Women at Work

Everyday joys can boost our energy and productivity, so long as we’re able to notice and appreciate them. Kevin reflects on the presence of joy in his life and what keeps him from feeling it. Then, leadership development coach Amy Jen Su gives advice for getting into a mindset that primes us to experience joy and function better all around.

Erica and Kevin show snapshots of life for them these days — basically, frantically working when not giving their all to childcare. They discuss how they’re handling the latest challenges working parenthood has thrown at them, highlighting tools and tips that are helping them cope.

Amy Gallo introduces Erica Truxler and Kevin Evers, two HBR editors hosting a series in which they confront the challenges of managing everything and everyone.

Leadership coach Muriel Wilkins has shared her wisdom on our show multiple times. Now you can listen to and grow from it regularly through Muriel’s new podcast, Coaching Real Leaders. The show takes you inside real-life coaching sessions with executives who’ve hit a bump in the road. In this episode, Muriel speaks with a VP who’s been passed over for a promotion and needs help figuring out how to overcome the setback and get to where she wants to be.

We talk through questions from listeners seeking advice on the challenges they’re facing early in their career — from being excluded from meetings to how to be more assertive.

Coming back to work after parental leave, after having a baby during a pandemic, when you and your colleagues are still working remotely — is complicated. Our colleague describes how she’s approaching remote reentry, and we turn to an expert on all things career and motherhood for guidance on handling childcare, boundaries, and professional relationships during this transition.

After a team member of ours faced a serious medical problem, we recognized how little guidance there was for communicating a health crisis or chronic illness. We talk through common decisions, fears, and conversations.

As we wait for company leaders to make good on the anti-racism commitments they made earlier this year, we check in with four Black women about how their work lives have and haven’t changed. Then we talk with an expert who helps us understand how to keep pushing forward and supporting our Black colleagues while we wait for long-overdue change.

Sometimes you want to make a career change, like a big one. We hear from a woman who is in the process of navigating a bold transition. Then we talk with an expert about how to clarify your goals and ask for what you need to make your next move.

With the help of an expert in side gigs, Emily confronts the hobbies, projects, and pursuits that she’s neglected, in hopes of helping herself and others invest in interests outside of a full-time job.

We’re wiped out and finding it tough to stay focused, present, and optimistic. So we decided to revisit conversations that explore how and why we get worn out and that have advice for building ourselves back up.

Three women who’ve lost work because of the pandemic open up about how they’re processing what's happened and finding a way forward

As offices — including HBR’s — carefully reopen after being closed for months because of the pandemic, we describe what it’s like there and discuss the risks and rewards of being back in person.

One woman’s struggle with shyness prompts us to explore the seeming conflict between being shy and being a leader. We offer strategies for overcoming anxieties that may be keeping you from going after your career goals, as well as advice for supporting socially anxious colleagues. Guest: Alice Boyes.

We continue tracking the ways the pandemic is impacting women’s lives and careers, and discuss how to not only manage the challenges but also shape a more equitable future. Guests: Kathleen McGinn and Katherine Goldstein.