Unleashed – The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You

In their book, Unleashed, Frances Frei and Anne Morriss provide a fresh and practical framework for leadership, and how great leaders excel not just with intelligence but also with emotional intelligence.

The authors say leadership is about “creating the conditions for the people around you to become increasingly effective, to help them fully realize their full capacity and power,” and “making sure the impact continues in your absence.”  Unleashed tells the story of how empowering leaders live up to this definition by navigating paradoxes of leadership.  The paradox of empowering others starts with empowering yourself by being honest with oneself, operating with love and compassion, and building trust through authenticity.

Honest self-image

A common paradox about leadership development is that your past defines you, but at the same time your past does not define you.  Having an honest self-image is the way through. We can separate reality from perception, strengths and weaknesses; and analyze our past experiences to evolve and grow.

Therefore it’s important that as a leader you develop a 360-degree understanding of your own values, beliefs, tendencies to know which attributes help and hurt in various situations.  This is emotional intelligence.  Frei and Morriss point out this is some of the hardest work for a leader. And it is worth it because a leader’s beliefs can have a great impact on the team.

Operating with love and compassion

Frei and Morriss say leaders must be “intentional about distributing power and decision rights, and then take total, unqualified responsibility for the outcome.”  This can be scary.

What if someone makes a bad decision?  What if I don’t know what is happening three floors down or five time zones away?  What if my team fails to meet my expectations?  These inner questions originate in the “lower brain” (where the amygdala sits), which prompts worry and anxiety that in turn lead to flight or fight impulses.  The uncertain feelings can be overwhelming for leaders especially when stakes are high.

Frei and Morriss offer a framework that shifts a leader’s perspective to conquer inner fears and set initial conditions to be able to unleash others’ capacity.  The premise of the framework is that leaders make others better when coming from a place of devotion, compassion and grace.  This is the essence of love.  It is a key ingredient to cultivating a culture of deserved trust.

The authors also recognize that coming from a position of devotion, compassion and grace doesn’t mean standards or expectations of other  need to be compromised.  A leader can show tough love.  In other words, it’s not mutually exclusive for a leader to demand high expectations but also be compassionate.  This paradox is navigated by being balanced and embodying justice.

Authenticity develops trust

The more authentic you are as a leader, the more trust others will place in you.  Frei and Morriss offer three dimensions of authenticity: (a) being comfortable with yourself, (b) knowing what you are saying, and (c) others feel heard by you.  Most importantly, the authors suggest how to assess your authenticity pillars (strengths) and wobbles (weaknesses), and what do about the wobbles.

Example of three wobbles and what to do about them:

1. Not being comfortable with yourself.

Effect: Others perceive they are not getting the real you.

Action: Open the window so others can see the real you (your intent, purpose, beliefs and values). Learn in public, a la Ray Dalio. When everyone on the team does this, the team becomes inclusive and high-performing.

2. Not knowing what you are saying:

Effect: Others perceive you do not have the judgment required for the terrain the team is navigating.

Action: Expand what you know, or communicate more effectively with the Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF).

3. Others do not feel heard:

Effect: Others perceive you are putting yourself first (common among those who are analytical and eager to learn).

Action: Change perspective from getting what you need to helping others get what they need.

There is a lot more to take away from thought leaders Frei and Morriss on how to apply their leadership frameworks to build emotional intelligence, overcome paradoxes and address inequality, divisiveness, bias, strategy and culture in the workplace and society.  Unleashed is required reading for today’s leaders.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents

In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state…

Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train

The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report…

[ICYMI] Lekki Shootings: Why We Lied About Our Presence — General Taiwo

The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the killings at Lekki Toll Gate, on Saturday resumed viewing of the 24hrs footage of the October 20, 2020 shooting of #EndSARS protesters by personnel of the Nigerian Army…

ICYMI: How We Carried Out The 1993 Nigerian Airways Hijack —Ogunderu

On Monday, October 25, 1993, in the heat of June 12 annulment agitations, four Nigerian youngsters, Richard Ajibola Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi and Kenny Razak-Lawal, did the unthinkable! They hijacked an Abuja-bound aircraft, the Nigerian Airways airbus A310, and diverted it to Niger Republic. How did they so it? Excerpts…

ICYMI: What North Will Not Accept About 2023 Presidency —Prof Mahuta, UDU Don And Kebbi Dev Foundation Chairman

Sahabi Danladi Mahuta, a community mobiliser and APC chieftain. Mahuta spoke to select journalists at the sidelines of an Islamic conference in Abuja recently. Excerpts…