Harvard Business Review

The Science of Sales Conversations with Gong’s Amit Bendov | Cold Call

31 Aug 2023

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Gong’s business proposition is simple: provide software that automatically captures, understands, and analyzes written and spoken sales conversations to help sales teams sell more effectively. But can technology that leverages conversational insights make a measurable impact on a company’s bottom line? Harvard Business School associate professor Alison Wood Brooks and Gong CEO and co-founder Amit Bendov discuss what salespeople can learn from their own conversations and how Gong can defend against current and future competitors in the case...

Boredom Is a Skill. Practice It.

10 Sep 2025

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Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks (@drarthurbrooks) explains why boredom unlocks creativity, and might even protect you from depression. For more insights, explore Arthur's new book, "The Happiness Files": https://s.hbr.org/45yh8ne You can also sign up to receive Arthur’s new six-week newsletter, “The Leader’s Happiness Reset" here: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters

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How the Covid-19 Pandemic is Forcing Companies to Build AI Skills Quickly

20 Jan 2021

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A huge digital transformation is gaining speed, and to succeed firms must focus on their digital core. The challenge for companies that have not been AI-centric is: how to adapt? Many thought they had time to make critical adjustments, but with the pandemic changing the way we work, that is no longer a choice. The good news is that even legacy firms can quickly develop a digital core based on software, data, digital networks, and a fundamentally new operating...

The Five T's of Great Coaches - Part 1: It’s Not (Only) About Winning

6 Jun 2023

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What can leaders learn from both winning and losing? This is Part 1 of our series exploring what lessons major-league, professional sports coaches have for business leaders seeking to unlock human potential on their teams. New installments coming in June and July. Hosted by Ranjay Gulati, the Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and author of "Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High-Performance Companies". Follow us: https://hbr.org/ ht...

How to Speak Up in Meetings | Christine vs. Work

31 Aug 2020

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𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮! ✨ https://www.youtube.com/c/HBRAscend ✨ The meeting is almost over and you’ve been too nervous to say anything. We feel you. Here’s what to do. It’s easy to just coast through meeting after meeting and go unheard. But not speaking up in meetings can have a negative impact on your value at work. Adding to the conversation during a meeting can be stressful, but it’s not impossible. Innovation Editor Christine Liu spoke to Justin Hale, host of “One Productive Minute” and speaking coach at VitalSmarts, for guidance on how to...

How to Answer “What Are Your Salary Expectations?”

8 Dec 2023

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Go too low and you may end up making less than a prospective employer was willing to pay, but go too high and you could price yourself out of the job. Luckily, there are smart ways to answer–or not answer–this question. Here’s how to be ready for this point in the job interview, so you can maximize your pay without minimizing your chances of getting the job offer. For more, check out the HBR article: https://hbr.org/2023/02/how-to-answer-what-are-your-salary-expectations 00:00 You’re probably...

Using Improv Comedy to Unite Your Team

17 May 2019

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Here's what happened when a behavioral scientist took a comedy class. Read more at https://hbr.org/2019/05/using-improv-to-unite-your-team. --------------------------------------------------------------------- At Harvard Business Review, we believe in management. If the world’s organizations and institutions were run more effectively, if our leaders made better decisions, if people worked more productively, we believe that all of us — employees, bosses, customers, our families, and the people our businesses affect — would be better off. So we try to arm our readers with ideas that help them become smarter, more c...

What Went Wrong with the Boeing 737 Max?

Uploaded 19-07-23

19 Jul 2023

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How did the evolution of Boeing’s organization and management lead to two tragic plane crashes within six months, in which a total of 346 people died?

Harvard Business School professor Bill George discusses the long roots that ultimately led to the crash of Lion Air flight 610 in October 2018 in Indonesia and the crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 in March 2019 in Ethiopia. He discusses the role cost cutting, regulatory pressure, and CEO succession played in laying the foundation fo...

How Do I Bounce Back After My First Layoff? | S1E7 | New Here

8 Dec 2023

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So you were laid off for the first time. How do you recover and move forward with your career? We’re told that layoffs aren’t personal. They’re a business decision. But that doesn’t make the emotions any easier to process as you figure out how to move on. HR consultant Meloney Sallie-Dosunmu has laid people off, but she’s also been laid off. In this episode, she joins one of our own listeners, Nydia Bryan Martinez...

Your Team's Happiness Starts with You

19 Nov 2025

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The secret to a happier workplace? The boss. Harvard professor @drarthurbrooks explains why leaders’ emotional health directly shapes culture—and why working on your own happiness is part of the job. Sign up to receive Arthur's new six-week newsletter “The Leader’s Happiness Reset": https://s.hbr.org/49XFIlg

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How to Ask for a Raise | Christine vs. Work

Uploaded 09-11-21

9 Nov 2021

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𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝘼𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮! ✨ https://www.youtube.com/c/HBRAscend ✨

Make a compelling case for getting paid more. Then stop talking.
Subscribe to the Ascend newsletter: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters?movetile_hbpascendnl&hideIntromercial=true

Learn more about our sponsor, Confluence, at https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence/meet-less and https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence

Asking for a raise can feel tempting, but also daunting. How do you bring it up with your manager? Are there things you should (or shouldn’t) say when negotiating pay? W...

How the Unionization Trend is Changing Workplace Dynamics | HBR IdeaCast | Podcast

Uploaded 07-12-22

7 Dec 2022

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For years, union membership has been shrinking in the United States and many other countries. But recently we’ve seen a resurgence, with employees in sectors like retail, hospitality, and media organizing to collectively bargain for better pay, benefits, and job flexibility. Thomas Kochan, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, has long studied how unions affect individual, team, and corporate performance. He explains why some fears about them are overblown, how workers fo...

Subscribe today! https://www.youtube.com/c/HBRAscend

Uploaded 10-05-22

Announcement! Today, we launched a YouTube channel called "Ascend," which is a vertical from HBR that's focused on helping people who are early in their careers or just starting out. Work in 2022 is challenging. Norms are changing. Career paths aren't as clear as they used to be. But this is all manageable! Ascend is here with guidance on job hunting (our first video is all about cover letters), salary negotiation, communicating in the workplace, and more.

We have familiar faces from HBR's...

The Explainer: Solving Problems by Starting with the Worst Idea Possible

11 Jun 2019

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Sometimes wrong thinking can lead to the right answer. There are many creative tools a designer uses to think differently, but none is more counter-intuitive than “wrong thinking,” also called reverse thinking. Wrong thinking is when you intentionally think of the worst idea possible — the exact opposite of the accepted or logical solution, ideas that can get you laughed at or even fired — and work back from those to find new ways of solving old problems. --------------------------------------------------------------------- At Harvard Business Review...

Introducing HBR Executive: Masterclass

2 Jun 2025

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Level up your leadership with our new HBR Executive offering. Subscribe here: https://s.hbr.org/4mGyOVy

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How Do I Handle a Bad Boss? | S1E2 | New Here

1 Nov 2023

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So, you have your first bad boss. How do you protect yourself? This week on New Here, we learn how to deal with a difficult manager and heal afterward. Leadership coach and TikTok creator Robyn L. Garrett helps host Elainy Mata understand how many managers think — and shares how she handled a bad boss early in her career Plus, Elainy’s own former boss Anita Sen gives us three tips that we can use to protect ourselves from a difficult mana...

How Creativity Is Broken in Silicon Valley

27 May 2025

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Are tech companies stuck on what made them successful in the past? Long-time technologist Telle Whitney says it is time for a reboot. 🎧 Listen to the IdeaCast episode here: https://s.hbr.org/3SkRAUH

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Democracy Is in Trouble. Business Must Help Fix It.

27 Jul 2020

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Strengthening democracy is the only way to ensure the survival of free-market capitalism. Recent survey data paints a sobering picture: Fifty-five percent of Americans say that their democracy is “weak,” and 68% fear it is getting weaker. Roughly half agree that America is in “real danger of becoming a nondemocratic, authoritarian country.” If government is the counterweight to the free market, democracy is the force that ensures that governments do not devolve into tyranny, seizing control of the markets in the process. The business...

When life events leave you feeling stressed out and anxious, bestselling author Neil Pasricha suggests a simple, 2-minute practice to improve the quality of your days.

Uploaded 21-09-21

00:00 Intro
00:23 Are you suffering from decision fatigue?
00:40 Decide what to focus on each day.
01:00 Clearing negative thoughts can be trickier.
01:35 Writing down what you're grateful for can help ...
02:00 ... but you need to get really specific.
02:35 Also list things you will let go of.

Read more: https://hbr.org/2021/01/this-two-minute-morning-practice-will-make-your-day-better

This video is co-produced with @Emeritus . You...

IDEO’s CEO, Sandy Speicher, Asks: What Is an Office Even For Now?

Uploaded 15-12-21

15 Dec 2021

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Speicher explains how design thinking can help guide us to new ways of collaborating as we rethink work and the workplace in a post-Covid world.

This interview part of a series called “The New World of Work,” which explores how top-tier executives see the future and how their companies are trying to set themselves up for success. Each week, Adi will interview a leader on LinkedIn Live — and then share an inside l...

Delta CEO Ed Bastian on Leading an Airline Through Two Years of Pandemic Disruptions

Uploaded 21-01-22

21 Jan 2022

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Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, leads a company that has been on the front lines of pandemic challenges. The majority of Delta’s workforce doesn’t have the option of working from home. Over the past two years, Delta has won widespread praise for its handling of the complexities resulting from Covid, and Bastian has developed ideas and strategies for how a company can not only survive during crisis, but thri...

Office Politics Got You Down?

18 Nov 2024

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Office politics got you down? Executive coach Muriel Wilkins is here with advice and strategies that can help — delivered in one minute or less. Wilkins is the host of HBR’s Coaching Real Leaders, available wherever you get your podcasts. You can also listen here: https://s.hbr.org/33irYhy

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Brands Must Learn to Navigate the Echoverse

2 Aug 2024

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The internet and AI tools are transforming marketing communications within a complex, interactive landscape called the echoverse. While marketing has evolved since the proliferation of the internet, in the echoverse, a diverse network of human and nonhuman actors — consumers, brands, AI agents, and more — continuously interact, influence, and reshape messages across digital platforms. Traditional one-way and two-way communication models have given way to omnidirectional communication. Marketers need to adapt to this looser, more collaborative approach in their brand messaging. — Read the full article: https://s.hbr...

Dr. Anthony Fauci on What It Will Take to Beat the Pandemic

3 Jul 2020

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The U.S. is still dealing with the first wave of Covid-19, he says. This video was recorded live on July 2, 2020. Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, offers his thinking on the current state of the pandemic. "We should not be thinking about a second wave," he warns. "We are still knee-deep in the first wave." He discusses how to balance safety vs. the need to return the economy to some sense of...

How Do I Stay Motivated After Surviving Layoffs? | Coaching Real Leaders

5 Jun 2023

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She’s finally found a leadership role that feels aligned with her personal mission. But in the wake of unexpected company-wide layoffs, she’s struggling with how to plan for her team’s future amid the organizational uncertainty. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through how she can motivate and lead her team when so much feels out of their control. Further reading: - How to Deal with Layoff Anxiety: https://hbr.org/2022/09/how-to-deal-with-layoff-anxiety - How to Support Your Remaining Employees After...

How Do I Define My New Role to Set Myself Up for Success?

Uploaded 20-06-23

She’s found a career path she truly enjoys, in part because of her ability to take risks and try new things. Now, as her team is reorganized, she has the opportunity to design her next leadership position, but she’s not sure what she needs to ask for in order to be successful. Host Muriel Wilkins coaches her through reframing what may be holding her back and identifying the priorities she wants to focus on going forward.

F...

How to Jumpstart Creativity

27 Feb 2025

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In the age of Gen AI, human creativity matters more than ever. So how do you jumpstart your own and your team’s creativity? Try these prompts. Read the full article by Kathryn Jacob and Sue Unerman here: https://s.hbr.org/3CZrG4N

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How to Ask Your (Unsupportive) Manager for Growth Opportunities

29 Apr 2025

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No support from your manager? You still have options. Learn how to ask for what you want and find people who’ll help you grow—on Women at Work from HBR. 🎙️ New episodes every other Monday: https://s.hbr.org/48ugTuq

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Giving Tuesday Is an International Success. Creator Henry Timms Shares How They Did It

Uploaded 09-12-22

9 Dec 2022

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Henry Timms is CEO at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and creator of GivingTuesday, the global philanthropic movement that has generated billions of dollars for good causes around the world.

Timms credits Giving Tuesday’s success to its use of “new power.” New power is the opposite of top-down “old power”: It’s collaborative, open, and inclusive. Anyone, anywhere can adapt Giving Tuesday to suit their own giving goals, leading to a...

When Does Dr. Fauci Think "Normal" Will Happen?

20 Jan 2021

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the U.S., returns to HBR Now to discuss the latest coronavirus surge, his expectations for a more effective vaccination roll-out, and when we can expect to restart our normal lives. --------------------------------------------------------------------- At Harvard Business Review, we believe in management. If the world’s organizations and institutions were run more effectively, if our leaders made better decisions, if people worked more productively, we believe that all of us — employees, bosses, customers, our families, and the...

Marcus Buckingham Shows You The Most Engaged Employee in the World

20 May 2019

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Barbara is a composite character based on factors that make us feel engaged, and she has a pet python. --------------------------------------------------------------------- At Harvard Business Review, we believe in management. If the world’s organizations and institutions were run more effectively, if our leaders made better decisions, if people worked more productively, we believe that all of us — employees, bosses, customers, our families, and the people our businesses affect — would be better off. So we try to arm our readers with ideas that h...

Using Philosophy to Deal with a Mid-Career Crisis

27 Feb 2019

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When MIT philosophy professor Kieran Setiya had a midlife crisis, he turned to philosophy for help — and was surprised by how much it had to say. To find out what he learned, go to https://hbr.org/2019/03/facing-your-mid-career-crisis --------------------------------------------------------------------- At Harvard Business Review, we believe in management. If the world’s organizations and institutions were run more effectively, if our leaders made better decisions, if people worked more productively, we believe that all of us — employees, bosses, customers, our families, and the people our bu...

What Business Leaders Can Learn from Taylor Swift's Productive Paranoia

18 Apr 2025

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HBR editor Kevin Evers breaks down how Taylor Swift’s “productive paranoia” helps her stay ahead—and what business leaders can learn from it. Find his book, ‘There’s Nothing Like This,' here: https://s.hbr.org/3GcLbI6

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Purpose-Driven Leadership in an Era of Polarization

8 Dec 2025

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Former Ford Foundation president Darren Walker talks about the whiplash leaders have faced in recent years—and why courageous, nuanced leadership is essential when public discourse swings to the extremes. Listen to the full IdeaCast episode here: https://s.hbr.org/49R1tDx

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Live from Davos: Is AI Taking Jobs—Or Transforming Them?

23 Jan 2026

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Verizon CEO Dan Schulman and Microsoft President Brad Smith clash over a defining question of the AI era in a conversation led by HBR editor at large Adi Ignatius and cohosted with our partner @EgonZehnder . Discover more insights at https://s.hbr.org/4kquVBQ.

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U.S. Politics Are Broken: Here's How Industry Competition Theory Can Help Fix the System

25 Oct 2024

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Unhealthy competition is at the root of political dysfunction. Applying a famous business framework can help identify the best ways to fix it. (This video was originally published in 2020.) Although people tend to think of the American political system as a public institution based on high-minded principles, it’s not. Politics behaves according to the same kinds of incentives and forces that shape competition in any private industry. Our elections and our legislative systems are drowning in...

How to Be an Anti-Ableist Ally | Christine vs Work

7 Dec 2023

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When your company envisions a “normal” employee or a “normal” customer, who do they see? And when does that definition of “normal” underscore an ableist bias within the business? 00:00 Facts you should know 00:59 Meet Lydia X. Z. Brown 01:36 Is my workplace ableist? 03:33 What does ableism look like? 05:35 How to be an anti-ableist ally 07:42 How to own up to mistakes 08:40 What needs to change? Ableism is defined as discrimination or social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior...

Undercover Boss: A Fictionalized Case Study

20 Feb 2019

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Case study: An airline boss goes undercover to gather ideas for speeding up the cleaning of planes in between flights. Watch the video and let us know what you’d do. hbr.org/turntimes

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Boredom Is Essential. Here's Why.

4 Sep 2025

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Boredom isn’t a bug—it’s a feature. Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks (@drarthurbrooks) explains why boredom benefits us. For more insights, explore Arthur's new book, "The Happiness Files": https://s.hbr.org/45yh8ne You can also sign up to receive Arthur’s new six-week newsletter, “The Leader’s Happiness Reset" here: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters

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TikTok: Super App or Supernova? | Cold Call

31 May 2023

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TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was launched in 2012 around the simple idea of helping users entertain themselves on their smartphones while on the Beijing Subway. By May 2020, TikTok operated in 155 countries and, together with Douyin (its China app), it had roughly one billion monthly active users, placing it in the top ranks of digital platforms globally. Some industry experts argued that it was the first consumer app operating at scale where artificial intelligence (or AI) was the product. But TikTok had drawn the attention of...