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The TED Interview

Frances Frei's three pillars of leadership

The TED Interview

TED

Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.42.5K Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2023

⏱️ 60 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A professor at Harvard Business School and expert in work culture, Frei goes into companies like WeWork and Uber with the goal of turning toxic environments into healthy, inclusive spaces. She shares why authenticity, logic, and empathy are the most vital skills an employee can have — and how the measure of a true leader can be seen not just in their presence, but in their absence, too.

Find Frances's new show Fixable, wherever you get your podcasts!



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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi there, I'm Francis Fry, and you're about to listen to a rerun of an episode I did of the TED

0:04.9

interview in 2019. I love getting the chance to speak to fans of TED, and it was great to chat with

0:10.9

Chris about trust and leadership at work. If you'd like to hear more from me, please check out Fixable.

0:16.8

It's a new TED podcast I host with Leadership coach, Anne Morris, who's also my wife.

0:22.3

Each week, we talk to real listeners and give advice on how to solve their most pressing work issues.

0:27.7

Everything from getting the attention of a manager to making a side hustle sustainable.

0:32.6

Meaningful change is just a conversation away.

0:35.4

You can find fixable wherever you get your podcasts.

0:38.3

Now, on to the episode.

0:44.8

Hello, I'm Chris Anderson.

0:46.8

Welcome to the TED interview,

0:48.3

the podcast series, which starts where a TED talk ends.

0:52.1

Today, we're talking about company culture and the crucial importance of

0:56.0

ideas like empathy, authenticity, and trust, and the need for leaders to, well, stop making it all

1:03.7

about them. Francis Frey is a professor of technology and operations management at Harvard Business School,

1:10.5

but most people

1:11.8

know her as a culture consultant. Francis has helped make over some of the world's most

1:16.6

controversial brands, Riot Games, Uber, and most recently we work. At times when trust

1:23.9

within those companies was at a low. If you don't totally reveal that I get you, I see you, and I'm doing this for you,

1:31.3

then nobody is going to trust you and you're already lowering the bounds of how much you're going to get out of everyone.

1:38.3

So trust is necessary, it's not sufficient, but it is the necessary first step.

1:43.3

We'll get an intimate look at how and why Francis took on these companies and how her methods

...

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