Taking Gender into Account: Theory and Design for Women’s Leadership Development Programs

Robin Ely, Herminia Ibarra and Deborah Kolb Women & Work Academy of Management Learning & Education

We conceptualize leadership development as identity work and show how subtle forms of gender bias in the culture and in organizations interfere with the identity work of women leaders. Based on this insight, we revisit traditional approaches to standard leadership topics, such as negotiations and leading change, as well as currently popular developmental tools, such as 360-degree feedback and networking; …

Are You a Collaborative Leader?

Herminia Ibarra and Morten T. Hansen Leadership Harvard Business Review

Watching his employees use a new social technology, Marc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce.com, had an epiphany. His company had developed Chatter, a Facebook inspired application for companies that allows users to keep track of their colleagues and customers and share information and ideas. The employees had been trying it out internally, not just within their own work groups but …

Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women

Herminia Ibarra, Nancy M. Carter and Christine Silva Women & Work Harvard Business Review

Nathalie (all names in this article are disguised), a senior marketing manager at a multinational consumer goods company and a contender for chairman in her country, was advised by her boss to raise her profile locally. An excellent intracompany network wouldn’t be enough to land her the new role, he told her; she must also become active in events and …

The Best-Performing CEOs in the World

Morte T. Hansen, Herminia Ibarra and Urs Peyer Leadership Harvard Business Review

A lot of people have blamed short-term thinking for causing our current economic troubles, which has set off a debate about what time window we should use to assess a CEO’s performance. Today boards of directors, senior managers, and investors intensely want to know how CEOs handle the ups and downs of running businesses over an extended period. Many executive …

Women and the “Vision Thing”

Herminia Ibarra and Otilia Obodaru Women & Work Harvard Business Review

Many believe that bias against women lingers in the business world, particularly when it comes to evaluating their leadership ability. Recently, we had a chance to see whether that assumption was true. In a study of thousands of 360-degree assessments collected by Insead’s executive education program over the past five years, we looked at whether women actually received lower ratings …

How Leaders Create and Use Networks

Herminia Ibarra and Mark Lee Hunter Leadership Harvard Business Review

When Henrik Balmer became the production manager and a board member of a newly bought-out cosmetics firm, improving his network was the last thing on his mind. The main problem he faced was time: Where would he find the hours to guide his team through a major upgrade of the production process and then think about strategic issues like expanding …

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 …