HBR IdeaCast

A Leading Restaurateur on What It Takes to Scale a Winning Culture

When a company is small, maintaining a strong culture can feel relatively easy. But as organizations grow, layers of management, geographic distance, and pressure for eff

Are Great Leaders Truly Great—or Just Lucky?

How much does a leader actually matter to an organization’s success? We tend to credit CEOs, founders, and other powerful figures with shaping the institutions they lead,

How People Without Formal Power Gain Influence

In today’s increasingly decentralized workplaces, leaders often need to get things done without having direct authority over the people they depend on. So how can you inf

Living and Working in the Age of Longevity

People are living longer, healthier lives than ever before. But many of our assumptions about executive careers—from climbing the corporate ladder to retiring at 65—haven

The Innovation Strategy Most Companies Miss

Companies often build products for wealthy markets first and then try to adapt them for the rest of the world. But according to Dartmouth Tuck professor Vijay Govindaraja

Why Great Turnarounds Start with Culture, Not Strategy

In an era of constant disruption, successful turnarounds require more than a new strategy—they demand a new culture. Dan Schulman, former CEO of PayPal, came out of retir

Introducing The Founder Mindset: Tim Ferriss on Experiments, Risk, and Freedom

What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur in today's uncertain world? How do you balance risk, decision-making, and curiosity? We’re sharing an episode from The F

What Makes Chinese Companies So Competitive?

To compete in business anywhere today, leaders at all levels need to learn about the culture and mindset that sets Chinese businesses apart. Stanford research fellow Dan

Leadership Summit 2026: Inspiring Grit and Growth Amid Unprecedented Change

Most leaders are asking the same question about AI: Will it make their teams more productive—or slowly erode the very skills they're trying to build? In this special epis

Why Great Leaders Need More Than Good Judgment

What if the key to success in today's business world wasn't about making difficult decisions quickly—but about broadening the scope through which you make decisions? Lead

Leadership Summit 2026: AT&T CEO John Stankey on Developing Technology and Talent in the AI Era

How do you reinvigorate a legacy company without losing what made it great? In this special episode, as part of the recent HBR Leadership Summit 2026, AT&T CEO John Stank

The New Rules for Becoming an Enterprise Leader

What does it take to succeed in an enterprise-level leadership role today? Michael Watkins, professor at IMD and author of the book The First 90 Days, says that the leap

Leadership Summit 2026: Honest Company CEO Carla Vernón on Leading with Focus in Turbulent Times

How do you take a young, purpose-led company to the next level? In this special episode, as part of the recent HBR Leadership Summit 2026, The Honest Company CEO Carla Ve

How Leaders Can Use AI to Solve Real Business Problems

Many organizations are investing heavily in AI, but too few are asking the most important question: What problem are we actually trying to solve? Journalist and author Jo

Leadership Summit 2026: Mattel’s CEO on Driving Consumer Engagement and Cultural Impact

How do you reinvent an 80-year-old company without losing what made it successful in the first place? In this special episode, as part of the recent HBR Leadership Summit

How Top World Cup, NBA, and NFL Coaches Make Better Decisions Under Pressure

When the stakes are high and the clock is ticking, how do great leaders make the right call? Sports performance consultant Alan McCall and sports scientist Johann Bilsbor

Creating Products with Curiosity, Humility, and Play

Most leaders know they need to innovate, but many take a strong instinct and hold too tightly to an idea, rather than testing, experimenting, and playing to find the best

The Right Way to Manage Rule Breakers

Most leaders assume that when employees break rules, punishment is the answer. But according to researcher Michael Gill, associate professor at the University of Oxford S

We All Hate Meetings—Here’s How to Make Them Work

Meetings are one of the biggest drains on time, energy, and morale at work, yet most managers are never actually taught how to run them well. Paul English, cofounder of K

Reinventing an Organization to Do More with Less

What does it take to manage a complex global institution when change is constant and resources are scarce? For Kelly T. Clements, Deputy High Commissioner at the UN Refug