In times of stability, leadership is challenging enough. In times of complexity, when systems are interconnected, disruptions constant, and trust fragile, leadership demands something deeper from leaders. Frances Frei, Harvard Business School professor and co-author of Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You (with Anne Morriss), offers a powerful framework for how leaders can navigate such contexts by building the conditions in which people can rise together.
Her work emphasizes that leadership in complexity is not about control, charisma, or certainty. It is about trust, empowerment, and clarity, which are conditions that will bring out the best in people.
Trust as the Foundation
Frei’s research shows that trust is the essential currency of leadership. Without it, strategies falter, collaboration breaks down, and complexity overwhelms. She identifies a “trust triangle” with three elements:
1. Authenticity: People experience the real you.
2. Logic: Your reasoning and judgment are sound and accessible.
3. Empathy: People believe you care about them.
When any leg of this triangle is weak, trust is eroded. In complex times, when uncertainty heightens anxiety, authenticity, clarity of logic, and genuine care are non-negotiable.
Empowerment Over Control
In complex environments, no single leader can see all the variables or make every decision. Frei argues that the role of leadership is not to hoard power, but to unleash the potential of others.
This means:
• Creating clarity of purpose so people know what matters most.
• Removing barriers so teams can act quickly and effectively.
• Extending trust by giving autonomy rather than micromanaging.
Leadership becomes less about giving answers and more about creating conditions for distributed leadership across the organization.
Clarity Amid Complexity
Complex times are noisy times. Competing priorities, rapid change, and constant information flows can overwhelm. Frei reminds us that leaders must offer radical clarity, not by oversimplifying reality, but by consistently reinforcing purpose, priorities, and principles.
Clarity helps teams distinguish signal from noise, make aligned decisions, and move forward without paralysis.
Anchors for Leaders in Complex Times
From Frei’s work, leaders can draw several anchors for their leadership:
1. Build trust through authenticity, logic, and empathy
2. Empower others by removing barriers and distributing leadership
3. Provide clarity of purpose, priorities, and values
4. Model vulnerability and learning. Admit what you don’t know and invite others to co-create solutions.
5. Focus on relationships, not just results, because in complexity, collaboration is the only path forward.
Implications for Leaders, Teams, and Organizations
• Leaders must become trust-builders and empowerment enablers. Their greatest leverage lies in unleashing others.
• Teams must embrace autonomy and accountability, grounded in shared clarity of purpose.
• Organizations must cultivate cultures where trust, transparency, and distributed decision-making are the norm.
Frances Frei reminds us that leadership in complex times is not about commanding certainty but cultivating trust, clarity, and empowerment. Leaders who embody authenticity, logic, and empathy, can unleash the potential of others, and create organizations resilient enough to thrive in uncertainty.
In the end, leadership in complexity is not about controlling outcomes. Rather, it is about liberating people’s capacity to rise to the challenge together.
