Herminia Ibarra

Many of us recognize intellectually that we need others’ knowledge to solve big problems, yet we still lack the motivation to collaborate. Teamwork all too often feels inefficient (search and coordination costs eat up time), risky (can I trust others to deliver for my client?), low value (our own area of expertise always seems most critical), and political (a sneaky way of self-promoting to …

A good network keeps you informed. Teaches you new things. Makes you more innovative. Gives you a sounding board to flesh out your ideas. Helps you get things done when you’re in a hurry. And, much more (see my recent Lean In video on how networks augment your impact). But, for every person who sees the value of maintaining a …

The late CEO loved a shouting match but staff knew they could speak up, writes Herminia Ibarra Be scared, be very scared, advised the late Andy Grove. “Business success contains the seeds of its own destruction. Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.” Grove’s words, recalled worldwide in the wake of his death last month, are interesting …

Too many bosses are failing to pull up the promising people below, says Herminia Ibarra “You have to kill the mentor,” said one of my students. A murmur of agreement went round my executive MBAs class. We were discussing the case of a 39-year-old manager who had been promised a big promotion by his mentor but the new post was …

It is instructive to trace this archetype back to its origins “My job was to make everyone understand that the impossible was possible. That’s the difference between leadership and management,” reads the back cover of Alex Ferguson’s new book, Leading . It’s hard to think of a business idea that has had more sticking power than the distinction between leadership …