Reinventing your career in the time of coronavirus

HERMINIA IBARRA Career Management HBR

Unexpected events or shocks disrupt our habitual routines, jolt us out of our comfort zones, and lead us to ask big questions about what matters and what is worth doing. It’s no wonder, then, that during the current pandemic, many people are rethinking their careers. But is this really the right time? Even for those of us lucky enough not …

The Leader as Coach

HERMINIA IBARRA Leadership HBR

Once upon a time, most people began successful careers by developing expertise in a technical, functional, or professional domain. Doing your job well meant having the right answers. If you could prove yourself that way, you’d rise up the ladder and eventually move into people management—at which point you had to ensure that your subordinates had those same answers. As …

Take a wrecking ball to those iconic practices

HERMINIA IBARRA Leadership SMR

Here’s what today’s leaders need to do to knock down obstacles to cultural change. Editor’s note: This article is part of a new MIT SMR series about how leadership is evolving in a digital world. Most leaders today are trying to do the same things: help their organizations become more agile, more innovative, more digitally savvy, and more customer-centric. Sooner or later, though, …

Leading law firms in the digital age

HEIDI K GARDNER AND HERMINIA IBARRA Leadership HBR

Law firm leaders must figure out how to guide their organisation through the inevitable process of digital transformation. Leveraging outsiders’ experiences, modernising systems and piloting new approaches, and instilling a learning culture are all essential – but not easy – steps for digital leaders. Artificial intelligence and other emerging digital technologies are undoubtedly poised to disrupt the business models of …

How a new mindset and a massive culture change made Microsoft number one again

HERMINIA IBARRA Leadership LBSR

It wasn’t all that long ago when tech giants like AOL, Yahoo and Blackberry seemed immortal. Today, of course, we remember them only as fallen giants – a fate Microsoft appeared to be headed toward less than a decade ago. That Microsoft was able to fully revive itself when other first-generation technology innovators couldn’t begs the big leadership questions: “What did …

A Lack of Sponsorship Is Keeping Women from Advancing into Leadership

HERMINIA IBARRA Women & Work HBR

Too few women are reaching the top of their organizations, and a big reason is that they are not getting the high-stakes assignments that are prerequisite for a shot at the C-suite. Often, this is due to a lack of powerful sponsors demanding and ensuring that they get these stepping-stone jobs. Ensuring that women get the sponsorship they need to …

Microsoft: instilling a growth mindset

HERMINIA IBARRA AND ANEETA RATTAN Leadership LBSR

When Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in February 2014, the company seemed in danger of fading into irrelevance. Now its share price is at an all-time high. How did he do it? By Herminia Ibarra and Aneeta Rattan In less than five years as CEO, Satya Nadella has taken Microsoft from a company perceived as a Windows-centric lumbering giant …

From know-it-alls to learn-it-alls: How leaders can instil a growth mindset

HERMINIA IBARRA AND ANEETA RATTAN Leadership WORK

It’s tempting to stick to what you know. Especially when things are going well. But success in the long run also means knowing when and how to hit “refresh” when you need to come up with new ideas to deal with disruption. Take the example of Microsoft. Back in February 2014, the company was in danger of becoming irrelevant. The …

A 5-Part Process for Using Technology to Improve Your Talent Management

Herminia Ibarra and Patrick Petitti Career Management HBR

At the law firm Allen & Overy, the idea of replacing traditional, annual performance appraisals with a technology-enabled continuous feedback system did not come from human resources. It came from a leader within the practice. Wanting something that encouraged more-frequent conversations between associates and partners, the senior lawyer read about what companies like Adobe were doing, and then asked his …