
Leading Below the Surface
How to Build Real (and Psychologically Safe) Relationships with People Who Are Different from You
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $14.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
LaTonya Wilkins
-
By:
-
LaTonya Wilkins
About this listen
Real connections within teams can create a culture shift for an entire company. Leading Below the Surface illustrates this vision, taking a radical stance against the "surface-ness" of corporate culture and exploring how highly rewarded behaviors are actually destroying organizations, blocking us all from creating truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultures of belonging.
This audiobook is not a step-by-step instructional guide or dry academic theory. With a foreword by Amy Edmondson, author and Novartis professor of leadership at Harvard Business School, this audiobook is inspired by organizational culture research, social psychology, and neuroscience frameworks. Leading Below the Surface is a compass for the purpose-driven and forward-thinking leader. It merges true stories from the lived experiences of culture leader LaTonya Wilkins with actionable insights backed by dynamic interdisciplinary research. Just like she has done for hundreds of coaching and organizational clients, LaTonya effectively coaches you through this transformation through each engaging chapter.
Leading Below the Surface disrupts the way we think about traditional leadership standards and the diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that have failed to make lasting change. The wisdom in these lines is powerful enough to not only change the way we think about corporate culture, but will instantly activate opportunities for the individual looking to advance their career while remaining authentic to who they are.
What you will learn in this audiobook:
- Executives: You will learn how to create true cultures of belonging by leading below the surface, and through building real relationships with people who are different from you. Think of it as DEI 2.0. We all want to get there.
- Managers: You will learn how to make meaningful shifts to foster real belonging within your teams through practicing empathy, psychological safety, and real leadership.
- Individual contributors: You will learn how to advance your career while remaining authentic to who you are. You will also learn new ways to influence real personal and professional belonging in the workplace.
- HR, DEI Leaders, and other related professionals: You will learn how to create real cultures of belonging so you can take all of your DEI efforts to the next level.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Insight
- Why We're Not as Self-Aware as We Think, and How Seeing Ourselves Clearly Helps Us Succeed at Work and in Life
- By: Tasha Eurich
- Narrated by: Tasha Eurich
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Integrating hundreds of studies with her own research and work in the Fortune 500 world, organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich shatters conventional assumptions about what it takes to truly know ourselves - like why introspection isn't a bullet train to insight, how experience is the enemy of self-knowledge, and just how far others will go to avoid telling us the truth about ourselves. At a time when self-awareness matters more than ever, Insight is the essential playbook for surviving and thriving in an unaware world.
-
-
Chicken noodle soup for the faux-llectual
- By Peter Hudson on 08-29-17
By: Tasha Eurich
-
Emotional Agility
- Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life
- By: Susan David
- Narrated by: Susan David
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The path to personal and professional fulfillment is rarely straight. Ask anyone who has achieved his or her biggest goals or whose relationships thrive, and you'll hear stories of many unexpected detours along the way. What separates those who master these challenges and those who get derailed? The answer is agility - emotional agility.
-
-
Slow, Simple, and Easy to Comprehend
- By Jules on 04-21-20
By: Susan David
-
Helping
- How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help (The Humble Leadership Series, Book 1)
- By: Edgar Schein
- Narrated by: Joe Bronzi
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Helping is a fundamental human activity, but it can also be a frustrating one. All too often, to our bewilderment, our sincere offers of help are resented, resisted, or refused - and we often react the same way when people try to help us. Why is it so difficult to provide or accept help? How can we make the whole process easier?
-
-
Could have been 30 minutes
- By Jennifer Mitchell on 01-22-25
By: Edgar Schein
-
Blind Spots
- Why We Fail to Do What’s Right and What to Do about It
- By: Max H. Bazerman, Ann E. Tenbrunsel
- Narrated by: Kate McQueen
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When confronted with an ethical dilemma, most of us like to think we would stand up for our principles. But we are not as ethical as we think we are. In Blind Spots, leading business ethicists Max Bazerman and Ann Tenbrunsel examine the ways we overestimate our ability to do what is right and how we act unethically without meaning to.
-
-
Great book! Poor narration
- By Susie on 11-20-17
By: Max H. Bazerman, and others
-
Blindspot
- By: Mahzarin R. Banaji, Anthony G. Greenwald
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I know my own mind. I am able to assess others in a fair and accurate way. These self-perceptions are challenged by leading psychologists Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald as they explore the hidden biases we all carry from a lifetime of exposure to cultural attitudes about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status, and nationality. Blindspot is the authors’ metaphor for the portion of the mind that houses hidden biases.
-
-
Difficult to interpret.
- By Ryan Arnold on 12-21-15
By: Mahzarin R. Banaji, and others
-
The Art of Gathering
- How We Meet and Why It Matters
- By: Priya Parker
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every day, we find ourselves in gatherings, Priya Parker says in The Art of Gathering. If we can understand what makes these gatherings effective and memorable, then we can reframe and redirect them to benefit everyone, host and guest alike. Parker defines a gathering as three or more people who come together for a specific purpose. When we understand why we gather, she says - to acknowledge, to learn, to challenge, to change - we learn how to organize gatherings that are relevant and memorable.
-
-
Would have liked a different narrator
- By Marta on 08-26-18
By: Priya Parker
-
Insight
- Why We're Not as Self-Aware as We Think, and How Seeing Ourselves Clearly Helps Us Succeed at Work and in Life
- By: Tasha Eurich
- Narrated by: Tasha Eurich
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Integrating hundreds of studies with her own research and work in the Fortune 500 world, organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich shatters conventional assumptions about what it takes to truly know ourselves - like why introspection isn't a bullet train to insight, how experience is the enemy of self-knowledge, and just how far others will go to avoid telling us the truth about ourselves. At a time when self-awareness matters more than ever, Insight is the essential playbook for surviving and thriving in an unaware world.
-
-
Chicken noodle soup for the faux-llectual
- By Peter Hudson on 08-29-17
By: Tasha Eurich
-
Emotional Agility
- Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life
- By: Susan David
- Narrated by: Susan David
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The path to personal and professional fulfillment is rarely straight. Ask anyone who has achieved his or her biggest goals or whose relationships thrive, and you'll hear stories of many unexpected detours along the way. What separates those who master these challenges and those who get derailed? The answer is agility - emotional agility.
-
-
Slow, Simple, and Easy to Comprehend
- By Jules on 04-21-20
By: Susan David
-
Helping
- How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help (The Humble Leadership Series, Book 1)
- By: Edgar Schein
- Narrated by: Joe Bronzi
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Helping is a fundamental human activity, but it can also be a frustrating one. All too often, to our bewilderment, our sincere offers of help are resented, resisted, or refused - and we often react the same way when people try to help us. Why is it so difficult to provide or accept help? How can we make the whole process easier?
-
-
Could have been 30 minutes
- By Jennifer Mitchell on 01-22-25
By: Edgar Schein
-
Blind Spots
- Why We Fail to Do What’s Right and What to Do about It
- By: Max H. Bazerman, Ann E. Tenbrunsel
- Narrated by: Kate McQueen
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When confronted with an ethical dilemma, most of us like to think we would stand up for our principles. But we are not as ethical as we think we are. In Blind Spots, leading business ethicists Max Bazerman and Ann Tenbrunsel examine the ways we overestimate our ability to do what is right and how we act unethically without meaning to.
-
-
Great book! Poor narration
- By Susie on 11-20-17
By: Max H. Bazerman, and others
-
Blindspot
- By: Mahzarin R. Banaji, Anthony G. Greenwald
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I know my own mind. I am able to assess others in a fair and accurate way. These self-perceptions are challenged by leading psychologists Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald as they explore the hidden biases we all carry from a lifetime of exposure to cultural attitudes about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status, and nationality. Blindspot is the authors’ metaphor for the portion of the mind that houses hidden biases.
-
-
Difficult to interpret.
- By Ryan Arnold on 12-21-15
By: Mahzarin R. Banaji, and others
-
The Art of Gathering
- How We Meet and Why It Matters
- By: Priya Parker
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every day, we find ourselves in gatherings, Priya Parker says in The Art of Gathering. If we can understand what makes these gatherings effective and memorable, then we can reframe and redirect them to benefit everyone, host and guest alike. Parker defines a gathering as three or more people who come together for a specific purpose. When we understand why we gather, she says - to acknowledge, to learn, to challenge, to change - we learn how to organize gatherings that are relevant and memorable.
-
-
Would have liked a different narrator
- By Marta on 08-26-18
By: Priya Parker
-
Made to Stick
- Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
- By: Chip Heath, Dan Heath
- Narrated by: Charles Kahlenberg
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain ways to make ideas stickier, such as applying the human scale principle, using the Velcro Theory of Memory, and creating curiosity gaps. Along the way, we discover that sticky messages of all kinds—from the infamous “kidney theft ring” hoax to a coach’s lessons on sportsmanship to a vision for a new product at Sony—draw their power from the same six traits.
-
-
Even Better The Second Time
- By Jeremy Devens on 09-05-09
By: Chip Heath, and others
-
Thinking, Fast and Slow
- By: Daniel Kahneman
- Narrated by: Patrick Egan
- Length: 20 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The guru to the gurus at last shares his knowledge with the rest of us. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman's seminal studies in behavioral psychology, behavioral economics, and happiness studies have influenced numerous other authors, including Steven Pinker and Malcolm Gladwell. In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman at last offers his own, first book for the general public. It is a lucid and enlightening summary of his life's work. It will change the way you think about thinking. Two systems drive the way we think and make choices, Kahneman explains....
-
-
Difficult Listen, but Probably a Great Read
- By Mike Kircher on 01-12-12
By: Daniel Kahneman
-
Dare to Lead
- Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
- By: Brené Brown
- Narrated by: Brené Brown
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brené Brown has spent the past two decades studying the emotions and experiences that give meaning to our lives, and the past seven years working with transformative leaders and teams spanning the globe. She found that leaders in organizations ranging from small entrepreneurial startups and family-owned businesses to nonprofits, civic organizations, and Fortune 50 companies all ask the same question: How do you cultivate braver, more daring leaders, and how do you embed the value of courage in your culture? This audiobook answers this question.
-
-
Brené's Work Has Changed My Life
- By Maximus on 01-12-19
By: Brené Brown
-
How to Be an Inclusive Leader (Second Edition)
- Your Role in Creating Cultures of Belonging Where Everyone Can Thrive
- By: Jennifer Brown
- Narrated by: Jennifer Brown
- Length: 3 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a world where women and communities of color were disproportionally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it's more important than ever for leaders to truly understand how to support inclusion in the postpandemic workplace. Drawing on years of work with many leading organizations, Jennifer Brown shows what leaders at any level can do to spark real change and navigate uncharted waters. She guides listeners through anti-racism using the Inclusive Leader Continuum, a set of four developmental stages: unaware, aware, active, and advocate.
-
-
Simple, yet impactful.
- By Cathy on 12-27-22
By: Jennifer Brown
-
Switch
- How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
- By: Dan Heath, Chip Heath
- Narrated by: Charles Kahlenberg
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives? The primary obstacle is a conflict that's built into our brains, say Chip and Dan Heath, authors of the critically acclaimed best seller Made to Stick. Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systems - the rational mind and the emotional mind - that compete for control. The rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie.
-
-
Even Better Than Made to Stick
- By Jeremy Devens on 02-24-10
By: Dan Heath, and others
-
Positive Intelligence
- Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve Yours
- By: Shirzad Chamine
- Narrated by: Shirzad Chamine
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his popular Stanford University lectures, Shirzad Chamine reveals how to achieve one's true potential for both professional success and personal fulfillment. His groundbreaking research exposes ten well-disguised mental Saboteurs. Nearly 95 percent of the executives in his Stanford lectures conclude that these Saboteurs cause "significant harm" to achieving their full potential. With Positive Intelligence, you can learn the secret to defeating these internal foes.
-
-
the ultimate skeptic
- By Pando on 06-27-12
By: Shirzad Chamine
-
DEI Deconstructed
- Your No-Nonsense Guide to Doing the Work and Doing It Right
- By: Lily Zheng
- Narrated by: Andrew Joseph Perez
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace cannot be understated. But when half-baked and underdeveloped strategies are implemented, they often do more harm than good, leading the very constituents they aim to support to dismiss DEI entirely.
-
-
Disgusted me
- By samuel on 03-27-25
By: Lily Zheng
-
The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias
- How to Reframe Bias, Cultivate Connection, and Create High-Performing Teams
- By: Pamela Fuller, Mark Murphy, Anne Chow
- Narrated by: Pamela Fuller, Mark Murphy, Anne Chow
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ideal for every manager who wants to understand and move past their own preconceived ideas, The Leader’s Guide to Unconscious Bias explains that bias is the result of mental shortcuts, our likes and dislikes, and is a natural part of the human condition. And what we assume about each other and how we interact with one another has vast effects on our organizational success - especially in the workplace. Teaching you how to overcome unconscious bias, this book provides more than 30 unique tools, such as a list of ways to reframe your unconscious thoughts.
-
-
Key Reading for Next Gen Workforce
- By Chanta Peak on 02-24-21
By: Pamela Fuller, and others
-
Equity
- How to Design Organizations Where Everyone Thrives
- By: Minal Bopaiah
- Narrated by: D'Lo
- Length: 3 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even the most passionate advocates for diversity, equity, and inclusion have been known to treat equity as the middle child - the concept they skip over to get to the warm, fuzzy feelings of inclusion. But Minal Bopaiah shows throughout this book that equity is critical if organizations really want to leverage differences for greater impact.
-
-
The Equity Guide Organizations Need
- By Stacy on 08-16-22
By: Minal Bopaiah
-
Rest Is Resistance
- A Manifesto
- By: Tricia Hersey
- Narrated by: Tricia Hersey
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too many of us have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, and machine‑level pace—feeding into the same engine that enslaved millions into brutal labor for its own relentless benefit. In Rest Is Resistance, Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop, casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted.
-
-
What an experience
- By makeba jones on 10-26-22
By: Tricia Hersey
-
Multipliers, Revised and Updated
- How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter
- By: Liz Wiseman, Stephen Covey - foreword
- Narrated by: Liz Wiseman, John Meagher
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We've all had experiences with two dramatically different types of leaders. The first type drain intelligence, energy, and capability from the people around them and always need to be the smartest people in the room. These are the idea killers, the energy sappers, the diminishers of talent and commitment. On the other side of the spectrum are leaders who use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them.
-
-
Good points, but highly repetitive
- By 9a7ner on 02-27-19
By: Liz Wiseman, and others
-
The Fearless Organization
- Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth
- By: Amy C. Edmondson
- Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Fearless Organization offers practical guidance for teams and organizations who are serious about success in the modern economy. With so much riding on innovation, creativity, and spark, it is essential to attract and retain quality talent, but what good does this talent do if no one is able to speak their mind? The traditional culture of "fitting in" and "going along" spells doom in the knowledge economy. Success requires a continuous influx of new ideas, new challenges, and critical thought, and the interpersonal climate must not suppress, silence, ridicule, or intimidate.
-
-
The Foundation for Organizational Transformation
- By DG on 01-27-20
By: Amy C. Edmondson
What listeners say about Leading Below the Surface
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jane rosenzweig
- 05-17-22
real stories, sound theory, practical guidance
if you’re into culture, inclusion, belonging, equity, leadership, coaching teams…LaTonya Wilkins book offers a refreshing, simple and powerful set of ideas and practices that can help make psychological safety at work a reality for everyone!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- CP
- 01-05-23
Great read on DIB
Great read on DIB, I will definitely work harder to be a below the surface leader!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- laura
- 05-27-24
Thought Provoking Leadership Perspective
Latonya offers a refreshing and thought-provoking perspective into leadership, and what makes great teams and corporate culture. With her own life and career experiences, LaTonya paints a clear picture of how she used this as fuel for her efforts in changes corporate environments for the greater good by coaching our leaders up from below. It is not an easy solution but possible with new ways of thinking and the willingness to learn. A fantastic listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!