HBR On Leadership

David Novak, former chair and CEO who scaled KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell and author of How Leaders Learn. He explains why continuous learning matters and describes three ways leaders learn. He talks about choosing growth environments, learning from experience and failure, and turning curiosity into habits that drive action.

Peter Cuneo, seasoned turnaround executive and former Marvel CEO who led major comebacks, shares how to diagnose struggling businesses and why culture matters. He talks about rapid financial mastery, bold talent moves, and balancing competitor study with radical ideas. He also explains communication rituals that rebuild teams and when fresh leadership is necessary.

Phil Knight, co-founder and former CEO of Nike and author of Shoe Dog, reflects on starting the company with coach Bill Bowerman and shaping its innovation-led culture. He discusses early product breakthroughs like the Cortez and waffle sole. He also talks about leadership lessons, crisis-driven on-the-job training, and the challenges of CEO succession.

Jay Barney, a professor of organizational culture and strategy, explains how authentic, memorable stories rewrite old company narratives. He discusses why actions, not announcements, create culture-changing stories. He covers theatrical leader gestures, the need for both business case and emotional appeal, how stories spread, and challenges like remote work to storytelling.

Jamil Zaki, Stanford psychology professor and empathy researcher, explains why rising cynicism harms workplace trust and productivity. He contrasts healthy skepticism with corrosive mistrust. He discusses how leadership practices and culture fuel cynicism, what behaviors reveal it, and practical steps leaders can take to rebuild trust and encourage collaboration.

Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, project management expert and author, explains why projects often fail and how to change that. He reframes projects as change work. He discusses prioritization, freeing top talent to focus, building volunteer-driven teams, and structuring organizations to own outcomes. Practical advice on sponsorship, methods, and shifting toward project-based roles is highlighted.

Wayne Baker, sociologist and professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, studies workplace helping and wrote All You Have to Ask. He explains why people avoid asking for help and how thoughtful requests can increase perceived competence. He contrasts learning-focused versus solution-seeking asks. He outlines practical tools like SMART requests, Reciprocity Rings, and habits leaders can model to normalize asking.

Eugene Soltes, Harvard Business School professor who studies white-collar crime, shares where integrity lapses hide in organizations. He describes how ordinary misconduct can escalate and why pressures, norms, and distance of consequences matter. He outlines a simple survey to spot hotspots and how to target compliance and fix root causes before problems grow.

Tsedal Neeley, a Harvard Business School professor specializing in global teams and digital collaboration, dives into the complexities of leading across cultures and time zones. She highlights the critical importance of mutual adaptation and ongoing learning to bridge communication gaps. Neeley shares strategies to recreate face-to-face dynamics in virtual settings, like quick check-ins for spontaneous sharing. She also addresses the challenges faced by nonnative English speakers, stressing the need for inclusive communication to ensure all team members can contribute fully.

In this engaging discussion, Matt Abrahams, a lecturer at Stanford and host of Think Fast, Talk Smart, shares his expertise on impromptu speaking. He emphasizes the importance of spontaneous communication for leaders, offering tips on managing anxiety and crafting compelling messages on the fly. Matt introduces the 'What, So What, Now What' structure for structuring responses and suggests strategies for sounding natural and memorable. His insights include using pauses and nonverbal cues to enhance delivery while embracing imperfection to connect better with audiences.