HBR On Leadership

If you’re leading a team, you know how hard it is to facilitate collaboration – especially when they don’t know each other well or may never meet in person. When people struggle to work together, it can harm productivity, morale, and talent retention.

But New York Times bestselling author Marcus Buckingham argues that you can improve your team dynamics if you understand the people you manage: how they learn, what they love, and how to bring out their strengths...

In our leader-focused society, how often do we consider the role of followers?

Barbara Kellerman studies the relationship between leaders and followers at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, where she was a member of the faculty for more than 20 years.

She explains that there’s a word that describes the powerful, emotional bond that exists between leaders and followers: charisma...

Megan Rapinoe is known for her ability to perform under pressure on the soccer field. In 2019, she led the U.S. women’s team to the World Cup Championship.

But Rapinoe’s leadership extends beyond making big goals in high-stakes games. She has embraced her role as team captain and as an advocate for causes she believes in — like gender pay equity.

“I’ve always been a team-first kind of player...

Being a great manager isn't enough to lead others to success. You also need to deeply understand your organization's core business.

Amanda Goodall studies the relationship between leaders and organizational performance. She argues that the best leaders are technical experts — for example, doctors who head up hospitals or all-star basketball players who go on to manage teams...

If uncertainty and turbulence are the new normal, how does that change the way we lead? LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman explains how ongoing volatility can be transformed into an opportunity for innovation. He also discusses why it’s important to align the social impact of your innovative activity with your business mission, and why your talent is the true differentiator that will make or break your team’s success.

We all have preconceived notions about which personality types are associated with good leadership — like confidence or emotional intelligence. But what about shyness? If you’re more reserved but truly competent, can you become a leader? In this episode, an emerging leader speaks candidly about how her introversion affects her ability to lead. Then author and former clinical psychologist Alice Boyes explains why being shy and being a leader aren’t always in conflict.

Is your job pushing you outside your comfort zone? Executive coach and former venture capitalist Jerry Colonna has coached leaders through that journey. He takes questions from Dear HBR listeners about what to do when you don’t feel qualified for your new responsibilities. He also offers advice for leading a team without formal power.

Managing for the first time can be stressful. Sometimes it’s because of others, but often it’s because of the misconceptions many people bring into the job. Three new managers speak candidly about the surprises, the rewards, and the challenges of leading.

Cynthia Carroll was only a few months into leading the global mining firm Anglo American when she suspended operations in their South African platinum mine. She was concerned about worker fatalities there. But it was an unprecedented move, and it came at a huge cost for the company. Harvard Kennedy School of Government research fellow Gautam Mukunda explains how Carroll used that temporary shutdown to make changes to the company culture at Anglo American.

Some managers are like teachers, sharing their skills and experience with their teams. Others are more like cheerleaders who encourage their direct reports to learn on their own. But the best managers are “connectors,” says Gartner’s Sari Wilde. Wilde is part of a team at Gartner Research that surveyed 5,000 managers around the world to understand how management style affects the success of a team.