Frances Frei & Anne Morriss: Leading Change Without Collateral Damage

 

Frances Frei (left) is a tenured professor at the Harvard Business School, and two years ago, was an extraordinary guest on this podcast when we discussed her brilliant understanding on how to build, retain and restore trust.

Listeners should note that she also gave a remarkable TED Talk on trust that shouldn’t be missed.

Frances returns to the podcast to discuss a wonderful new book that she & her (also brilliant) life & professional partner, Anne Morriss, have written. Unlike Meta CEO, Marc Zuckerberg, who once urged his organization to “move fast and break things,” Frei & Morriss prove to be more sensible & enlightened in asserting that a swift implementation of change needn’t be accompanied by a lot of wreckage & harm (to people especially) as Zuckerberg previously assumed.

Frei and Morriss are speed freaks – meaning they think all change initiatives have a far better chance of succeeding when implemented with true urgency – but also believe the best leaders can not only handle the speed, they can do so while while making their organizations—employees, customers, & shareholders—even stronger.

Their new book is cleverly called, “Move Fast And Fix Things,” and features five essential steps to implementing change that require no tradeoffs between speed & excellence:

  1. Identify the real problem holding you back
  2. Build and rebuild trust in your company
  3. Create a culture where everyone can thrive
  4. Communicate powerfully as a leader
  5. Go fast by empowering your team

As many of our podcast listeners continue to seek guidance on how to make their organizations (& leaders) more caring & humane, we asked Anne and Frances to come prepared to apply their methodology to this very problem. It might be the most comprehensive guidance you’ve ever received on how to implement the “Lead From The Heart” philosophy at your workplace.

Listen in to two creative thinkers who also happen to be a lot of fun to spend time with.

By Mark C. Crowley

Mark C. Crowley is the author of Lead From The Heart: Transformational Leadership For The 21st Century which has been taught in 11 American universities. He is a global speaker, leadership consultant and thought leader on the topics of workplace culture and employee engagement.