McKinsey Talks Talent

Time is finite and leadership pressures are legion, particularly in the throes of change. Nevertheless, the best leaders persist in cultivating generosity with their teams—and they see a range of advantages as a result. On this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, McKinsey leaders and talent experts Brooke Weddle, Bryan Hancock, and Dana Maor  speak with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about why—and how—to invest in generosity at work, as well as about the overarching benefits of shifting to a mindset of abundance, versus one of scarcity, for aspiring leaders.See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Everybody hurts sometimes, R.E.M. once famously sang. And if you’re in human resources, your job is to help. On this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, McKinsey leaders and talent experts Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock join Wendy Miller, McKinsey’s chief people officer for North America, as well as global editorial director Lucia Rahilly, to discuss the dynamics that are making HR tougher than ever—as well as what leaders can do differently to begin turning morale around.See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Middle management was already a tough gig. Then generative AI (gen AI) entered the fray. A year after the publication of their book Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work (Harvard Business Review Press, July 2023), McKinsey partners Bryan Hancock and Emily Field join global editorial director Lucia Rahilly to revisit whether and why middle managers matter, what leaders could do differently to make more of the managers on their team, and how gen AI could change middle managers’ jobs—for the better. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Narcissism. Overconfidence. Low EQ. Why do we persist in selecting for leadership traits that hamper organizational progress—and leave the right potential leaders in the wrong roles? In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, author of Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?: (And How to Fix It) (Harvard Business Review Press, March 2019), joins McKinsey talent leaders Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle, as well as global editorial director Lucia Rahilly, to discuss why the traits that propel us to the top seem to diverge so widely from those that make us great leaders—as well as how to choose stronger, more successful, and more diverse candidates for leadership roles. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

Empathy: we all aspire to it, but does it really make a performance difference in the workplace? Definitely, according to Jamil Zaki, a research psychologist at Stanford University and author of The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World (Crown, June 2019). In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Jamil joins McKinsey talent leaders Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle, with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly, to make the case for investing in empathic behavior—for reasons including higher productivity, a stronger workplace culture, and better organizational health—as well as to discuss how to go about cultivating kindness at work.See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

A people-focused approach to AI can transform jobs for the better—and improve performance, too

Most of us don’t exactly dream about becoming a middle manager. But in fact, middle managers play a pivotal role in organizational success, according to the new book Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work (Harvard Business Review Press, July 2023). On this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, authors Emily Field, Bryan Hancock, and Bill Schaninger talk with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about the benefits the best managers can bring—and about how to rethink middle management roles for maximum ROI.See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information