HBR On Leadership

Changing jobs is hard. Changing sectors is daunting. You’ve built a network, a reputation, skills, expertise, a firm grasp of how that industry operates. Maybe you even got a related degree or two! And to just leave all that behind…except that, you really are stuck or unfulfilled or simply underpaid. When it comes to shifting your career, the stakes are high, but so is your potential to succeed. Executive coach Nina Bowman regularly guides people through the process, with all of its uncertainty, time commitment, strategizing, and storytelling. Amy Bernstein speaks with her about making a bold mid-career leap, including how to identify a new path, build connections to land interviews, and tell the story of how you’ll find success in a completely different role. Then, two listeners who made bold leaps themselves—one from academia to tech, the other from government to consulting—share their experiences and insights. Key episode topics include: career transitions, career planning, professional networks * Listen to the original Women at Work episode: https://hbr.org/podcast/2024/12/how-to-leap-mid-career-from-one-industry-to-another [https://hbr.org/podcast/2024/12/how-to-leap-mid-career-from-one-industry-to-another] * Find more episodes of Women at Work * Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at org [https://hbr.org/]

Imagine you’re leading a small organization, but you’re struggling to recruit and afford the senior talent you need to grow. You could hire a part-time executive. So-called “fractional leadership” is common in startups and is spreading to other businesses and nonprofits. But while a fast-growing number of senior leaders seek this work arrangement, many companies are unsure of how to go about it. Tomoko Yokoi and Amy Bonsall are experts on the practice. Yokoi is a researcher at the TONOMUS Global Center for Digital and AI Transformation at IMD Business School. Bonsall is a former executive at IDEO and Old Navy who works as a part-time chief product officer with several organizations. They explain when and how fractional leadership works best—for the individual as well as the organization—and how to do it right. Yokoi and Bonsall wrote the HBR article “How Part-Time Senior Leaders Can Help Your Business.” [https://hbr.org/2024/07/how-part-time-senior-leaders-can-help-your-business] Key episode topics include: leadership, human resource management, hiring and recruitment, talent management, entrepreneurial management * Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: The Growing Trend of Part-Time Executives [https://hbr.org/podcast/2024/11/the-growing-hr-trend-of-fractional-leadership] * Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast * Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at org [https://hbr.org/]

No matter how ambitious and talented you are, rising up and out of mid-level management can be slow going for reasons beyond your control. Maybe it’s because your company doesn’t have a business need—or budget—to upgrade your job title and salary from senior to executive. Or maybe it’s because the person in the position you want has been there forever—and has no plans to leave any time soon. Still, there are plenty of factors that you can control, and cohost Amy Bernstein and her three guests cover them in this episode. Leadership development coach Cynthia Pong first validates the challenges of scoring a position that’s scarce. Then, Lauren Reyes and Megan Bock, both COOs whose careers stagnated in mid-level management before accelerating again, recount the conversations, decisions, and networking that jump-started them Key episode topics include: leadership, career planning, career transitions, networking, gender, personal growth and transformation * Listen to the original Women at Work episode: How to Manage: Rising from Middle to Senior Management [https://hbr.org/podcast/2024/06/how-to-manage-rising-from-middle-to-senior-management] * Find more episodes of Women at Work [https://hbr.org/2018/01/podcast-women-at-work]. * Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at org [https://hbr.org/]

CEOs get a ton of credit or blame for a company’s performance. But the entire leadership team is vital to success, and any dysfunction is often overlooked. Sometimes the CEOs leading them don’t even see that they’re not working. Thomas Keil, management professor at the University of Zurich, and Marianna Zangrillo, a partner at The Next Advisors, have interviewed more than 100 CEOs and senior executives. Their research identifies three main types of failing leadership teams: shark tanks, petting zoos, and mediocracies. And they identify the pitfalls of each pattern and how to turn those teams around. Keil and Zangrillo wrote the HBR article “Why Leadership Teams Fail [https://hbr.org/2024/09/why-leadership-teams-fail].” Key episode topics include: leadership, teams, strategy execution, decision making and problem solving, managing people, change management * Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: “Dysfunctional Leadership Teams — and How to Fix Them [https://hbr.org/podcast/2024/09/dysfunctional-leadership-teams-and-how-to-fix-them]” * Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast [https://hbr.org/2018/01/podcast-ideacast] * Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at hbr.org [https://hbr.org/]

Does your organization lack quality leadership? In this episode of HBR’s advice podcast, Dear HBR: [https://hbr.org/podcasts/dear-hbr], cohosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn answer your questions with the help of Peter Bregman [http://bregmanpartners.com/peter-bregman/], the CEO of Bregman Partners and author of the book Leading with Emotional Courage [https://www.amazon.com/Leading-Emotional-Courage-Conversations-Accountability/dp/1119505690]. They talk through what to do when your leaders are indecisive, unprofessional, or value the wrong things. Key episode topics include: leadership, decision making and problem solving, organizational culture, emotional intelligence * Listen to the original Dear HBR: episode: Ineffective Leaders [https://hbr.org/podcast/2018/09/ineffective-leaders] * Find more episodes of Dear HBR: [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dear-hbr/id1339952977]. * Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at hbr.org [https://hbr.org/].