Coaching Real Leaders

Coaching Real Leaders returns May 2 to tackle new leadership challenges – like learning how to hold your team accountable, making the move from subject matter expert to business leader, and more. Listen in on coaching sessions with real leaders from around the globe, as they work out the challenges they face at work, with host and longtime executive coach Muriel Wilkins.

He’s part of a real estate organization and loves his work but wonders what his future looks like at the company and how his role could grow in the coming decades. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches this leader through how he might use some of his entrepreneurial muscles to shift his career track toward a business leadership role within his current organization.

She’s heading toward the apex of her career and wants to play a more strategic role in her company because she feels that’s where her strengths lie. While she’s great at creating the vision, she’s struggling to set direction and then follow through with her team. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through how to lead with more accountability.

She has risen very quickly in her career, often being the youngest in the room. She’s ambitious and wants to make it to the C-suite eventually, but she doesn’t know the right moves to make in the short term to fast-track her way to the top. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through how to align her career path with her goals.

He’s developed a stellar reputation at his organization as the go-to person to solve some very specific, complicated problems. But he worries that the organization has pigeon-holed him as a subject matter expert, limiting his ability to lead more broadly. He speaks with host Muriel Wilkins about how he can break out of the specialist role to reach his goal of becoming a more general business leader.

She took on a leadership role as a scrum master because she wanted a new challenge. But after a few months on the job, she worries that she lacks the technical knowledge and years of experience to truly lead her team. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through how to build credibility with her older, more experienced colleagues.

He’s had a successful career in the military and is deeply invested in his professional growth. As his transition out of the military approaches, he wants to figure out what’s next for him professionally. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches him through how to best prepare for the next phase of his career.

This episode is part of a new special series from HBR’s Women at Work, hosted by Amy Gallo – an expert in workplace dynamics. Each episode offers tactics for dealing with “difficult” people at work. Every workplace has them, but what if we had better tools and approaches to improve our interactions with those colleagues? In this episode, Amy helps a leader whose boss keeps rejecting any changes she recommends...