Self-awareness in leadership development is sound, but insufficient

Herminia Ibarra Career Management,   Leadership Chief Learning Officer

Increasing leadership capacity is an increasingly important part of a company’s business strategy. Unfortunately, formal leadership development efforts often fall short of expectations. At best, managers gain valuable personal insights but fail to learn how they can apply them to create value for their organization. As managers step into bigger leadership roles, there are pitfalls to popular, self-awareness-centered approaches to …

The Key to Becoming a Strategy-Minded Executive

Herminia Ibarra Career Management,   Leadership The Wall Street Journal

Some executives believe that if they set aside a few hours each week for uninterrupted thinking, they will have more and better strategic ideas. This is not only wishful thinking, it’s backward thinking. We are much more likely to act our way into strategic thinking than we are to think our way into strategic action. Many executives who want to …

Tips on career rebounds for French socialists and CEOs alike

Herminia Ibarra Career Management,   Leadership The Financial Times

Herminia Ibarra of Insead on Arnaud Montebourg’s business school reinvention and other comebacks. Teaching at France’s Insead business school, I’ve had a ringside seat this term for an intriguing career U-turn. One of my pupils on the advanced management programme was Arnaud Montebourg, the former French economy minister who was this year ousted from President François Hollande’s cabinet. Mr Montebourg, …

How Companies Are Putting Managers in a Bind

Herminia Ibarra Career Management,   Leadership The Wall Street Journal

Businesses Are Giving Bosses New Responsibilities but Not Training Them for Those Roles Businesses are putting managers in a tough spot: They’re forcing bosses to take on many new responsibilities – but they’re not training them to get those jobs done. With competition fierce and the business climate changing rapidly, companies are telling their leaders that it’s no longer enough …

Hiring and Big Data: Those Who Could Be Left Behind

Herminia Ibarra Career Management Harvard Business Review

Recruiters, HR managers, and investors have always sought better ways of identifying who fits and has potential, and how to allocate opportunities to them. Big data holds the promise of not only vastly improved efficiencies but also bringing greater objectivity to our very unconsciously biased human decision-making. And without a doubt, predictive “people analytics” are starting to transform how employers …

How to Break Through a Career Impasse

Herminia Ibarra Career Management,   Leadership Harvard Business Review

Many of the successful managers and professionals who come back to business school at mid-career are looking for more than honing their leadership skills. Many are stuck in their careers. They’re looking for direction and support for the changes they long to make in the near future. But, their networks just keep dragging them back to the past – and …

Six Ways to Grow Your Job

Herminia Ibarra Career Management,   Leadership Harvard Business Review

In today’s resource-constrained environment, many of us are delivering 120% on the current demands of our job—but devoting little time to developing ourselves further or positioning ourselves for a future move. As one of my executive MBA students recently told me, “I know that I have to carve out more time to think strategically about my business, but all my …

What’s Your Story?

Herminia Ibarra and Kent Lineback Career Management Harvard Business Review

At a recent networking event, senior managers who’d been downsized out of high-paying corporate jobs took turns telling what they had done before and what they were looking for next. Person after person stood up and recounted a laundry list of credentials and jobs, in chronological order. Many felt compelled to begin with their first job, some even with their …

How to Stay Stuck in the Wrong Career

Herminia Ibarra Career Management Harvard Business Review

Everyone knows a story about a smart and talented businessperson who has lost his or her passion for work, who no longer looks forward to going to the office yet remains stuck without a visible way out. Most everyone knows a story, too, about a person who ditched a 20-year career to pursue something completely different—the lawyer who gave it …

Making Partner: A Mentors Guide to the Psychological Journey

Herminia Ibarra Career Management Harvard Business Review

At some point in their careers, every management consultant, investment banker, and accountant must attempt the leap from professional to partner. For some, it’s an easy jump over the crevasse. They have learned what it takes to woo clients and keep them satisfied; they have learned to lead with confidence. But for most, it’s a frustrating and confusing experience in …