When we’re trying to make a career move or overcome a professional challenge, certain habits and behaviors of ours can prevent us from growing and succeeding. In Coaching Real Leaders, longtime leadership coach Muriel Wilkins takes you inside real-life coaching sessions with executives who’ve hit a bump in the road on the way to reaching their goals. Listen in, and leave with insights and guidance that’ll help you grow and succeed too. In this episode, Muriel speaks with Grace, a VP who’s just been passed over for a promotion that would have put her on track to the C-suite. Grace’s out-of-the-box approach to solving business problems has made her successful in her current role. But now, in order to make it to the top, she’ll have to reposition herself. Coaching Real Leaders is part of HBR Presents, a network of podcasts curated by HBR editors, bringing you the best business ideas from the leading minds in management. For Harvard Business Review’s full lineup of shows, visit hbr.org/podcasts.

What should I do if I’m left out of important meetings? How do I balance assertiveness and persuasion? Should I talk to my boss about infertility? How do I set myself up now if I want to be CEO someday? We respond to questions from listeners early in their careers who are looking for advice on their workplace quandaries. Our colleague Paige Cohen joins Amy Bernstein to share her experience and talk through answers to these questions. Paige is a senior editor at Ascend, a new vertical at HBR that helps young professionals find their place in the working world and realize their personal and career goals. Guests: Paige Cohen is a senior editor at Ascend, a sub-brand of Harvard Business Review. Resources: “How Women Manage the Gendered Norms of Leadership,” by Wei Zheng, Ronit Kark, and Alyson Meister “Too Shy to Be a Leader?” from Women at Work “How to Respond When You’re Left Out of Important Meetings,” by Melissa Raffoni “Employers, It’s Time to Talk About Infertility,” by Serena G. Sohrab and Nada Basir “When You Need Time Off for Health Reasons,” from Women at Work “Act Like a Leader Before You Are One,” by Amy Gallo “Convincing Your Boss to Make You a Manager,” by Anna Ranieri Paige’s “My First Day as CEO” TikTok video

We’re delighted to have our colleague Erica back at work. She had her second kid in June and was on parental leave until December. She and her husband recently relocated to her parents’ house to get help caring for their 5-month-old and 3-year-old until a new nanny starts. Erica’s grateful for the support — and acutely aware that this transition is still going to test her stamina. On Erica’s first day back, she talked to Amy Gallo about how she’d been preparing to return to work and what she hadn’t sorted out yet. Danna Greenberg, who co-wrote the book Maternal Optimism, joined the conversation, helping connect the dots between Erica’s experiences and the impossible situations forcing women out of the workforce during this crisis. Guests: Erica Truxler is a senior editor at Harvard Business Review. Danna Greenberg is a professor of organizational behavior at Babson College and the co-author of the book Maternal Optimism: Forging Positive Paths through Work and Motherhood. Resources: HBR’s Big Idea series “Work, Parenting, and the Pandemic” “Anxiety, Depression, and Working Moms in a Pandemic,” by The Anxious Achiever “How to Return to Work After Taking Parental Leave,” by Rebecca Knight “Ramp Up Your Career After Parental Leave,” by Lisa Quest “New Mothers, Let’s Talk About Your Professional Identity Crisis,” by Janna Koretz “The Upside of Working Motherhood,” from Women at Work

When an acute or chronic health issue disrupts our work life, how do we let our bosses and coworkers know? How vulnerable should we be? And, as managers, how do we best support an employee who discloses a diagnosis? We talk with two women who’ve had to consider these questions while navigating illnesses, and they share advice on disclosing and discussing health issues with colleagues. Guests:  Maureen Hoch is the editor of HBR.org and the supervising editor of Women at Work. Laurie Edwards is a writer, a writing instructor at Northeastern University, and an advocate for people with chronic illnesses. Her books are Life Disrupted and In the Kingdom of the Sick. Resources: “What to Do When Your Employee Is Diagnosed with Cancer,” by Anne Sugar “How to Welcome an Employee Back from Medical Leave,” by Anne Sugar “Medical Leaves,” from Dear HBR: “8 Ways Managers Can Support Employees’ Mental Health,” by Kelly Greenwood and Natasha Krol “Your Employee Tested Positive for Covid-19. What Do You Do?” by Alisa Cohn

This year many companies made public commitments to fight racism in their workplaces. But what progress have these organizations made in the six months since the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black people furthered efforts toward racial justice? And how are these high-level promises and internal actions affecting individual women’s lives and careers? We hear from four Black women about their goals, their work experiences over the last several months, and their concerns and hopes for the future. Then, we talk with an expert in diversity, inclusion, and belonging about the progress companies are (or aren’t) making, the type of support we can give women of color, and how they’re managing the exhaustion that comes with waiting and advocating for long-overdue change. Guest: Stephanie Creary is an identity and diversity scholar at Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Resources: “How to Be a Better Ally to Your Black Colleagues,” by Stephanie Creary “Is Your Company Actually Fighting Racism, or Just Talking About It?” by Kira Hudson Banks and Richard Harvey Race at Work, from HBR Presents “Even at ‘Inclusive’ Companies, Women of Color Don’t Feel Supported,” by Beth A. Livingston and Tina R. Opie “Women of Color Get Less Support at Work. Here’s How Managers Can Change That.” by Zuhairah Washington and Laura Morgan Roberts “Do Your Diversity Efforts Reflect the Experiences of Women of Color?” by Ruchika Tulshyan

Sometimes you want to make a career change. Not the next logical step on your current career path, like a more senior title or taking on more responsibility, but a leap to a new path altogether. Research shows that women are less likely to put themselves out there for opportunities unless they feel completely qualified. We want to tick all the boxes before we raise our hand for that exciting new job or a stretch role in our current company. But why should we limit ourselves? One woman’s decision to make a bold career move prompts us to explore what it takes to transition into a role that’s really different from what you’re doing now. Then, we talk with an expert about how we can clarify our goals, prepare to make a leap, and articulate our proposal to a boss. She also explains how to respond when we don’t get an immediately enthusiastic response. Guest: Hana Ayoub is an executive and career coach. Resources: “Why Women Don’t Apply for Jobs Unless They’re 100% Qualified,” by Tara Sophia Mohr “Unpause Yourself,” from Women at Work “5 Strategies for Reinventing Your Career in Uncertain Times,” by David Lancefield and Dorie Clark “How to Ask for a Promotion,” by Rebecca Knight

Investing time and energy in a hobby, project, or side gig — what a healthy idea! We know that pursuing interests outside of work can help stave off burnout, prompt us to pursue career goals, and guard against the belief that our value lies solely in our full-time jobs. In practice though, these projects often leave us feeling guilty instead of fulfilled, especially when they gather dust. In this episode, Emily faces up to her neglected personal projects and makes progress, with the help of Brianna Caza, a professor who studies people who pursue work outside of their full-time jobs. She provides useful advice on finding enough time, energy, and support to spend your life the way you want to. Guest: Brianna Caza is a management professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Resources: “How to Make Room in Your Work Life for the Rest of Your Self,” by Brianna Barker Caza et al. “The Strategic Side Gig,” by Ken Banta and Orlan Boston “Make Your Side Hustle Work,” by Jennifer Nahrgang et al. “How to Figure Out What Your Side Hustle Should Be,” by Dorie Clark

Are you exhausted? We are. Between the long hours working from home during a pandemic, the mental load of worrying about the outcome of the election, and the lack of sleep that all of this has brought on, it’s no wonder that we’re tired and stressed. Emotional exhaustion, as workplace well-being expert Mandy O’Neil explains, is one sign of burnout. She shares antidotes and ways to protect ourselves from experiencing it in the first place. Not having enough time for the people and things you care about can cause burnout. Happiness researcher Ashley Whillans gives us advice on how to find and protect that time. Resources: “Managing Burnout,” from Women at Work “5 Steps for Women to Combat Burnout,” by Ellen Keithline Byrne “How We Take Care of Ourselves,” from Women at Work “How to Help Your Team with Burnout When You’re Burned Out Yourself,” by Rebecca Knight “Time for Happiness,” by Ashley Whillans

The pandemic has taken jobs, gigs, customers, and contracts from countless women. And many still aren’t sure when their industries will reopen or when clients will be ready to hire them again. Three women — a massage therapist, an opera singer, and a small business owner — who lost work in March open up about how they’ve been coping with the changes to their employment and finding a way forward. Resources:   “When Losing Your Job Feels Like Losing Your Self,” by Aliya Hamid Rao “How Unemployment Affects Twentysomethings’ Self-Worth,” by Jeylan Mortimer et al. “Making Sense of the Future After Losing a Job You Love,” by Sally Maitlis Sign up for the Women at Work newsletter. Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org

If working from home intensified the invisible labor women do and put even more pressure on us professionally and personally, what should we expect from life split between home and office? And without much of the interaction and amenities that being in an office used to offer us, is going in worth the trouble of wearing a mask all day, navigating the new rules, and taking the potential health risk? And what about those of us who can’t go back? Women who’ve returned to their workplaces describe what it’s like to be back. Emily and Amy B report from their first day at the HBR office in Boston. Then Amy G talks with a colleague about why they’ll continue to work remotely and how people on their hybrid teams can include them even though they’re not physically present. Sign up for the Women at Work newsletter. Email us: womenatwork@hbr.org Resources: “Help Your Employees Manage Their Reentry Anxiety,” by Sarah Clayton and Anthea Hoyle “Feeling Uncomfortable with Reentry? You’re on the Right Track.” by Dr. Julia DiGangi “How to Manage a Hybrid Team,” by Rebecca Knight