McKinsey Talks Talent

Listen in to learn how to navigate a fast-changing business landscape and prepare for the future of work by turning talent into competitive advantage. McKinsey talent experts Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock lead discussions with globally recognized experts and thought leaders on talent, transformational change, and leadership development.

McKinsey Talks Talent is a business podcast hosted by McKinsey People & Organizational Performance, with 46 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

McKinsey People & Organizational Performance hosts McKinsey Talks Talent, a business show with 46 episodes published.

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  McKinsey Talks Talent

  Your AI agents need performance management, too

  Aug 26, 202630 min

  Agents: Everybody’s got them. But who’s managing them? And what happens to the human talent working alongside them—and being asked to show up differently as a result? “The rise of AI doesn’t mean we all suddenly devolve our responsibilities for quality control and critical thinking,” says Kate Smaje , McKinsey’s global leader of technology and AI and coauthor of the recent book Rewired . “That’s not the world we live in. There’s a premium on those capabilities now.” In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent , Smaje joins Senior Partner Brooke Weddle and Partner Bryan Hancock , along with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly, to discuss what leading through the AI moment means for the relationship between people and technology, including ways of working; costs, benefits, and risks; and the need for open dialogue about the question, “Why AI?” See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

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  McKinsey Talks Talent

  Is the AI productivity story at a turning point?

  Jul 31, 202631 min

  "Is my generation doomed?" That’s what one Stanford graduating senior asked Professor Erik Brynjolfsson, economist and director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. The professor had seen the data, so he didn’t dismiss the question. But as productivity gains begin to emerge, Brynjolfsson argues that the biggest opportunity lies not in replacing workers but in redesigning work. In this episode of  McKinsey Talks Talent , Brynjolfsson joins McKinsey leaders  Brooke Weddle  and  Bryan Hancock , as well as Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly, to discuss what’s changing, who’s most susceptible to displacement, and what leaders need to know to create value while managing new risks. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

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  McKinsey Talks Talent

  What it takes to build “genius at scale”

  Apr 29, 202617 min

  That elusive Eureka moment : Every leader strives for it—but it can’t be forced. And as Harvard Business School Professor Linda Hill argues in her new book Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation (Harvard Business Publishing, March 2026), innovation is less about a flash of insight than about creating the conditions for breakthrough ideas to take hold and scale. In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent , Hill speaks with McKinsey leaders and talent experts Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock , along with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly, about the roles and capabilities that successful innovators share—and about how to create a culture that encourages everyone to undertake the hard, risky work of innovation to drive organizational performance. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

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  McKinsey Talks Talent

  The problem with ‘bringing your whole self to work’

  Mar 25, 202624 min

  Being yourself at work has become a corporate mantra—and it certainly started in a well-meaning way. But it can also have significant downsides, according to Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, author of Don’t Be Yourself: Why Authenticity Is Overrated (and What to Do Instead). In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Chamorro-Premuzic joins McKinsey leaders and talent experts Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock, as well as Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly, to explore what authenticity really means in the workplace, when it helps and hurts, and what may matter more for employees looking to accelerate their leadership trajectory in the age of AI.  See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

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  McKinsey Talks Talent

  US manufacturing’s next test: Building a workforce for a new era

  Feb 27, 202622 min

  Manufacturing is back at the center of the US economic agenda. Yet the sector faces a persistent talent shortage—and to bridge it, leaders will need to rethink how they attract, train, and retain a new generation of manufacturing employees. “Manufacturers need to be driving the conversation, not waiting for the workforce ecosystem to arrive at their door,” says Carolyn Lee, President and Executive Director of the Manufacturing Institute (MI). On this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent , Lee joins McKinsey leaders Brooke Weddle , Bryan Hancock , and Tyler Freeman, along with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly, to talk about what needs to change, as automation advances and employees’ expectations evolve, to enable US manufacturing to thrive in the age of AI. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

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