HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

4.4 (174)
MANAGEMENT
UPDATED WEEKLY

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

6 DAYS AGO

What All Leaders Can Learn from Taylor Swift

Whether you're a fan of Taylor Swift or not, no one can deny her success as both a music star and businesswoman. Her career has been a masterclass in everything from customer connection to innovation, decision-making to digital adaption, offering lessons for people in any industry. HBR senior editor Kevin Evers investigated Swift's rise and evolution for his new book, There's Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift, and found interesting patterns. He explains how she's kept audiences loyal, why her Eras tour was so successful, and the vision and "productive paranoia" that have kept her on top. Evers also wrote the HBR article "The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift."

25 min
1 APR

Navigating the Hybrid Work Dilemma

Many organizational leaders believe remote work is here to stay. Others are requiring employees return to the workplace. But Prithriwaj “Raj” Choudhury, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, says it’s not a simple managerial choice between two options. He explains three main variations of hybrid work: quarterly, monthly, and weekly. And he shares three key challenges to remote work: isolation, communication, and socialization. And he breaks down the specific management practices necessary to make those hybrid arrangements succeed most effectively, adding that AI is making some of those practices easier and cheaper than ever. Choudhury’s new book is The World Is Your Office: How Work from Anywhere Boosts Talent, Productivity, and Innovation.

30 min
25 MAR

The Keys to Great Conversation

Whether we’re interacting with colleagues, clients, friends, family members or strangers, conversations are the way most of us build — or break — relationships. And yet we don’t often think deeply about how to approach this type of casual communication. Alison Wood Brooks, associate professor at Harvard Business School, has studied what it takes to create a great conversation and offers research-backed tips for improving your skills. Brooks is the author of the book Talk: The Science of Conversation and the Art of Being Ourselves.

32 min
18 MAR

When Sales Incentives Backfire

Sales commissions act as a crucial lever to increase revenue and customers. But sometimes those incentives bring unintended consequences. New research identifies eight ways that salespeople across industries cheat or bend the rules to maximize their gain—often at the expense of the company's bottom line and customer loyalty. Huntsman School of Business professor Timothy Gardner and consultant Colin Wong explain these tactics, like sandbagging, falsifying data, and giving excessive discounts to close deals. The researchers also share how company leaders can audit, correct, and monitor an incentive program—and when they should let some practices slide to maintain productivity and motivation. Gardner and Wong are coauthors of the HBR article “How Salespeople Game the System.”

24 min
11 MAR

Are You an Inspirational Leader?

What does it take to really energize people and motivate them toward a goal? Inspirational leadership might seem idiosyncratic and hard to quantify, but, according to Adam Galinsky, professor at Columbia Business School, it involves three key elements: having a vision, setting an example, and mentoring. His research shows this is true across industries and geographies, and he offers advice on how to improve in each area. He's author of the book Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others as well as the HBR article “What Sets Inspirational Leaders Apart”.

24 min
4 MAR

Stop Multitasking and Try Timeboxing

There are all kinds of productivity tools out there promising to help you make the most of your day. Some people swear by timeboxing: the method of reserving time on your calendar each day for each task you want to get done, and then truly focusing on that one thing at a time. The return on merging your to-do list with your calendar like this, says Marc Zao-Sanders, is higher productivity, better collaboration, and less distraction and anxiety. He explains how try to the method yourself and the how your team and organization benefit from it, not just you. Zao-Sanders is author of the book "Timeboxing: The Power of Doing One Thing at a Time."

25 min
25 FEB

How Leaders Can Encourage Learning

In an age of rapidly changing technology, it’s more important than ever for organizations to effectively support employee learning. Gianpiero Petriglieri, associate professor at INSEAD, has studied leaders who do this well and says they fall into three categories: custodians, challengers, or connectors. He explains which type of learning leader works best in which contexts and how all three approaches can help individuals and teams reach the next level. Petriglieri is author of the HBR article "Three Ways to Lead Learning."

28 min
18 FEB

The Consumer Psychology of Adopting AI

Despite all the ways that artificial intelligence promises to improve our lives, many consumers feel anxious and are averse to AI-powered products and services. For marketers and product managers, it’s vital to understand what is driving that resistance to adoption. Julian De Freitas is an assistant professor in the marketing unit at Harvard Business School. He has identified five main ways people see artificial intelligence negatively: that AI is opaque, emotionless, inflexible, autonomous, and not human enough. Through real-life cases and the latest research, he explains how companies can soothe anxieties and encourage consumer adoption. De Freitas the author of the HBR article "Why People Resist Embracing AI."

27 min

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4.4

out of 5

174 Ratings

Trusted leadership thinking

04/06/2023

J3R3MYDOTCOM

No wild claims. No click bait. No exaggerated hype. Sound fact based reasoning about the big issues to understand for solid leadership
Pseudoscience

11 Feb

hugefitzpatrick

Largely pseudoscientific “social science” offering little-to-no utility outside the classroom.
HBRules!

11/08/2020

AussieJayHi

Simply the best business and strategy podcast on the market
Fantastic podcast

19/07/2020

K-Pow-Now

Really enjoy listening to this podcast. It is a great snapshot of lots of different business topics and find it is helping me in approaching problems in my business.
One of my favourite go-to business podcasts

13/04/2019

Loubaforster

I’ve enjoyed listening to Sarah for years. It’s a transition now she’s moved in, though I still very much enjoy Idea Cast. As a long-time HBR subscriber I would love an ad-free version though!
Harvard Business Ideas In Your Pocket

28/12/2008

Stevenboy

What a superb collection of podcasts that capture the essence of leadership and management challenges that face each one of us in today's turbulent times. This site is an undiscovered treasure trove of knowledge. The podcasts make for easy listening when on the go, either on the train, plane or just sitting back and relaxing. The information is presented in an informed way; led expertly by the moderator who presents usually no more than 2 or 3 key ideas to wet the appetite. The topics are always at the cutting edge. As a CEO in the health sector I highly recommend this site.
ad free podcast

06/12/2018

PK SYD

can hbr subscribers have an ad free version of the podcast please !!!