PODCAST

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

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

business management

All Episodes

31:15

Purpose-Driven Leadership in an Era of Polarization

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/11/25

Even in difficult times, leadership must be about empathy, authenticity, fairness and service. That's according to Darren Walker, the outgoing CEO of the Ford Foundation, a nonprofit with an endowment of billions of dollars and a charge to reduce poverty and injustice. Drawing on his own upbringing in rural Texas to his time at the helm of one of the world’s largest philanthropies, Walker explains how inequality erodes hope, why discomfort is essential for meaningful change, and how leaders can

31:12

Future of Business: Walmart’s CEO on AI, Jobs, and...

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/11/20

In uncertain times, leaders at all levels can learn from what the world's best CEOs are doing to protect themselves and forge a path ahead. In this Future of Business series, IdeaCast hosts Alison Beard and Adi Ignatius sat down with four leading CEOs who manage across different industries and geographies to understand where global business is going. In this episode, host Adi Ignatius speaks with Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, who since announced he'll be retiring in early 2026. They discuss how the

27:29

Why Business Leaders Need Political Diplomacy Skills Now

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/11/18

Geopolitics are no longer a tailwind for businesses today, opening markets and boosting global trade. Instead, argues ESSEC Business School associate professor Srividya Jandhyala, rising national security concerns and protectionist economic policies have created a headwind for many organizations, and that's changing how executives need to operate. She explains what’s changed in the global balance of power, how it's affecting even small to medium-sized companies and unexpected industries —from shrimp

25:44

Future of Business: Standard Bank’s CEO on Driving...

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/11/13

In uncertain times, leaders at all levels can learn from what the world's leading CEOs are doing to protect their companies from risk and forge a path forward. In this Future of Business series, IdeaCast hosts Alison Beard and Adi Ignatius interview four chief executives from different industries and geographies to better understand where global business is going. In this episode, Alison speaks with Sim Tshabalala, the CEO of Standard Bank. He explains how his childhood in apartheid South Africa

31:00

Brené Brown on Being a Steady Leader in Tumultuous Times

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/11/11

Leadership takes daring and steadfastness even in the best of times. In eras of shaky political, economic, and social stability, researcher and author Brené Brown argues it is more important than ever to stay true to your values, make thoughtful decisions, and avoid succumbing to external pressures. The podcast host and University of Houston research professor shares what she's learned in her latest studies and explains how to avoid reactivity as an organizational leader navigating a distrusting and

34:41

Arthur C. Brooks on How Leaders Can Be Happier

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/11/06

It isn't always easy to feel like you can have it all: career, family, hobbies and inner peace. Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks studies happiness and says it is a direction, not a destination. Brooks believes happiness is especially important for leaders, as the higher you climb the more stressful the job can get - and the wider impact you can have on others. Live in conversation at Harvard Business School's Klarman Hall, he speaks with IdeaCast host and HBR editor at large Adi Ignatius about the

30:34

Wikipedia Cofounder Jimmy Wales on How to Build Trust

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/11/04

When Wikipedia was founded in 2001, the idea that people around the world could come together to create an accurate online encyclopedia covering virtually any topic seemed far-fetched. But today many people see the website as a trusted source of well-curated and -cited information. That's because of careful decisions that its leaders made about how to operate. Cofounder Jimmy Wales explains how introducing a simple purpose, insisting on certain rules of engagement, and other strategies helped the

31:40

What’s Holding You Back from Being a Great Leader?

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/10/28

When you hit a roadblock in your career, it's easy to blame external factors like the economy, the organization, or your boss. But leaders are just as often stymied by their own beliefs about how they need to show up and operate at work, shares executive coach Muriel Wilkins. Through decades of work counseling high-powered executives, she's uncovered the seven main ways that people limit their own success and has advice on how to overcome those mental blocks. Wilkins is author of the HBR article

28:10

20 Years of Freakonomics: How It Changed Business

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/10/21

When it first came out in 2005, Freakonomics unearthed the hidden side to everything, helping bring behavioral economics to the forefront of popular culture. But it also has had lasting impacts on how leaders understand problems, how advertisers understand consumers, and how we all understand the workplace. Coauthor Stephen Dubner explains the difficulty of bringing complex economic concepts to the masses, what's surprised him about the hidden side of everything, and what he sees as the impact of

35:43

Jimmy Fallon and Bozoma Saint John on What It Takes...

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/10/14

In a crowded media and marketing environment, it can be hard to catch the attention and imagination of consumers. Two people paying close attention to what's working now are Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and seasoned marketing executive Bozoma Saint John, and they've just launched a reality show called "On Brand" to showcase the work that creatives and companies do to sell their ideas, products, and services. Fallon and Saint John share what their different career paths have taught them about

26:30

The Trouble with Tech Companies (and Their Strategies)

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/10/07

Cory Doctorow, author and digital rights advocate, argues that big tech companies from Facebook to Google and beyond have evolved - or devolved - in a disappointing way. He says that many large tech companies begin with a good product, but that over time they prioritize first business customers, and then ultimately shareholders and profits over end users. That creates a decline in service quality, and Doctorow explains why that's bad for customers, companies, and the broader economy and society

32:09

How to Lead with Courage in Chaotic Times

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/09/30

Courage involves taking bold action despite uncertainty and fear. In a volatile business environment, it's hard to be brave. But Ranjay Gulati, a professor at Harvard Business School, says that there are strategies any of us can use to get improve our ability to make smart bets on the future. He's studied dozens of leaders across industries and explains how they embolden themselves and their organizations by building a positive narrative around the mission, cultivating self-confidence, stepping

27:29

Steven Pinker on Speculation Bubbles, Super Bowl Ads,...

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/09/23

As a leader, psychology is fundamental to your success - whether that means understanding consumer behavior, team dynamics, or even your own biases and blind spots. Harvard professor Steven Pinker says that an important phenomena to understand is that of common knowledge and its downstream effects. It's the idea that there is power in knowledge, but also power in knowing what other people know - and that when a large group of people know what others around them know, and vice versa, that's when

30:43

Supercharging Innovation with “Flash Teams”

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/09/16

Across industries, organizations are struggling to move as quickly as they need to on key priorities and new initiatives. The solution for many, says Stanford's Melissa Valentine, might be "flash teams" -- project groups that can be instantly, efficiently, and cost-effectively brought together and organized via online labor markets and AI and other digital tools to solve any problem. She explains why companies and leaders should embrace this new type of collaboration, how flash teams work in

19:12

When Fake News Targets Your Company

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/09/09

A fast-moving lie can do more damage to a company’s reputation than a slow, careful truth can fix. Executives who think fake news is just a political problem are underestimating its reach and cost. Patrick Haack, professor of strategy and responsible management at HEC Lausanne, explains why traditional responses like silence or fact-checking aren’t enough. He outlines what companies should be doing instead: building credibility in advance, monitoring for signs of virality, and enlisting outside

30:54

Why It’s So Hard to Delegate — and How to Improve

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/09/02

At every stage of leadership, it's important to hand some tasks and even decisions off to team members to foster their development and free up your time for higher level work. But even seasoned bosses often have trouble effectively delegating. Elsbeth Johnson, senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, explains the four main reasons why we struggle -- both internal and external -- and outlines strategies for overcoming them to level up your delegation game. Johnson wrote the HBR article

30:27

The Kinds of Humor That Help Leaders Build Trust

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/08/26

Leading an organization is a serious job, but Adam Christing argues that humor is a shortcut to building trust at an organization - and without it, you might be missing out on an important leadership tool. Christing is a comedian, speaker and author and he walks through five main kinds of humor that are most effective at work. It's not about knock-knock jokes, he says, but finding a style that's authentic to you. Christing is author of the book The Laughter Factor: The 5 Humor Tactics to Link, Lift,

32:01

How to Bring More Rigor to Your Long-Term Thinking

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/08/19

Amid great economic, political, and technological change, it can feel impossible to predict what might happen next. Nick Foster, a futurist and designer who has worked at Google X, Sony, and elsewhere, says that most of us struggle because we tend to fall into one pattern of thinking about the future. A better approach -- for leaders, teams, and entire organizations -- is to consider the long-term view through multiple lenses, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each. He explains how more

31:24

Are You Considering Chinese AI In Your Strategy?

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/08/12

AI ecosystems are moving fast, and smart leaders are considering all options when it comes to staying competitive. Amit Joshi is a professor at IMD Business School, and he argues that leaders should be looking to Chinese technology as a possible way to power up their strategies and growth. The adoption comes with some risks that leaders must be aware of, Joshi explains, but a careful combination of multiple AI tools could be the answer. He also explains just how far Chinese AI platforms have come

31:24

Are You Considering Chinese AI In Your Strategy?

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/08/12

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