Women at Work

Latest Episodes:

Getting Along with an Insecure, Know-It-All Pessimist Oct 03, 2022

Show notes

Kim’s boss hired her to run operations and human resources at the company he founded, where he is one of four partners. Six months in, she’s baffled by his mix of behaviors, all of which have made her job much harder than it should be. He attacks nearly every modification or upgrade to a process, policy, or program she suggests. He refuses to listen to feedback. The other partners don’t dare to intervene. If it’s his (outdated) way or the highway, why did they bring her in?

She needs his support in order to make any sort of progress. What should she do? What should you do if you find yourself in a similar situation?

In this episode, Amy G talks with Kim about her situation and recommends tactics for her to try. By the end, Kim has a plan to temper his pessimism and gain his trust.

Resources:

Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People), by Amy Gallo
“How to Handle the Pessimist on Your Team,” by Amy Gallo
“How to Respond to Negativity,” by Peter Bregman
“How to Deal with the Know-It-All in Your Office,” by Priscilla Claman
“What to Do If Your Boss Doesn’t Like You,” by Liane Davey
“Research : Insecure Managers Don’t Want Your Suggestions,” by Nathanael J. Fast et al.

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Getting Along with a Biased Tormentor Sep 26, 2022

Show notes

One of the managers Sherri reports to has a history of acting as if widespread bias in the healthcare industry doesn’t exist. In addition to those subtle acts of exclusion, there are the more overt, personal slights. The manager recently led Sherri to believe she was going to secure a new leadership opportunity only to withdraw it the same week, without ever acknowledging the about-face. Then, a tirade over email in response to what Sherri thought was a straightforward request.

Sherri otherwise loves her job and doesn’t want to quit before exhausting all options for making the relationship work. What should she do? What should you do if you find yourself in a similar situation?

In this episode, Amy Gallo talks with Sherri about her situation and recommends tactics for her to try. By the end, Sherri knows what she needs to do to disarm the manager while protecting herself from their aggressions.

Resources:

Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People), by Amy Gallo
“Women Experience More Incivility at Work — Especially from Other Women,” by Allison S. Gabriel et al.
“Your Boss Made a Biased Remark. Should You Confront Them?” by Aneeta Rattan
“Recognizing and Responding to Microaggressions at Work,” by Ella F. Washington
“Research: Shifting the Power Balance with an Abusive Boss,” by Hui Liao et al.
“What to Do When Your Boss Betrays You,” by Ron Carucci

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Getting Along with a Political Operator Sep 19, 2022

Show notes

Part of Olivia’s job is to facilitate communication and cooperation between her former boss and senior management. Since Olivia transitioned from being a direct report to a liason, her former boss has been shutting her out of precisely the conversations she’s supposed to be supporting. In addition to excluding her, her former boss often demeans her and dodges her attempts to reset the relationship and connect like they used to.

Olivia’s concerned that this politicking is undermining her reputation and will jeopardize her chances of being promoted. What should she do? What should you do if you find yourself in a similar situation?

In this episode, Amy G talks with Olivia about her situation and recommends tactics for her to try. By the end, Olivia knows what she needs to do to get her former boss to see her as a partner, regain a seat at the table — and politik in a way that benefits the entire team..

Resources:

Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) by Amy Gallo
“Playing Office Politics Without Selling Your Soul,” by Robert Kaiser et al.
“Office Politics Don’t Have to Be Toxic,” by Madeleine Wyatt and Elena Doldor
“Navigating Office Politics When There Is No Office,” by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Dorie Clark

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Getting Along with a Passive-Aggressive Gossip Sep 12, 2022

Show notes

Lynne has a colleague in a different department whose work is interdependent with hers, and he’s been surreptitiously encroaching on the scope of her role. He’s also been criticizing her behind her back. During their regular one-on-one meetings, he says everything’s fine, and he never mentions the work he’s doing that falls outside of his responsibilities.

When she raised these issues to him, he changed the subject. Lynne worries that the ongoing bad-mouthing and overstepping are damaging her reputation. What should she do? What should you do if you find yourself in a similar situation?

In this episode, Amy G talks with Lynne and recommends tactics for her to try. By the end of the episode, Lynne has a clear way forward and knows what she needs to do to improve her working relationship and protect her career.

Resources:

Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) by Amy Gallo
“How to Handle Office Gossip … When It’s About You,” by Joseph Grenny
“How to Deal with a Passive-Aggressive Colleague,” by Amy Gallo
“How to Navigate a Turf War at Work,” by Amy Gallo

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Introducing Getting Along Sep 05, 2022

Show notes

Ever worked with somebody who can’t make a decision? Or who complains about anything and everything? Is there a person on your team who explains things that others already clearly understand? Does your boss put down your accomplishments?

No one should have to put up with rude, unprofessional, or hostile behavior from a colleague. You can counteract and even preempt it by using certain tactics and phrases. Amy Gallo will teach you which ones, plus how and when to deploy them, through coaching sessions with real women dealing with different types of difficult people.

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

Emily’s Taking a Break from Nine-to-Five Jun 01, 2022

Show notes

Our free-spirited, entrepreneurial co-host is applying advice from all our episodes on side gigs, freelancing, starting a small business — and quitting — to her own life. Emily reflects on her decision to leave her design job at HBR to fully focus on a long-time creative passion, as well as how she’s thinking about her career going forward.

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

“Let’s Take Our Side Gigs Off the Back-Burner,” from Women at Work
“Stacey Abrams and Lara Hodgson on Starting and Scaling a Small Business,” from Women at Work
“Keep the Challenges of Freelancing in Check,” from Women at Work
“So You’re Thinking About Quitting Your Job…” from Women at Work

When a Relationship with a Colleague Goes Sour May 16, 2022

Show notes

Say someone on your team who had previously been friendly turns on you and is now making your life miserable and collaboration nearly impossible. Maybe they won’t respond to your emails or even look you in the eye?

This is the distressing situation that “Cindy,” a listener of Conferences for Women’s Women Amplified podcast, found herself in. Host Celeste Headlee, invited Amy Gallo on to help give Cindy advice as part of the show’s series “That’s a Good Question.” Cindy talks to Celeste and Amy about how she doesn’t even know what’s causing the tension. She can’t get answers from her colleague and doesn’t know how to continue working with someone who’s being so difficult.

The approaches that come out of the conversation are ones that anyone facing tension in a work relationship can use to find a way forward.

Resources:

Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People), by Amy Gallo
HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, by Amy Gallo
“Navigating Conflict,” by Women at Work
“How to Mend a Work Relationship,” by Brianna Barker Caza et al.
“How to Deal with a Mean Colleague,” by Amy Gallo
“How to Collaborate with People You Don’t Like,” by Mark Nevins

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

The Essentials: Delegating Effectively Apr 25, 2022

Show notes

Delegating is a leadership skill that benefits you and your team. But determining when and how to delegate which tasks to whom can be overwhelming. And the discomfort many of us feel around assigning responsibilities to others or making requests of our colleagues can lead us to falsely believe it’s easier to just continue doing everything ourselves.

To learn how to delegate in a way that delivers the results you’re hoping for, we’re bringing in an aerospace engineer who wants to overcome the awkward, difficult parts of delegating so that she can do more strategic work. She and Amy G talk to a leadership coach who shares practices that will ensure the work gets done and will leave you and the person you delegated to feeling good about the experience.

Guests:

Deborah Grayson Riegel is a communication and presentation skills coach. She is the coauthor of Overcoming Overthinking and Go To Help.

Jasmine LeFlore is an aerospace engineer at Raytheon Technologies and runs Greater Than Tech, a nonprofit that teaches girls about engineering and business.

Resources:

• “8 Ways Leaders Delegate Successfully,” by Deborah Grayson Riegel

• “Managers: Compassion and Accountability Aren’t Mutually Exclusive,” by Amy Gallo

• “How to Decide Which Tasks to Delegate,” by Jenny Blake

• “You’re Delegating. It’s Not Working. Here’s Why.” by Sabina Nawaz

• “How to Tell If You’re Delegating Too Much — and What to Do About It,” by Anne Sugar

• “How to Stop Delegating and Start Teaching,” by Art Markman

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

The Essentials: Managing Up Apr 18, 2022

Show notes

Having a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship with your boss doesn’t require accommodating their every quirk, demand, and weakness. There are respectful, constructive ways to meet in the middle, set boundaries, and help them achieve their goals while making your competence known.

Amy G sits down with a woman who recently left retail for her first office job and a fintech executive with a marketing background to discuss managing-up practices that have helped them maintain positive, productive relationships with different bosses across their careers.

Guests:

Valerie is an operations manager at a law firm. She used to work in retail.

Mita Mallick is the head of inclusion, equity, and impact at Carta, a fintech company. She used to work in marketing. She co-hosts the podcast Brown Table Talk.

Resources:

• HBR Guide to Managing Up and Across, by Harvard Business Review

• “Setting the Record Straight on Managing Your Boss,” by Amy Gallo

• “How to Give Your Boss Feedback,” by Amy Gallo

• “Dealing with Your Incompetent Boss,” by Amy Gallo

• “When Being Indispensable Backfires,” by Mita Mallick

Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

The Essentials: Persuading People Apr 11, 2022

Show notes

We all need to be persuasive. Maybe you’re trying to get clients to buy into your idea, trust your expertise, or sign on with your company. Or perhaps you want to convince colleagues to start a new initiative, or kill one you think is doomed to fail. Which persuasion tactics are most effective? How do you know if someone is starting to be swayed by your reasoning and what else might you try to win their full support? If you’ve failed to persuade but still believe in the cause, what’s the strategic way to try again?

An expert on influence at work answers these questions and more. We’re joined by a woman working in construction who shares her successful and unsuccessful attempts to persuade others and we highlight key principles and techniques that we can all use.

Guests:

Raven Hoffman is a senior estimator for a tile and stone contractor.

Vanessa Bohns is a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University and the author of the book You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion, and Why It Matters.

Resources: