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The Leadership Chronicles

The Leadership Chronicles

By: theleadershipchronicles
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We came to HBS to make a difference as leaders and great citizens of the world. And many times we ask ourselves, how can we achieve personal fulfillment while satisfying our desire to make a difference for others in this world? What is our ripple effect on ourselves, our families, our communities, our professional endeavors, and others?

Supporting that aspiration, our Podcast will provide those pathways, connections, thought leadership, and resources enabling us to be the best person and leader we can be.

Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
Episodes
  • Becoming You (VIDEO)

    Becoming You (VIDEO)
    Jun 16 2026
    Suzy Welch has lived a life that refuses to follow a straight line. From a feral, tie-dye childhood with artist parents to the Harvard Crimson, from a bulletproof vest on the Miami crime desk to the editor's chair at Harvard Business Review, from a very public scandal to the greatest love of her life, Suzy has built something rare — a career that keeps becoming something new without ever losing the thread of who she is. In this episode, Sarah and Sherri sit down with the NYU Stern professor, three-time New York Times bestselling author, and creator of the Becoming You methodology to talk about courage, reinvention, grief, and what it actually takes to stop living someone else's life and start building your own.

    Guest Introduction: Suzy Welch is an award-winning NYU Stern School of Business professor, acclaimed researcher, and three-time New York Times best-selling author, most recently with “Becoming You: A Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career,” which is also a #1 bestseller on Amazon.

    A graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Business School, Dr. Welch is a frequent guest of the Today Show and an op-ed contributor to the Wall Street Journal. She serves on the boards of public and private companies and is the Director of the NYU | Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing.

    Key Takeaways:
    • Reinvention is not a crisis. It is a skill Suzy has practiced across every chapter of her life, and it has always led somewhere worth going.
    • The absence of a plan is not the same as the absence of potential. Suzy had no roadmap, no career conversations growing up, and still found her way to some of the most influential rooms in the world.
    • Courage rarely looks like courage in the moment. Most of the bold moves Suzy made felt like the only option available, not a calculated leap.
    • Knowing what you are not is just as clarifying as knowing what you are. Walking away from journalism because she couldn't ask a grieving mother how she felt was not weakness — it was self-knowledge.
    • The work you do inside a great partnership compounds in ways you cannot predict. Suzy and Jack taught each other things no classroom or boardroom ever could, and that exchange shaped everything that came after.
    • Grief has no efficient path through it. Suzy did not navigate loss gracefully at first, and saying that out loud matters more than any polished version of the story would.
    • Your values are not a soft concept. They are the operating system beneath every decision, and when your life is out of alignment with them, you feel it before you can name it.
    • The methodology that helps others find their way often comes from the season where you had to find your own. Becoming You was born directly out of Suzy's hardest chapter.

    Chapter Markers: 00:00 Introduction & Welcome 01:48 Suzy's Feral Childhood & Creative Upbringing 04:17 Discovering a Different World at Exeter 06:44 Harvard, Lacrosse, and a Career Nobody Planned 07:51 Landing on the Miami Crime Desk 10:22 Why She Walked Away from Journalism 14:00 The Harvard Business Review Years 20:18 The Scandal, the Story, and Meeting Jack Welch 24:48 Building a Life and a Business Together 27:52 Navigating Grief After Jack's Passing 30:43 The Becoming You Methodology is Born 31:54 Teaching at NYU Stern and the Waitlist That Said Everything 36:00 Values, Authenticity, and Living on Purpose 41:34 The Values Bridge Assessment & Resources 42:35 Lightning Round & Closing Reflections

    Keywords: leadership development, women in leadership, career reinvention, life purpose, authentic leadership, personal growth, executive coaching, women executives, Harvard Business School, NYU Stern, Suzy Welch, Becoming You, values alignment, career transitions, female founders, women entrepreneurs, life after loss, grief and resilience, purpose driven career, nonlinear career path, leadership podcast, business leadership, executive women, career development, self discovery, finding your purpose, women in business, leadership chronicles, reinvention after 50, career courage, thought leadership, personal brand, professional development
    Show More Show Less
    48 mins
  • Becoming You (AUDIO)

    Becoming You (AUDIO)
    Jun 16 2026
    Suzy Welch has lived a life that refuses to follow a straight line. From a feral, tie-dye childhood with artist parents to the Harvard Crimson, from a bulletproof vest on the Miami crime desk to the editor's chair at Harvard Business Review, from a very public scandal to the greatest love of her life, Suzy has built something rare — a career that keeps becoming something new without ever losing the thread of who she is. In this episode, Sarah and Sherri sit down with the NYU Stern professor, three-time New York Times bestselling author, and creator of the Becoming You methodology to talk about courage, reinvention, grief, and what it actually takes to stop living someone else's life and start building your own.

    Guest Introduction: Suzy Welch is an award-winning NYU Stern School of Business professor, acclaimed researcher, and three-time New York Times best-selling author, most recently with “Becoming You: A Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career,” which is also a #1 bestseller on Amazon.

    A graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Business School, Dr. Welch is a frequent guest of the Today Show and an op-ed contributor to the Wall Street Journal. She serves on the boards of public and private companies and is the Director of the NYU | Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing.

    Key Takeaways:
    • Reinvention is not a crisis. It is a skill Suzy has practiced across every chapter of her life, and it has always led somewhere worth going.
    • The absence of a plan is not the same as the absence of potential. Suzy had no roadmap, no career conversations growing up, and still found her way to some of the most influential rooms in the world.
    • Courage rarely looks like courage in the moment. Most of the bold moves Suzy made felt like the only option available, not a calculated leap.
    • Knowing what you are not is just as clarifying as knowing what you are. Walking away from journalism because she couldn't ask a grieving mother how she felt was not weakness — it was self-knowledge.
    • The work you do inside a great partnership compounds in ways you cannot predict. Suzy and Jack taught each other things no classroom or boardroom ever could, and that exchange shaped everything that came after.
    • Grief has no efficient path through it. Suzy did not navigate loss gracefully at first, and saying that out loud matters more than any polished version of the story would.
    • Your values are not a soft concept. They are the operating system beneath every decision, and when your life is out of alignment with them, you feel it before you can name it.
    • The methodology that helps others find their way often comes from the season where you had to find your own. Becoming You was born directly out of Suzy's hardest chapter.

    Chapter Markers: 00:00 Introduction & Welcome 01:48 Suzy's Feral Childhood & Creative Upbringing 04:17 Discovering a Different World at Exeter 06:44 Harvard, Lacrosse, and a Career Nobody Planned 07:51 Landing on the Miami Crime Desk 10:22 Why She Walked Away from Journalism 14:00 The Harvard Business Review Years 20:18 The Scandal, the Story, and Meeting Jack Welch 24:48 Building a Life and a Business Together 27:52 Navigating Grief After Jack's Passing 30:43 The Becoming You Methodology is Born 31:54 Teaching at NYU Stern and the Waitlist That Said Everything 36:00 Values, Authenticity, and Living on Purpose 41:34 The Values Bridge Assessment & Resources 42:35 Lightning Round & Closing Reflections

    Keywords: leadership development, women in leadership, career reinvention, life purpose, authentic leadership, personal growth, executive coaching, women executives, Harvard Business School, NYU Stern, Suzy Welch, Becoming You, values alignment, career transitions, female founders, women entrepreneurs, life after loss, grief and resilience, purpose driven career, nonlinear career path, leadership podcast, business leadership, executive women, career development, self discovery, finding your purpose, women in business, leadership chronicles, reinvention after 50, career courage, thought leadership, personal brand, professional development
    Show More Show Less
    48 mins
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