What We Can Learn from Taylor Swift

What We Can Learn from Taylor Swift

Author: Harvard Business Review May 19, 2025 Duration: 16:51
When our colleague Kevin Evers wrote There’s Nothing Like This: The Strategic Genius of Taylor Swift, we knew we had to talk about it. For so many women, she’s a role model—personally and professionally. Four HBR Swifties who read the book highlight how her instincts and decisions offer lessons in leadership, strategy, and staying power.

From the newsroom of the Harvard Business Review comes Women at Work, a conversation grounded in the daily realities of professional life. Hosted by HBR editors Amy Bernstein, Amy Gallo, and Emily Caulfield, this podcast moves beyond abstract theory to tackle the specific, often frustrating challenges women navigate in their careers. Each episode picks apart a knotty problem-like confronting a persistent wage gap, handling frequent interruptions in meetings, or managing disproportionate office housework-with a focus on practical strategies. The hosts bring in researchers, leadership coaches, and seasoned executives who offer evidence-based advice and share their own hard-won insights. Listening feels like joining a candid discussion among knowledgeable colleagues who aren’t afraid to name the awkward stuff. You’ll find a blend of personal stories, tactical guidance, and deeper analysis about systemic issues, all aimed at helping you strengthen your position and advance your ambitions. It’s a resource for anyone looking to build a more effective and equitable career, one concrete step at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Women at Work
Podcast Episodes
Getting Along with a Political Operator [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:32
How do you stay in the loop when someone keeps kicking you out? Amy G recommends tactics to try and phrases to use.
Getting Along with a Passive-Aggressive Gossip [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:21
How do you work with someone who’s encroaching on your job, bad-mouthing you, and refusing to acknowledge there’s any tension or problem? Amy G recommends tactics to try and phrases to use.
Emily’s Taking a Break from Nine-to-Five [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 8:43
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 desig…
When a Relationship with a Colleague Goes Sour [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:25
How do you address a falling-out with a teammate when they either won’t acknowledge you or just lash out? Amy Gallo brings her conflict management expertise to a coaching session for a woman whose project manager and for…
The Essentials: Delegating Effectively [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:22
Let’s be real: You can’t do everything yourself. Delegating to others helps you manage your workload and helps your colleagues who take on the tasks, decisions, and responsibilities to learn and grow. That doesn’t mean i…
The Essentials: Managing Up [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:15
Having a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship with your boss doesn’t require accommodating their every quirk, demand, and weakness. We discuss respectful, constructive ways to meet in the middle, set boundaries, and…
The Essentials: Persuading People [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:56
We all need to sell others on our ideas and offerings. Oftentimes that requires planning, perspective taking, and patience. A social psychologist highlights principles and tactics that’ll help you preempt colleagues or c…
The Essentials: Retaining Talent [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:39
Advice from a manager at Google whose full-time job is finding solutions to the problems that make employees want to quit. She shares what to say and do when a valuable team member seems to have one foot out the door. We…
Forging Ahead — or Plowing Through [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:35
A satisfying career requires that we make thoughtful decisions, through self-reflection and strategic planning. But sometimes (like in 2021) plowing through our jobs day after day is the only thing that feels manageable.…