Bestselling Author, Professor of Technology and Operations Management at Harvard Business School

Frances Frei is a Professor of Technology and Operations Management at Harvard Business School. Her research investigates how leaders create the conditions for organizations and individuals to thrive by designing for excellence in strategy, operations, and culture. She regularly advises organizations embarking on large-scale change initiatives, including embracing diversity and inclusion as a lever for significantly improving performance.

A global thought leader on leadership and strategy, Frances is widely recognized for her breakthrough scholarship and high-impact teaching. She developed one of the most popular classes at HBS, which explores business models that reliably delight customers. She also led the design and launch of HBS’s innovative FIELD curriculum built around learning experiences that are experiential and immersive.

In 2017, Frances was tapped to become Uber’s first Senior Vice President of Leadership and Strategy with a mandate to help thousands of employees excel in a context of hyper-growth, strategic change, and an evolution in culture. Her firsthand experience in Silicon Valley gave her a new lens on the urgent topic of trust. In 2018, Frances delivered a TED talk viewed by millions on ‘How to build (and rebuild) trust.’

Frances is the best-selling coauthor of Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business and Unleashed: The Unapologetic Leader’s Guide to Empowering Everyone Around You. Hailed as “the definitive guide to leadership today,” Unleashed inspires readers to look beyond themselves and focus on the true challenge of leadership: how to unlock the potential of others. Her third book, Move Fast & Fix Things will be available October 2023.

Frances and her coauthor, Anne Morriss, recently launched Fixable, a breakthrough leadership advice podcast from the TED Audio Collective that helps guest callers solve workplace problems – in 30 minutes or less. On Fixable, Frances and Anne diagnose callers’ leadership challenges and help them make progress with quick, actionable coaching.

Frances holds a Ph.D. in Operations and Information Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She has been recognized by Thinkers50 as among the world’s most influential business thinkers.