Podcasts by Agility at Work: One Step Ahead

Agility at Work: One Step Ahead

Agility is a must for negotiators and leaders in today’s fast-paced, uncertain world. You’ve got to be quick on your feet to seize unexpected opportunities. And you better have a Plan B in case things go south. One Step Ahead co-hosts, Harvard professors Mike Wheeler and Kimberlyn Leary, show you how to stretch your thinking and sharpen your skills so you’re ready to adapt to surprises, pleasant or otherwise. Mike and Kim also interview colleagues, negotiators, and leaders about their insights and best practices. Get ready to limber up!

Further podcasts by Agility at Work: One Step Ahead

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
43. Agile Leadership and Nimble Negotiation for Social Equity from 2022-10-25T14:26:18

At least for a while, this will be the final posted episode of Agility at Work. More about that in a moment. No matter what unfolds, quite conveniently our conversation today with Rob Garris bridge...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
42. Conflict Resilience in Contentious Times from 2022-04-23T18:57:23

The guest in this episode of Agility at Work is our friend and colleague Bob Bordone. Bob taught negotiation and conflict resolution for many years at Harvard Law School. He also founded a clinic h...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
41. The Power of a Surprise Ask from 2022-03-08T04:12:35

Our guest this episode, in an encore appearance, is our friend and HBS colleague Christine Exley. Back in Episode 10 we discussed her on-going research on gender inequality and how to address it. T...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
40. Collaborative Leadership from 2022-01-25T02:54:57

Our guest for this episode, Mike Beer, is back with us for an encore. He spoke with us a year ago about his latest book, Fit to Compete: Why Honest Conversations about Your Company’s Capabilities a...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
39. Getting to Yes Turns 40 from 2021-12-22T04:07:12

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury, with Bruce Patton coming on board for subsequent ...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
38. Rebel Talent from 2021-11-07T01:41:45

In these turbulent times, business as usual is a recipe for failure. In our work—and in our lives more broadly—we need to challenge the status quo and find new ways to overcome obstacles and capita...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
37. Getting a Bad Conversation Back on Track from 2021-09-21T01:18:04

Imagine you’re emailing back and forth with someone trying to resolve a problem. What if you had an app that would track your words and coach you on how to engage more effectively? Or, for that mat...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
36. The Conscience Code from 2021-08-20T02:42:59

Richard Shell, who teaches negotiation at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, is our guest in this episode. His new book, just published this summer, is The Conscience Code: Lead with ...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
35. The Four P’s of Adaptive Leadership from 2021-07-26T14:00:36

The top-down, command-and-control model of leadership has fallen out of fashion in today’s complex and fast-paced world. Our guest in this episode, Rob Wilkinson, provides an agile alternative that...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
34. Negotiating the Impossible from 2021-06-15T03:06:07

That’s the name of a book by our HBS colleague Deepak Malhotra, the guest in this episode. The book’s subtitle is How to Break Deadlocks and Resolve Ugly Conflicts (without Money or Muscle). The co...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
33. The Moral Leader from 2021-05-13T00:39:02

Our guest in this episode is Joe Badaracco from the Harvard Business School. Decades ago, he designed a literature-based course for MBA students to enable them to explore deeply the moral issues th...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
32. Prepping for Difficult Conversations from 2021-04-27T01:51:55

Greetings from Kim Leary and Mike Wheeler, co-hosts of Agility at Work. And for our latest episode, we’re co-authors of this description of our latest episode. It’s Kim here at the top, introducing...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
31. Agile Leadership in a Time of Rapid Change from 2021-04-13T03:01:14

We have two guests in this episode. That’s a first for us! They’re Noah Susskind and Samantha Stephens, colleagues at McKinsey, the global consulting company. Noah is deeply into cybersecurity. He ...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
30. Reading the Room from 2021-03-23T21:39:11

Our guest for this episode of Agility at Work is Erin Egan. She does business development for Amazon—acquiring technology, partnering with other companies, and sometimes taking a leading role in bu...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
29. Negotiating Creative Differences from 2021-03-09T01:55:06

Lots has been written about negotiating transactions—exchanges where I grant you something, in return for something else that you’ll turn over to me. I give you money (not too much, I hope) for you...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
28. The Vanishing Workplace from 2021-02-16T02:58:51

When the pandemic finally gets under control—soon we hope—work for many people will not go back to the way it was before. Some people may go back to their offices but not necessarily every day. Oth...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
27. The Art—and Importance—of Telling Stories When You Negotiate from 2021-02-01T13:21:03

Our friend and colleague Josh Weiss is our guest in this episode. He’s the author of Real World Negotiation: Successful Strategy from Business, Government, and Daily Life. As you’ll hear, Josh’s bo...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
26. Learning Outside of Class from 2021-01-19T00:11:16

Two episodes ago, we heard our friend and HBS colleague Joe Badaracco suggest that we give ourselves permission to step back and reflect, at least for a few minutes every day. Turn away from the co...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
25. The Upside of Being Brash: Lessons from an Agent from 2021-01-05T00:31:08

Our guest in this episode in Peter Sawyer, a New York-based agent who negotiates for a living. Peter has represented Hollywood stars and Broadway actors, along with authors and pro athletes. He see...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
24. Gaze Out the Window from 2020-12-20T15:02:22

Our guest in this episode is HBS Professor Joe Badaracco. His latest book is Step Back: Bringing Reflection Back into Your Life. Joe begins with a story about a private equity guy who invests in st...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
23. Do the Right Thing. Mostly. from 2020-12-01T00:11:52

What do you owe others—if anything—in regard to honesty, fairness, and how you use power? That’s a core question every time you negotiate. And it’s just as important when you’re leading a group, la...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
22. Not in My Backyard from 2020-10-20T13:12:34

Big cities and small towns have at least one thing in common: they’re hot houses for breeding costly conflicts. In a leafy suburb, the Hatfields’ application for a zoning variance to expand their h...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
21. Hustle: Negotiating Your Unique Career from 2020-09-22T02:41:26

Here’s the challenge. Imagine you want to change your career—radically. Perhaps you’re tired of what you’ve been doing. Maybe you’re excited about doing something very different. It could be both. ...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
20. Entrepreneurial Negotiation from 2020-09-03T00:17:11

Let’s say you’ve got a great idea. No, amp that up. Your idea is truly brilliant. For example, if you’re in business, let’s say that you’ve come up with something that will disrupt the marketplace....

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
19. Is Silence Killing Your Company’s Strategy? from 2020-08-11T12:11:51

Your boss just announced a bold new initiative. But you and your colleagues who do the nitty-gritty work on the ground know that his plan is bound to crash. He says that his door is always open—and...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
18. Her Place at the Bargaining Table: Gender and Negotiation from 2020-07-30T12:27:04

Our colleague Hannah Riley Bowles, from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, joins us in this episode to share her research on the subtle role that gender plays in how people prepare for and m...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
17. Turning the Tables: How to Transform Weakness into Strength in Negotiation and Leadership from 2020-07-15T19:35:28

In this episode we have an encore visit with Professor Debbie Kolb, author of Negotiating at Work: Turn Small Wins into Big Gains. In an earlier conversation, we discussed how gender issues play ou...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
16. Reading Your Own Mind: Self-Awareness, Compassion, and the Search for Truth from 2020-06-30T20:41:34

We sometimes see things not as they are, but as we are. Our unchecked emotional baggage and assumptions can distort how we interpret (and thus respond to) what other people say and do. Missing othe...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
15. Thanks for the Feedback! from 2020-06-22T12:46:46

There are scads of books, articles, and even courses on how to give effective feedback. That’s no surprise. Directing other people is at the core of what managers do, after all, whether it’s in ann...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
14. Agile Strategy and Negotiation Success from 2020-05-04T14:08:20

Great negotiators are like great athletes in at least one respect: they’re keenly in the moment but at the same time they also see the big picture. Better than their competition, they know how to c...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
13. How to Be Quicker on Your Feet from 2020-04-21T00:32:46

After a tough negotiation, ever catch yourself thinking, “Oh, I wish I said this, or I should have done that”? But there’s nothing you can do about it now. Your mental light bulb clicked on too lat...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
12. The Dark Side of Experimentation from 2020-04-07T02:22:49

Have you signed a consent form to participate in an experiment recently? Ever done so? You might answer no, but actually the odds are high you’ve been conscripted without ever knowing it. That’s th...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
11. Been There/Done That: How to Unlearn What You Think You Know from 2020-03-17T02:03:50

Professor Frank Barrett, jazz pianist and author of Yes to the Mess, returns for an encore. In this episode he talks with Agility at Work co-hosts Mike Wheeler and Kim Leary about how old habits an...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
10. Think Twice Before You Lean In from 2020-03-02T14:19:20

Our guest in this episode is HBS Professor Christine Exley, who has raised a caution flag about the popular notion that women short-change themselves by not negotiating enough. If it were true, the...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
9. Lie Detection from 2020-02-18T02:40:47

The person you’re negotiating with may claim to have a better offer, but is she spinning a lie? And should you trust the contractor who promises to finish building your new house before winter sets...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
8. The Cost of Being Nice in Negotiations from 2020-02-06T03:04:20

First the good news. Empathy and understanding in negotiation often lead to creative problem-solving and foster productive relationships. This is the core of the win-win approach and it’s been conf...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
7. Perfecting Your Pitch from 2020-01-20T11:48:07

It’s no surprise that Lakshmi Balachandra is an expert on pitches. After all, she’s a professor in Babson College’s Division of Entrepreneurship. But Lakshmi says pitching isn’t just for entreprene...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
6. Bargaining on Airbnb, Craigslist, and eBay: Is the Table Tilted? from 2020-01-08T04:27:22

Harvard Business School Professor Michael Luca shares his findings about negotiation in the online marketplace with Agility at Work: One Step Ahead. The good news—most of the time—is that strangers...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
5. Negotiating Within Your Company: Power, Gender, and the Unwritten Rules of Engagement from 2019-12-18T01:58

Professor Deborah Kolb, author of Negotiating at Work, joins One Step Ahead co-hosts Mike Wheeler and Kim Leary to discuss the special challenges of negotiating within your organization. That may b...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
4. Negotiating with Emotion! from 2019-12-05T01:06:12

In this episode of Agility at Work: One Step Ahead, co-hosts Mike Wheeler and Kim Leary describe their research on the thoughts and feelings—most of them negative and unproductive—that many people ...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
3. Motivating Your Top Talent from 2019-12-05T01:04:56

Andy Wasynczuk, the former Chief Operating Officer of the New England Patriots, is the guest in this episode of Agility at Work: One Step Ahead. Nowadays Andy teaches Managing, Organizing, and Moti...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
2. The Jazz of Negotiation from 2019-12-05T01:03:31

In this episode of Agility at Work: One Step Ahead, co-hosts Mike Wheeler and Kim Leary talk with Frank Barrett, author Yes to the Mess (Harvard Business Publishing). Together they explore importan...

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Agility at Work: One Step Ahead
1. Welcome to Agility at Work: One Step Ahead! from 2019-12-05T01:01:54

Co-hosts Mike Wheeler and Kim Leary welcome listeners to Agility at Work: One Step Ahead! Mike has been teaching negotiation at the Harvard Business School for twenty-five years. He focuses on stra...

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