Harvard Business Review

Oftentimes, C-suite meetings become performative report-outs or firefighting sessions (a result of the strong personalities and busy schedules of everyone involved). Yet, in wasting this precious time together, leaders miss out on the opportunity to build true forward-looking momentum and craft innovative strategies. This HBR Executive Playbook provides three clear ways to make your executive meetings a more effective use of your team’s time.

Frontline workers’ trust in employer-provided AI is declining, with many turning to unapproved tools. Companies can address this by: 1) measuring trust using real-time, behavioral metrics; 2) investing in frontline workers’ skills to foster collaboration with AI; 3) designing AI with worker input to ensure co-creation; 4) encouraging experimentation through digital playgrounds and supportive incentives; and 5) empowering team leaders to build trust and momentum, making adoption a movement driven by frontline leadership. These remedies help organizations close the trust gap and unlock AI’s full potential.

Women who aspire to senior leadership roles face a number of systemic, gendered barriers. But a new study found that dealing with the symptoms of menopause doesn’t have to be one of them. Researchers studied 64 middle-aged peri- and postmenopausal women who held senior leadership positions to see if there were any throughlines in the way they navigated changes associated with menopause. The researchers found that these women tended to follow the archetypical “hero’s journey” arc: Symptoms started a quest for answers. Equipped with greater knowledge, they battled ignorance and stigma alongside a band of peers, mentors, and friends. Many women reported that overcoming challenges related to their symptoms helped them gain inner strength and new skills. Finally, their experiences motivated them to make a difference and improve systems for future women leaders. Understanding this arc can be a roadmap—and more optimistic story—for women leaders as they enter into this new phase of life.

A leader worries about how to adjust as the tide changes at her organization.

Many leaders find coaching daunting. It feels time-consuming, intangible, and far removed from the hard metrics they’re used to managing. But coaching can be a flexible, everyday leadership behavior—not a rigid framework. There are six unconventional, real-world coaching practices that are quick, spontaneous, and deeply impactful: 1) Using in-the-moment nudges; 2) giving exposure; 3) connecting; 4) letting go; 5) coaching in context; and 6) modeling. Through spontaneous conversations, contextual feedback, and authentic human moments, leaders can build confidence, clarity, and capability in others.

Recent data shows that discontent is a growing problem in today’s workplaces. While budget constraints, corporate policies, and market conditions are often beyond your reach, you can control how you lead. Stay attuned to your team members’ frustrations, ask for their input on decisions that affect their work, and pay attention to their career progress and well-being. Small, consistent actions matter more than grand gestures. Remove obstacles where you can, and treat people like they matter. You won’t solve everything, but you might just make work feel a little less miserable.

Most people are familiar with the language of fight, flight, or freeze to describe the body’s instinctive survival responses to perceived threats. There are three additional, less-known threat responses: please/appease (sometimes called fawning), attach/cry for help, and collapse. We unconsciously carry our survival strategies into adult life—including work. The responses can result in disruptive behaviors, which could signal that psychological safety is lacking. Your task as a leader is to read these behaviors as valuable data about how someone may be experiencing your team’s climate. When you respond with curiosity, consistency, and compassion, you create the psychological safety needed to unlock untapped, authentic contribution hiding behind unhelpful patterns of self-protection.

After covering for open roles for a long time, leaders may struggle to adjust their schedules and responsibilities once new hires have filled the positions. While they should have more time on their calendar to focus on their individual responsibilities and objectives, they might find themselves still controlling details of projects, having meeting-filled days, and dealing with overpacked schedules, despite having more hands on deck. Intentionally reevaluating and letting go of old habits is essential to reclaim your time, so you can focus on your own role in an organization. First, review your calendar and remove yourself from meetings that new hires can handle. Second, hand off tasks and projects to new hires quickly. Third, identify key areas where your impact is greatest and schedule focused time for strategic activities. Finally, consciously take breaks and engage in restorative activities to prevent burnout.

The most effective leaders know how and when to ask for executive backing. Some leaders wait too long, asking only after opposition has already set in. Others ask too soon, or when they don’t truly need it, unintentionally signaling dependence. Here is a practical framework for leaders in this situation: how to diagnose when air cover is truly necessary, how to time the ask, how to secure it without looking weak—and how to lead effectively with or without visible backing from above.

Anxiety about the rapid rise of generative AI is not irrational. In fact, it is deeply logical. Our nervous system is designed to react to sudden change and perceived threats, and the impact of this technology on our work lives certainly fits the mold. But unpacking your anxiety can be a leadership superpower if you approach it thoughtfully. First, understand the three main reasons why AI makes you anxious; then you can tap into tools to take action that are in line with your values. What you discover may not singlehandedly change the trajectory of AI in your organization or society. But it will give you the ability to find clarity in who you are and how you want to lead and act, even when the future is uncertain.

Leadership growth is as much about identity as it is about skill. When you cling to your old job after being promoted to a leadership position and make decisions that should be under someone else’s authority, you cling to a version of yourself who earned the promotion. To thrive at the next level, you must release that identity and embrace a new one. Look at your promotion as an invitation to lead differently. To make a complete transition and empower your team to take ownership of the work you must leave behind, you should 1) clarify your new scope and authority; 2) set a clear transition date; 3) articulate your new leadership narrative; 4) redirect inquiries thoughtfully; and 5) invest in a thought partner.

Middle managers—those crucial conduits between strategy and execution—feel less psychologically safe than both their bosses and their teams. New research shows that fear of failure, lack of peer support, and weak modeling from senior leaders are silencing the very people responsible for transmitting vital information up and down the organization. To restore learning and agility, companies must redesign accountability systems, normalize fallibility from the top, and build stronger communities of practice for the middle layer.

Our Management Tip of the Day newsletter continues to be one of HBR’s most popular newsletters. In this article, we’ve compiled seven of our favorite Tips on leading through uncertainty, from how to become a more courageous leader to how to communicate with your team when times are tough.

Frontline employees’ close contact with customers and processes often put them in the best position to generate innovative ideas. However, in most companies, middle managers act as critical gatekeepers—balancing the potential of these ideas against personal status risks. New research reveals that managers who endorse employee ideas risk losing status whether the idea succeeds (by being overshadowed) or fails (by being blamed). This “Idea Endorser’s Dilemma” can stifle innovation despite executives’ enthusiasm. To counteract this, organizations should diversify decision-making through innovation panels, foster peer-to-peer idea sharing, and realign incentives to reward managerial support of creativity. Cultivating a culture that de-risks endorsement is essential to unlocking the full potential of employee-driven innovation.

Leaders often mask their true emotions to meet workplace demands, but this “surface acting” can trigger a cycle of exhaustion and disengagement that can be hard to break. New research shows that when energy is low, leaders default to faking enthusiasm, which drains them further, making it harder and harder to engage their emotions in a way that resonates with their team. In contrast, “deep acting,” which involves authentically reshaping emotional responses, fosters connection and resilience. Recovery strategies like low-effort relaxation and micro-breaks help leaders recharge and reconnect. By investing in emotional awareness and restoration, leaders can break the spiral, sustain performance, and lead with authenticity, even when facing tough conversations and high-pressure days.