HBR On Leadership Harvard Business Review

When you’re in the middle of a conflict, it’s common to automatically enter fight-or-flight mode.

But HBR contributing editor and workplace conflict expert Amy Gallo says it’s possible to interrupt this response, stay calm, and find a path towards a more productive discussion. In this episode, you’ll learn some simple techniques that will help you manage your emotions when conflict arises at work.

First try to distance yourself from the negative emotion you’re feeling by labeling it. Then focus on your breath and your body. And if you need to — take a break and give yourself time to process your intense emotions.

Gallo also cohosts HBR’s Women at Work podcast, and her most recent book is Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People).

Key episode topics include: leadership, emotional intelligence, difficult conversations, managing yourself.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Watch the original HBR Guide episode: How to Control Your Emotions During a Difficult Conversation: The Harvard Business Review Guide (2022)
· Find more episodes of the HBR Guide series on YouTube.
· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.
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In early 1915, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton’s ship became trapped in ice, north of Antarctica. For almost two years, he and his crew braved those frozen expanses. Then, in December 1916, Shackleton led them all to safety.

Not a single life was lost, and Shackleton’s leadership has become one of the most famous case studies of all time.

In this episode, Harvard Business School professor and historian Nancy Koehn analyzes Shackleton’s leadership during those two fateful years that he and his men struggled to survive.

She explains how Shackleton carefully assembled a team capable of weathering a crisis and the important role empathy played in his day-to-day leadership. Koehn also shares the survival lessons that Shackleton learned from weak leaders he encountered early in his own career.

Key episode topics include: leadership, crisis management, motivating people, managing people.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Real Leaders: Ernest Shackleton Leads a Harrowing Expedition (2020)
· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org
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Imagine you’re a new manager, and one of your team members consistently underperforms. But there’s a catch: your struggling employee is a personal friend of your CEO. When performance review time rolls around, should you be honest and give them a low rating?

There are no simple answers for the tough decisions that managers face. Harvard Business School professor Joe Badaracco says that hard and fast rules only go so far in these sorts of situations. Instead, managers must use their best judgement to find a solution.

Badaracco is a business ethics expert and the author of the book, Managing in the Gray: Five Timeless Questions for Resolving Your Toughest Problems at Work.

In this episode, he explains how to approach what he calls “gray-area decisions.” First, gather as much information as you can, taking different perspectives into account. Then, consider the consequences of the different possible actions you can take, the values of your organization, and your own personal values.

Key episode topics include: leadership, managing conflicts, dismissing employees, managing people, managing employees, tough calls,

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Managing in the Real World: How to Make Gray-Area Decisions (2016)
· Find more episodes of Cold Call
· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org
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Problem solving skills are invaluable in any job. But all too often, we jump to find solutions to a problem without taking time to really understand the dilemma we face, according to Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg, an expert in innovation and the author of the book, What's Your Problem?: To Solve Your Toughest Problems, Change the Problems You Solve.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to reframe tough problems by asking questions that reveal all the factors and assumptions that contribute to the situation. You’ll also learn why searching for just one root cause can be misleading.

Key episode topics include: leadership, decision making and problem solving, power and influence, business management.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: The Secret to Better Problem Solving (2016)
· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org
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Notes (iTunes)

Would you promote an employee who’s a top performer, but mistreats their colleagues and disregards company values? It’s a dilemma that many managers face in their careers.

In this episode, the former dean of Harvard Business School Nitin Nohria discusses the classic case study, “Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley.” He breaks down the issues at the heart of the case—including the questions it raises about managers’ accountability for their employees’ behavior.

You’ll learn how to imagine multiple perspectives on this dilemma, so you can work through your decision making. You’ll also learn how managers should consider their own role in creating the incentives that motivate their employees.

Key episode topics include: leadership, talent management, employee performance management.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Employee Performance vs. Company Values: A Manager’s Dilemma (2020)
· Find more episodes of Cold Call
· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org
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What should you do when you become the boss?

Many of us are promoted into people manager roles without any preparation for the complexities involved in that work. But Harvard Business School professor Alison Wood Brooks says there are some basics that will help you get started as a first-time boss.

Brooks is an expert in organizational behavior and the psychology of communication. She takes questions from listeners who are struggling as first-time bosses, and talks through what to do when your direct reports are older than you, how to be a likable leader, and what to say if you’re not ready to be in charge.

Key episode topics include: leadership, leading teams, managing people.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original Dear HBR episode: First-time Bosses (2018)
· Find more episodes of Dear HBR.
· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.
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