PODCAST

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

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

business management

All Episodes

30:44

Where McKinsey—and Consulting—Go From Here

HBR IdeaCast ·

2026/01/06

How does an organization with 100 years of history stay relevant, adaptable, and forward-looking? Bob Sternfels, who runs McKinsey & Company as the Global Managing Partner, has led the company through a wave of recent challenges while trying to plan the road ahead for the consulting industry leader. He explains the balance he's aiming to strike between AI agents and human employees, how he's handled moments of scrutiny, and the ways in which he's been working to build trust both internally and

32:18

How to Manage—and Motivate—Gen Z

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/12/30

How different is the newest generation in the workforce, really? While stereotypes abound — some of them unfair — it’s important to understand what the young adults of Gen Z have in common and how they differ from Millennials, Gen X and Boomers. Tim Elmore is a leadership coach and author who says that this generation in particular craves connection with their colleagues, meaningful work, and assurances that they’re seen as people not commodities. He explains how organizational leaders can adapt to

26:00

What Leaders Can Learn from a Formula 1 Turnaround

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/12/23

What does it take to rebuild a legendary brand, lead through failure, and win on the world’s most competitive stage? Zac Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, which competes in Formula 1 racing, explains how he helped guide the company through a rough chapter of its history, powering through financial strain and declining performance to change the company culture and get it back on the winning track. As part of the HBR Executive Live series, he spoke with host Adi Ignatius about staying sharp in a cutthroat

29:20

Why Great Leaders Focus on the Details

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/12/16

Senior executives are often told to focus on big-picture strategy while delegating the specifics of execution. But, according to Scott Cook, cofounder and former CEO of Intuit, smart leaders also spend time on the details of how the organization gets work done at every level, including the front lines. Working with Harvard Business School professor Nitin Nohria, he studied companies from Toyota to Amazon to better understand why hands-on leadership, from the CEO down, works and how to do it without

29:28

Future of Business: Mars CEO on How Business Can Be a...

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/12/11

What does it look like for a business in 2025 to build a strategy around sustainability? In this Future of Business series, IdeaCast hosts Alison Beard and Adi Ignatius sat down with four leading CEOs to understand where global business is going. In this episode, host Adi Ignatius speaks with Poul Weihrauch, CEO of Mars, about how he manages the family-owned global pet care, snacking and food company. They discuss balancing short-term performance with long-term goals, resilience, and the business

33:35

Moving Beyond the Slow, Hierarchical Organization

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/12/09

Most companies say they want to be more innovative, agile, and customer-centric. But in reality, many still operate like 20th-century factories: hierarchical, risk-averse, and slow. Jana Werner, executive in residence of enterprise strategy at Amazon Web Services, argues that organizations should instead think of an octopus: an organism that manages complexity, can work in many different modes with some autonomy, but all moving in concert toward a common goal. Werner says the future belongs to

29:04

Future of Business: Moderna’s Founder on Innovation...

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/12/04

What are CEOs across industries doing to build resilience and strong cultures in an age of uncertainty? In this Future of Business series, IdeaCast hosts Alison Beard and Adi Ignatius sat down with four leading CEOs to understand where global business is going. In this episode, host Alison Beard speaks with Noubar Afeyan, the CEO of Flagship Pioneering and Chairman of Moderna. Afeyan shares the organizational models and practices that work best to produce innovation, the difference between managing

27:30

Could Your Company Benefit from Fastvertising?

HBR IdeaCast ·

2025/12/02

It's harder than ever for companies to get their marketing messages in front of the right customers. One increasingly popular -- but also risky -- tactic is fastvertising, the rapid development of ads that tap into a cultural moment, aiming to increase brand relevance and awareness. Harvard Business School associate professor Ayelet Israeli shares pitch-perfect examples, including those from her coauthor, the actor Ryan Reynolds, and his marketing firm Maximum Effort. She explains the importance of

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

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