Whether you’re working remotely or adjusting to the “new normal” of your workplace, it’s never been a better time to start adding podcasts to your daily routine. And since business podcasts are the fastest-growing category, you’ll have plenty to choose from.
Here are seven of our favourite podcasts to help get you started.
How I Built This
If you’ve ever wondered how some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs got started, this NPR podcast is for you. Listen as host Guy Raz interviews innovators and idealists like James Dyson and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman for a deep dive into the brands we know and love.
Noteworthy Episode: Airbnb: Joe Gebbia
A chance encounter with a stranger gave Joe Gebbia an idea to help pay his rent. That idea grew into a company that now has more rooms than the biggest hotel chain in the world.
HBR IdeaCast
Hosted by Harvard Business Review editor Sarah Green Carmichael, this weekly podcast features thought-provoking interviews with Harvard Business School professors and industry titans like Google’s Eric Schmidt.
From unconventional ways companies can boost their competitive advantage to practical tips for leading more effective meetings, these 20-30 minute episodes are packed full of valuable insights.
Noteworthy Episode: Why “Connector” Managers Build Better Talent
Sari Wilde, a managing vice president at Gartner, studied 5,000 managers and identified four different types of leaders. The surprising result is that the “always on” manager is less effective at developing employees, even though many companies encourage supervisors to give constant feedback. Instead, the “connector” manager is the most effective, because they facilitate productive interactions across the organization. Wilde explains what the best connector managers do, how to be one, and how to work for one.
WorkLife
“We spend a quarter of our lives in our jobs. This show is about making all that time worth your time.”
Organizational psychologist Adam Grant uncovers the keys to better work life in his weekly interviews with unusual and extraordinary professionals—from restauranteur David Chang, to media mogul Arianna Huffington, to Olympic athletes who cheer for their rivals. Every episode will leave you feeling inspired.
Noteworthy Episode: The Problem with All-Stars
The Butler Bulldogs have a habit of shocking college basketball fans by beating top teams with far more talent. How do they do it? Adam Grant joins the team to talk about why stars are overrated and role players are underrated -- and how humility can go hand in hand with confidence. Also featuring "Moneyball" author Michael Lewis and Brad Stevens, coach of the Boston Celtics.
$100 MBA
Short on time? Tune in for business lessons and advice in 15 minutes or less with this podcast from Omar Zenhom. After dropping out of Wharton School of Business, Omar started the podcast to change up the world of business education.
Every episode offers tips for real-world application and his Q&A Wednesday’s answer listener questions that we’ve all asked ourselves.
Noteworthy Episode: What Exactly is Great Service?
The fact is, customer service can make or break your business in the long term.
This episode discusses 3 core elements of truly great customer service: the kind that convinces people to stick with you and recommend your business to others. These elements might sound simple, but executing them properly takes some intentional effort.
Without Fail
In business, you can learn just as much from your failures as your feats. Gimlet cofounder Alex Blumberg proves that you can learn from the failures of others as well. Weekly episodes feature candid conversations with entrepreneurs, athletes and leaders about what’s it’s like to succeed, what’s it’s like to fail and living with the specter of both.
Noteworthy Episode: How to Fire People
In 1998, Patty McCord joined a new company called Netflix. Her title was chief talent officer. And over the next ten years as Netflix grew (and grew), she and CEO Reed Hastings built a new kind of workplace. They threw out all the usual rules -- no more expense authorization forms or vacation requests -- and focused on creating a culture of excellence. But that culture of excellence didn’t come only through hiring the right people. Patty had to get good at firing, too.
Business Wars
Netflix vs. Blockbuster. Coke vs. Pepsi. Learn the real story behind some of the biggest rivalries in business and first-hand accounts from the employees, investors and leaders who lived to tell the tale.
Noteworthy Episode: Amazon vs. Walmart: The Big Bang Theory of E-Commerce
Ninety-six percent of Americans now shop online, snapping up everything from rare coins to industrial-sized barrels of hand sanitizer. Almost half of those purchases take place on one website: Amazon.
But before sales were a click away, Walmart was the top dog, decimating main streets across America with its big-box efficiency and ruthlessly low prices.
It’s 1994, and a slim 30-year-old with thinning hair dreams of leaving his high-paying finance job to sell books on the internet — a move he’s convinced is his ticket to one day dominating the world of e-commerce. Jeff Bezos just has to break the news to his parents. Luckily, he’s already found the perfect name for his new venture.
Breaking Down Your Business
Get no-nonsense advice from hosts Brad Farris and Jill Salzman on topics ranging from raising prices without confusing customers to growing your e-mail list. Each episode feels more like a conversation with colleague than a lesson.
Noteworthy Episode: No One Wants to Be Sold, But We All Love to Buy
Do you wonder why people would want to buy from you anyway? If you ask some of the right questions, you may gather insight. Either they don't know of you at all, or they know a lot - they follow you on social, they spend time looking through your website - and overall, it's good to know where you stand.