In 2022, Mariam Braimah, a digital designer working at Netflix, is considering the next move in her career. She has spent several years at Netflix, and in her spare time, using her savings, has founded a design-focused fellowship program and a consumer insights company based in Nigeria. Is now the time to leave Netflix and start working full time for her African ventures?
In 2019, Nadine Vogel, founder and CEO of Springboard Consulting, a firm that worked with Fortune 500 companies on issues related to disability and their workforce, faced the decision of the best path forward to grow her small company. Should she build more and better expertise to expand the topics she worked on with her current clientele? Or should she explore the possibility of moving into the new market of smaller businesses?
In 2018, Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments, the largest minority-owned investment firm in the U.S., was considering how best to divide her time and use her position and personal characteristics to push for positive change at her firm and in society at large.
In 2018, New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof and his wife, former Times writer Sheryl WuDunn (HBS '86) who worked in finance, were planning for their next book. The couple's earlier books had given rise to social movements around gender equity and poverty issues. They hoped the next book would be equally powerful. What should the book focus on? What additional content should they create to make sure their writing had an impact?
People today are under intense pressure to be "ideal workers"-totally committed to their jobs and always on call. But after interviewing hundreds of professionals in many fields, the authors have concluded that selfless dedication to work is often unnecessary and harmful. It has dysfunctional consequences not only for individuals but also for their organizations. The authors discuss three typical strategies for coping with demanding workplaces, and the risks associated with each: Accepting involves prioritizing the job above all else and remaining available 24/7. Because accepters fail to cultivate outside interests, they're often slow to recover from professional setbacks. And they may be too focused on their own responsibilities to mentor others-a drawback for their organizations. Passing involves portraying oneself as an ideal worker while quietly pursuing a life beyond the office. But passers may feel isolated from their colleagues because they are hiding parts of themselves, and their perpetuation of the ideal-worker myth keeps the pressure on everyone. Revealing involves openly embracing nonwork commitments. Revealers may unwittingly put their careers at risk, however, and bosses who penalize them may drive away talent. So how can organizations build a healthier-and more productive-culture? Managers can act as role models by leading multifaceted lives themselves. They can reward employees for the quality and results of their work rather than the time put into it. And they can enforce reasonable work hours, require vacations, and take other steps to protect employees' personal lives.
This note introduces a framework for deliberately building effective interpersonal relationships. First, we will define the necessary attributes of these relationships. Next, we will discuss common barriers to effectiveness. Lastly, we will provide tools to build and maintain these relationships.
This case follows Carla Ann Harris, an African-American executive on Wall Street, from her childhood to the eve of her 20th year at Morgan Stanley. In addition to her professional identity as an investment banker, Harris is also an accomplished gospel singer, an observant Catholic, a philanthropist, a public speaker, and a writer. Along with her successes and accomplishments, she has also faced setbacks and challenges. Despite the negative experiences African-American women face on Wall Street, Harris feels she has been successful because she "brings her authentic self to the table." A unique aspect of Harris' story is that throughout her journey she nourishes other aspects of her identity, such as her singing, her devotion to her faith, and her desire to help others-a difficult feat in the financial services industry given the culture of long hours, competitiveness, and cynicism. The case ends with a career decision: Harris must decide whether to start an ambitious program for emerging female and minority asset managers (the Emerging Manager Program or EMP). The program represents a way to bring together her professional expertise and personal passion to help people thrive in their work, but like all entrepreneurial ventures it has associated risks. The case helps students to understand how one's own identities are central to one's career development, relationship building, and professional growth; to consider how maintaining unique aspects of oneself can help people succeed in a challenging organizational culture; and to provide a forum for discussing issues of race and gender in a profession in which there are few minorities and women at senior levels.
Claude Grunitzky, a media entrepreneur, develops, maintains, and leverages an extensive personal and professional network across three continents. The case considers the steps he has taken to build and cultivate a network that creates value for himself and others.
Public Architecture is a non-profit architecture company dedicated to creating social and professional change through design for the public good. Public has focused on three strategies to create change: 1) promoting the design community's commitment to pro bono work, 2) inspiring action through creating design with a social mission, and 3) disseminating knowledge created by socially relevant design throughout the profession. As a central actor and change agent in the profession, Public Architecture created The 1% Program, a national network of architecture and design firms that have publicly pledged to donate 1% of their billable hours to the public good. However, the organization has been struggling to keep both The 1% Program and its own design initiatives integrated and reinforcing each other in creating social and professional change. Should Public split into two organizations? Would keeping the diverse elements within Public Architecture together force the entire organization to the least common denominator or would it provide them with a flexible platform for creating social change? These questions have important implications for Public's growth strategy, their funding, and resource allocation decisions.