Dare to Free Your Own Voice with Hortense Le Gentil

Your Working Life with Caroline Dowd-Higgins

Today more than ever, leading with humanity and empathy is mission-critical for any team or organization seeking to achieve its highest potential. Yet too many leaders blunt their impact by confining their ability to inspire, allowing it to stay locked up inside themselves. They remain trapped in the outdated myth that they must be superhero leaders - infallible, unflappable, and fearless - even though the human leaders who embrace empathy, vulnerability, and authenticity are proven most effective.  

In THE UNLOCKED LEADER: Dare to Free Your Own Voice, Lead with Empathy, and Shine Your Light in the World (Wiley, September 26, 2023), veteran executive leadership coach Hortense le Gentil combines real life stories, deep psychological insights, rigorous research, and practical tools to reveal how leaders can become more effective by learning to lead with palpable humanity. Hortense examines prominent leaders from business and popular culture—from Marie Kondo and Ralph Lauren to Steve Jobs and Apple TV’s Ted Lasso—to explore what modern leadership can evolve to encompass. 

The Unlocked Leader reveals how to:

· Identify Mindtraps -- any mental obstacles that ground you in old ways of thinking, sap your energy, and hold back your company and employees.

· Operate a Mindshift -- find the courage to challenge your mindtraps and confront your fears. 

· Achieve a Mindbuild -- reimagine the kind of leader you can be, and then strategically put this image into action.

The journey from superhero leader to human leader will profoundly transform leaders and employees alike, and help companies function better as a whole. In fact, human leaders make an impact and shine their light in the world by changing the way they connect. This starts a chain reaction that reverberates throughout organizations and across their interconnected networks of human relationships.

The Unlocked Leader* is a practical and impactful new guide for those who strive to lead not just with their heads, but with their hearts and souls—and in doing so, will inspire many others in the service of something bigger than themselves.

About the Author

HORTENSE LE GENTIL is a world-renowned executive leadership coach, speaker, and author. She guides CEOs and senior executives on their journey from hero leaders to human leaders. Guided by 30 years in business, working across industries—including media consulting and advertising—and as an entrepreneur. Hortense was a 2021 and 2023 nominee for the Thinkers 50 Coaching and Mentoring Awards, and has been ranked #5 on the Global Gurus list by World Management Global Gurus. She is a certified Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered™ coach and a member of MG100 Coaches. Author of THE UNLOCKED LEADER: Dare to Free Your Own Voice, Lead with Empathy, and Shine Your Light in the World (Wiley, September 26, 2023), and ALIGNED: Connecting Your True Self with the Leader You’re Meant to Be (2019), Hortense is a contributor to Harvard Business Review and ThriveGlobal.com, and has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Inc., and Business Insider. She is based in New York.