Podcast Title: HBR On Leadership
Episode Title: How Leaders Undermine Their Own Authority
Release Date: July 23, 2025
Host/Author: Harvard Business Review
Description: Leadership isn’t a trait, it’s a set of skills. HBR On Leadership provides insights and inspiration from the world’s top leadership practitioners and experts to help you manage up, motivate a team, and unlock the best in those around you.

Episode Overview

In this insightful episode of HBR On Leadership, Harvard Business Review’s Senior Editor and producer, Amanda Kersey, along with hosts Alison Beard and Dan McGinn, delve into the nuanced ways leaders can inadvertently undermine their own authority. They explore three distinct listener dilemmas through the expert guidance of executive coach Peter Bregman, founder and CEO of Bregman Partners. The discussion offers practical strategies for addressing ineffective leadership styles that hamper team performance and morale.

Section 1: The Challenge of Indecisive Leadership

Listener Dilemma:
A listener describes their boss’s transition from a questioning, behavior-focused manager to an indecisive leader who struggles to make decisions, leading to frustration and reduced team effectiveness.

Key Insights:

• Nature of Leadership:
  Peter Bregman emphasizes that leadership is inherently challenging and often feels unnatural. Unlike followers, leaders must navigate ambiguity, take risks, and make tough decisions without always having clear training for these responsibilities.

  "Leadership is hard. I mean, it's very hard, almost unnatural." [02:43]

• Unrealistic Expectations:
  Bregman points out that society often projects unrealistic expectations onto leaders, setting them up for failure when they cannot meet these idealized standards.

  "We also often have unrealistic expectations of leaders, meaning we project a lot of... high expectations of what we expect leaders to do for us." [01:32]

• Strategies for Support:
  Instead of directly criticizing the leader, subordinates can offer specific suggestions to enhance decisiveness. This includes implementing decision deadlines, documenting decisions, and reinforcing confidence in the leader’s ability to make and stick to decisions.

  "Here's this decision that we need made and can we kind of talk it through and come to a decision that we know that we can keep." [04:53]

Notable Quote:

"The hardest thing to do in organizations is influencing decisions and people who are not under your control." – Peter Bregman [14:37]

Section 2: Navigating Office Politics and Brown-Nosing

Listener Dilemma:
Another listener shares frustrations about a colleague who compensates for a lack of technical skills with networking and brown-nosing. This individual is favored by leadership despite neglecting substantive work, causing tension and demoralization within the team.

Key Insights:

• Understanding the Colleague's Approach:
  Bregman suggests that the colleague’s ability to influence and build relationships, despite lacking technical prowess, indicates a valuable skill set that others can learn from.

  "There is something to learn from this guy that actually can make me more effective as I grow." [14:37]

• Balancing Technical Skills with Political Savvy:
  While technical expertise is crucial, being able to navigate office politics and build relationships is equally important for career advancement.

  "People aren't all good or all bad. There's some things this guy does where he's very skilled, and there's some things where he's obnoxious and a value mismatch." [18:36]

• Recommendations for the Listener:
  Instead of leaving the organization, the listener is encouraged to stay and develop their own relationship-building skills. This includes being authentic, sharing credit with the team, and finding ways to effectively communicate with leadership without compromising personal values.

  "Staying in the organization and trying to learn what you can from this political operator is probably the best course." [22:59]

Notable Quote:

"It’s probably like one of them is a show horse and not a workhorse, and the other one might be a workhorse and not a show horse." – Dan McGinn [15:05]

Section 3: Dealing with a Gossipy and Politically-Prone Boss

Listener Dilemma:
A listener working in a startup describes their boss as technically brilliant and a great mentor but deeply involved in office gossip and politics. This behavior demoralizes the team and creates an “us vs. them” mentality.

Key Insights:

• Impact of Gossip and Politics:
  Bregman acknowledges the difficulty of navigating a relationship with a boss who engages in harmful gossip, highlighting the power dynamics that make it challenging to address such behavior directly.

  "There's a power dynamic... it’s hard to work with." [24:29]

• Establishing Boundaries:
  The listener is advised to set clear and respectful boundaries by directly communicating discomfort with the boss’s gossip. This involves expressing how such behavior impacts team morale and requesting a more professional approach.

  "Finding your voice to create the boundaries without shame, let him know what you're uncomfortable with." [30:35]

• Encouraging Transparent Communication:
  Alison Beard underscores the importance of leaders owning their decisions and maintaining professionalism to foster a cohesive and aligned team.

  "Business is a team sport. If she can find a polite and respectful opportunity to say that she thinks her boss is hurting her team when he publicly voices his dissent, that’s something she should raise." [33:45]

Notable Quote:

"When you're making this business decision... you're supposed to own it." – Alison Beard [32:56]

Actionable Strategies and Solutions

1. Provide Constructive Feedback:

   • Offer specific, actionable suggestions rather than general criticisms.
   • Frame feedback in a way that reinforces the leader’s strengths while addressing weaknesses.

2. Implement Structured Processes:

   • Use deadlines and documentation to hold leaders accountable and reduce indecisiveness.
   • Publicizing decisions can help mitigate the tendency to flip-flop.

3. Develop Emotional Courage:

   • Engage in difficult conversations with empathy and clarity.
   • Lead with the main point to open up dialogue and address issues directly.

4. Balance Technical and Political Skills:

   • Encourage authentic relationship-building without compromising personal values.
   • Learn from both the strengths and weaknesses of colleagues to enhance personal effectiveness.

5. Set Clear Boundaries with Gossipy Bosses:

   • Communicate discomfort with inappropriate gossip.
   • Redirect conversations towards productive problem-solving and maintain professionalism.

Key Takeaways

• Leadership Requires a Balance of Skills: Effective leaders need to blend technical expertise with emotional intelligence and political savvy to navigate complex organizational dynamics.

• Constructive Feedback is Crucial: Subordinates can play a pivotal role in helping leaders improve by providing thoughtful, specific feedback and supporting their development.

• Personal Development Over Organizational Change: When faced with ineffective leaders, focusing on personal growth and adapting strategies can often be more productive than attempting to change organizational culture.

• Maintaining Professional Boundaries: Establishing and communicating clear boundaries is essential when dealing with leaders who engage in negative behaviors like gossiping and indecisiveness.

Notable Quotes with Attribution and Timestamps

• Peter Bregman:

  "Leadership is hard. I mean, it's very hard, almost unnatural." [01:32]
  "We also often have unrealistic expectations of leaders, meaning we project a lot of... high expectations of what we expect leaders to do for us." [01:32]
  "The hardest thing to do in organizations is influencing decisions and people who are not under your control." [14:37]
  "It probably does seem from this writing that she has the kind of relationship with him where she can give him this kind of feedback where he might appreciate it." [05:33]

• Alison Beard:

  "Business is a team sport. If she can find a polite and respectful opportunity to say that she thinks her boss is hurting her team when he publicly voices his dissent, that’s something she should raise." [33:45]
  "We’ve published research that shows that among the traits or characteristics that an employee want in their boss, one of the most important ones is the boss has to have the ability to actually do the job." [20:01]

• Dan McGinn:

  "He is supposed to do the same work he does. So I think if the organization continues to reward him, even if our letter writer gets better at all the things we're Talking about that's a huge red flag." [20:18]
  "I think we all probably agree that he should focus more on himself than on this peer." [19:29]

Conclusion

This episode of HBR On Leadership offers a deep dive into the subtle and overt behaviors that can erode a leader’s authority and disrupt team dynamics. Through real-life scenarios and expert analysis, listeners gain valuable tools to address and mitigate the impact of ineffective leadership. By fostering open communication, setting clear boundaries, and balancing technical and interpersonal skills, both leaders and their teams can navigate challenges more effectively and create a more harmonious and productive work environment.

For more insights and strategies, subscribe to HBR On Leadership on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform. Share this episode with colleagues and friends who can benefit from expert leadership advice. Visit hbr.org for additional resources, including articles, case studies, and books by the world’s top business and management experts.