Harvard Business Review

How Do I Improve the Role I Have? (HBR Podcast)

June 5, 2026·35 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

How Do I Improve the Role I Have? (HBR Podcast) 5 May 2022 --- Part three of our four-part special series, Find Joy in Any Job, with Marcus Buckingham on how to design your work to focus on what you love. A lot of us are feeling unhappy and disengaged at work – and that started long before the pandemic. A big part of the problem, says Marcus Buckingham, is that we don’t take the initiative to do more of the tasks that we truly love. After identifying what most energizes and excites you about your current role or employer, you can try a host of strategies to shape your work around those things. In this special series from HBR, we’re looking at how to find love in your work. In this episode, we explain how to shift your current role to focus on what really drives you. IdeaCast co-host Alison Beard speaks with Marcus Buckingham, head of research on people and performance at the ADP Research Institute and author of the new book Love + Work. Listen to all Find Joy in Any Job episodes here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzAU8TPKsJub1TwtUIBDKN28fnTNtQBq8 You can also listen to this episode on HBR.org, and wherever you listen to podcasts: - HBR.org (transcript available here): https://hbr.org/podcast/2022/04/find-joy-in-any-job-how-do-i-improve-the-role-i-have - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/find-joy-in-any-job-how-do-i-improve-the-role-i-have/id152022135?i=1000558281934 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/09n5uoKdrbwCdragnlUQ8j - Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/hbr-ideacast/episode/find-joy-in-any-job-how-do-i-improve-the-role-i-have-202557539 - Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmhhcnZhcmRidXNpbmVzcy5vcmcvaGFydmFyZGJ1c2luZXNzL2lkZWFjYXN0/episode/dGFnOmF1ZGlvLmhici5vcmcsMjAwNi0wNS0wODppZGVhY2FzdC4wODUz?sa=X&ved=0CAcQkfYCahgKEwiw_eOE9bn3AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQhS4 Series Description: HBR IdeaCast’s Find Joy in Any Job is a special four-part series with renowned management thinker Marcus Buckingham. At a time when 41% of us are considering quitting our current roles, we'll offer a better solution: a way to improve them. We'll capture voices from workers around the world and explore why so many feel unhappy and disengaged. We'll explain how to pinpoint the aspects of work that you do (or could) love and how to shift your responsibilities to those areas. Finally, we'll discuss how to build a team and organization full of people who love what they do. Marcus is the head of research on people and performance at the ADP Research Institute and author of the new book Love + Work (as well as co-author of the best-selling Nine Lies About Work). He'll be joined by IdeaCast co-host Alison Beard. About Harvard Business Review: Harvard Business Review is the leading destination for smart management thinking. Through its flagship magazine, books, and digital content and tools published on HBR.org, Harvard Business Review aims to provide professionals around the world with rigorous insights and best practices to help lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact. Learn more at www.hbr.org. Chapters: 00:00 Open 00:35 Intro 02:24 Turn What You Love Into a Contribution 04:54 Manage Up To Maximize What You Love 09:24 How To Stop Doing What You Loathe 13:00 Look Through a Lens of Love 14:06 How This Affects Teams 17:03 Formalize a Role Shift 19:37 Embrace Others’ Loves and Strengths 22:08 Side Hustles as a Solution 24:22 Outcomes of Improving Your Role Follow Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/ https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters #HarvardBusinessReview #Joy #Job Copyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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