology as it evolves, and explain how to launch a spatial computing experiment at your organization. Reddy is a visiting professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and professor emeritus of marketing at Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University. Punni is the CEO and founder of a Berlin, Germany-based company, immersive insiders, that trains AR/VR developers and designers. This is the final episode of the Tech at Work series. Check out our other episodes: Tech at Work: What GenAI Means for Companies Right Now Tech at Work: How the End of Cookies Will Transform Digital Marketing Tech at Work: How to Get the Most out of Digital Collaboration Tools Please let us know what you think of the episodes and which technology topics you want us to cover at ideacast@hbr.org. Further reading: How Early-Adopter Companies Are Thinking About Apple Vision Pro (Cathy Hackl) How Augmented Reality Can — and Can’t — Help Your Brand (Sandeep R. Chandukala, Srinivas K. Reddy, and Yong-Chin Tan) Augmented Reality in Retail and Its Impact on Sales (Sandeep R. Chandukala, Srinivas K. Reddy, and Yong-Chin Tan) Why Every Organization Needs an Augmented Reality Strategy (Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann)
#973
Jun 11, 2024 · 27 min
Yum! Brands’ Former CEO on Why You Should Never Stop Learning
After 15 years leading the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, David Novak wanted to help others become better leaders. He believes the key is to put learning at the center of everything you do, whether you’re an entry-level worker or a multinational executive. Novak outlines three main areas for learning: from your own life experiences, from the people and situations available right now, and from the habit of curiosity. Above all, he says the most effective leaders turn their learnings into action, something that takes insight and practice. Novak’s new book is How Leaders Learn: Master the Habits of the World's Most Successful People.
#972
Jun 4, 2024 · 28 min
Why You Need to Stress Test Your Strategies (and Tactics)
While many teams and organizations engage in scenario planning, most don't go far enough. Arjan Singh, consultant and adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University, says a more disciplined approach, borrowed from the military, can help leaders truly test how their strategies, operations, and tactics hold up against competitors, shifting market dynamics, and unexpected events. He's helped hundreds of companies identify risks and find new ways to innovate by leading them through corporate war games, and he explains his process and results. Singh is the author of the book Competitive Success: Building Winning Strategies with Corporate War Games.
#971
May 30, 2024 · 38 min
Tech at Work: How to Get the Most Out of Digital Collaboration Tools
Tools for collaborating online—email, instant messengers, videoconferencing apps, cloud storage, and so many others—have become the norm for most of us. But few leaders have taken the time to learn the best ways for their teams to use these ever-present tools. Tech at Work is a four-part special series from HBR IdeaCast. Join senior tech editors Juan Martinez and Tom Stackpole for research, stories, and advice to make technology work for you and your team. In this episode, they talk to researcher Paul Leonardi and organizational leader Sandra Ma. The experts explain how to best match collaboration tools with work tasks and how to know when a technology isn’t working for your team. They also discuss how leaders should go about selecting the most effective digital collaboration tools for their organizations. Leonardi is the Duca Family Professor of Technology Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Ma is the CEO and cofounder of Jovial, a company that helps teams improve their communication at work. New episodes of Tech at Work publish in the HBR IdeaCast feed every other Thursday from May 2, after the regular Tuesday episode. Please let us know what you think of the series and which technology topics you want us to cover at ideacast@hbr.org. Further reading: Does Your Team Really Need Another Digital Tool? (Ryan O’Hara) What Managers Need to Know About Social Tools (Paul Leonardi and Tsedal Neeley) Zoom In… or Out? Why Face-to-Face Meetings Matter (If/Then: Business, Leadership, Society)
#970
May 28, 2024 · 27 min
What Venture Capitalists Can Teach Companies About Decision-Making
Venture capital firms notoriously embrace risk and take big swings, hoping that one startup will become a monster hit that pays for many other failed investments. This VC approach scares established companies, but it shouldn’t. Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Ilya Strebulaev says that VC firms have proven best practices that all leaders should apply in their own companies. He explains exactly how VC’s operationalize risk, embrace disagreement over consensus, and stay agile in their decision-making—all valuable lessons that apply outside of Silicon Valley. With author Alex Dang, Strebulaev cowrote the new book The Venture Mindset: How to Make Smarter Bets and Achieve Extraordinary Growth and the HBR article "Make Decisions with a VC Mindset."
#969
May 21, 2024 · 29 min
How to Navigate Change at Any Career Stage
Disruption and transformation at the new normal in nearly every industry. So how do you stay ahead of the curve? Over the past four decades, Bonnie Hammer successfully adapted to massive changes in the media industry, rising from production assistant to leadership roles in broadcast, cable, and streaming. Now vice chair of NBCUniversal, she has advice on how to get noticed, acquire the right skillsets, make smart decisions, and adjust to shifting corporate and market dynamics. She's the author of the book 15 Lies Women Are Told at Work: ...and the Truth We Need to Succeed.
#968
May 16, 2024 · 35 min
Tech at Work: How the End of Cookies Will Transform Digital Marketing
Google is planning to phase out third-party cookies by the end of 2025. Consumers may be cheering the improved privacy online, but what will this huge shift in advertising technology mean for digital advertising, online publishing, and the open Internet? Tech at Work is a four-part special series from HBR IdeaCast. Join senior tech editors Juan Martinez and Tom Stackpole for research, stories, and advice to make technology work for you and your team. In this episode, researcher Garrett Johnson and executive Jamie Seltzer discuss the new technologies that are already being tested to replace cookies. They explain the trade-offs and how digital marketers are preparing for this change, as well as share how the online advertising and publishing industries may be affected. Johnson is an associate professor of marketing at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. Seltzer is global executive vice president at Havas Media Network, where she leads CSA, Havas Media’s global data and technology consulting group. New episodes of Tech at Work publish in the HBR IdeaCast feed every other Thursday from May 2, after the regular Tuesday episode. Please let us know what you think of the series and which technology topics you want us to cover at ideacast@hbr.org. Further reading: Privacy-Centric Digital Advertising: Implications for Research (Garrett Johnson, Julian Runge, Eric Seufert) The Cookies are Crumbling: What’s Next for Digital Advertising? (Garrett Johnson) A New Gold Standard for Digital Ad Measurement? (Julian Runge, Harpreet Patter, and Igor Skokan)
#967
May 14, 2024 · 24 min
The Hidden Burden of Long Covid and What Companies Can Do
Around 18 million adults in the U.S. alone suffer from long Covid, a chronic illness with a wide range of symptoms and severity. With approved therapies a long way off, workers with long Covid often struggle in silence. And most companies have neither a good understanding of the situation nor effective policies in place, say MIT research scientist Beth Pollack and Vanguard University professor Ludmila Praslova. They share the conditions associated with long Covid, what life is like for those workers, and the accommodations and flexibility they recommend HR leaders and organizations implement. Pollack and Praslova are coauthors with researcher Katie Bach of the HBR Big Idea article “Long Covid at Work: A Manager's Guide.”
#966
May 7, 2024 · 26 min
Behind the Boom in Celebrity Brands
There was a time when consumer goods companies paid musicians, athletes, and actors for endorsements, or to license their name and likeness. But in recent years, there's been an explosion of celebrities getting into business directly, selling everything from shapewear to tequila. Ayelet Israeli, professor at Harvard Business School, says the growth of social media and online, direct-to-consumer retail accelerated this trend, but notes that not all celebrity brands are a success. She explains what works and doesn't, and outlines lessons for non-famous entrepreneurs and established companies. Israeli is coauthor of the HBR article "What Makes a Successful Celebrity Brand?"
#965
May 2, 2024 · 37 min
Tech at Work: What GenAI Means for Companies Right Now
If you’re a senior leader, managing technology has never been more challenging—especially as organizations struggle to deploy generative artificial intelligence. Since ChatGPT burst into the mainstream a year and a half ago, everyone has been scrambling to make sense of how to use these tools, what they can and can’t do, and what they mean for our work and our teams. Tech at Work is a four-part special series from HBR IdeaCast. Join senior tech editors Juan Martinez and Tom Stackpole for research, stories, and advice to make technology work for you and your team. New episodes publish in the IdeaCast feed every other Thursday starting May 2, after the regular Tuesday episode. In this episode, Ethan Mollick, a management professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and author of the new book Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, discusses what he’s learned through direct experimentation with these tools, where he sees the most potential, and why organizations are struggling to create value with them. And please let us know what you think of the series and which technology topics you want us to cover at ideacast@hbr.org. Further reading: ChatGPT Is a Tipping Point for AI (Ethan Mollick) Why You (and Your Company) Need to Experiment with ChatGPT Now (HBR IdeaCast) The Social Cost of Algorithmic Management (Armin Granulo, Sara Caprioli, Christoph Fuchs, and Stefano Puntoni) Deployment of algorithms in management tasks reduces prosocial motivation (Armin Granulo, Sara Caprioli, Christoph Fuchs, and Stefano Puntoni) When AI Teammates Come On Board, Performance Drops (Juan Martinez) Super Mario Meets AI: Experimental Effects of Automation and Skills on Team Performance and Coordination (Fabrizio Dell’Acqua, Bruce Kogut, and Patryk Perkowski)
#964
Apr 30, 2024 · 20 min
How Bad Leaders Get Worse over Time
There's plenty of advice on how to grow into a better leader. And it takes effort to become more effective. But bad leadership gets worse almost effortlessly, says Barbara Kellerman, a Center for Public Leadership Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. She shares real examples from the public and private sectors of how bad leaders spiral downward, and how bad followership enables that negative trend. She gives her advice for recognizing and avoiding ineffective and unethical leaders. Kellerman is the author of the new book Leadership from Bad to Worse: What Happens When Bad Festers.
Apr 25, 2024 · 2 min
Special Series: Tech at Work
If you’re a senior leader, managing technology has never been more challenging. You face hard decisions about how to incorporate technology into your organization. But how do you cut through the noise to understand what a tool—especially a brand-new technology like generative AI—could mean for your organization or your team? HBR IdeaCast has a new special series for you: Tech at Work. Every other Thursday, join our senior tech editors Juan Martinez and Tom Stackpole for research, stories, and advice to make technology work for you and your team. • How can we all get the most out of adopting generative AI? • Is your team making the best use of collaboration technology? • What does your company need to know about spatial computing? • How will digital marketing evolve without third-party cookies? You’ll get answers from expert researchers and experienced practitioners to help you lead effectively and stay ahead. Listen every other Thursday starting May 2 in the HBR IdeaCast feed, after the regular Tuesday episode. And please let us know what you think of the series and what technology topics you want us to cover at ideacast@hbr.org.

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