Leadership Unchained: Defy Conventional Wisdom for Breakthrough Performance - Softcover

Keynote Speaker, LinkedIn Learning Instructor and Author Sara Canaday is a rare blend of analytical entrepreneur and perceptive warmth. That powerful combination has increasingly made her a go-to resource for helping leaders and high-potential professionals achieve their best.

Her insights come from her real-world experience and a surprising phenomenon she noticed in her own rise up the corporate ladder: The most successful people aren’t necessarily the ones with the highest IQs or best job skills. Career advancement is actually more closely linked with how people apply their knowledge and talents—their capacity to collaborate, communicate, and influence others.

Though Sara quickly ascended through the ranks to an executive position in operations with a major company, she realized that helping others to maximize their career potential was truly her life’s work. After launching her own business as a speaker and consultant, she expanded her reach through her first book, You—According to Them: Uncovering the blind spots that impact your reputation and your career.

Today, Sara is a sought-after leadership speaker and educator, serving diverse organizations around the world. In that capacity, she has gained a unique, front-line view of leadership and its fascinating evolution.

Sara lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband Brandon, her daughter Taylor, and her son Cole.

"Great leaders are not born, they're made...and they constantly re-make themselves to meet evolving business challenges. Leadership Unchained is the perfect blueprint for becoming the kind of leader you've always wanted to be--and that your people deserve."
--Jeff Haden | Inc. Magazine Contributing Editor, Best-Selling Author of The Motivation Myth: How High Achievers Really Set Themselves Up to Win

"What we call 'leadership' has not changed. What has changed, how­ever, are the circumstances in which we lead and the velocity of those changes. In Leadership Unchained, Sara Canaday provides clarity for leaders struggling to cope with challenges they face in pulling people together for a common cause. With a blend of research and practical advice, Leadership Unchained is a book that leaders will want on their bookshelves now...and in the future."
--John Baldoni | Internationally Recognized Executive Coach and Educator; Author of GRACE: A Leader's Guide to a Better Us and MOXIE: The Secret to Bold and Gutsy Leadership

"Leadership Unchained offers a counterintuitive and valuable approach for current leaders and those who one day will be. The world of business has changed, and the conventional wisdom isn't working. Sara perceptively and incisively identifies the conventional leadership strengths that can become an Achilles' Heel, and she pro­vides clear, actionable strategies with discerning guidance on when and how to employ them."
--Whitney Johnson | LinkedIn Influencer and Top Voices 2018; Author of Build an A Team

"The message that I just love from this book is to not let the skills and perspectives that were pivotal for your past success become a liability for your future productivity. In Leadership Unchained, Sara Canaday gives you the playbook you need for making this critical message a reality. A highly recommended read!"
--Andy Molinsky | Professor of Organizational Behavior and International Management, Brandeis University; Author of Reach: A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Rise to the Challenge, and Build Confidence

"Sara Canaday offers a unique and differing perspective on leader­ship in a world that is increasingly chaotic and all too demanding of every individual's time and energy. In Leadership Unchained, Sara looks at turning conventional leadership wisdom on its head, with insights and strategies leaders can put to use immediately."
--Stacey Rudnick | Director, Center for Leadership & Ethics at the McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin

"In Leadership Unchained, Sara Canaday shares groundbreaking insights that redefine the rules for leadership as we know it.  A must read for anyone who values modern leadership solutions for real world challenges. There's nothing else quite like it."
--Mark Schindele, SVP Target Properties

"Leadership Unchained is the book for leaders who are looking for new strategies and tactics to cope with the shifting ground of missed opportunities and unexpected threats in today's competitive and ever-changing environment...It's a must-read."
--Sylvia Acevedo | CEO, Author, Engineer, Entrepreneur, Rocket Scientist

"The world is continuously changing and, as a result, leaders must also change how they lead. Sara Canaday's Leadership Unchained is a must-read book for leaders of today and tomorrow. It prompts them to reflect on how they are leading now, what they need to adjust, and how they can conquer increasingly difficult challenges with counterintuitive strategies."
--Sandra Lopez | Vice President & General Manager, Intel            

The effectiveness of Sara Canaday's book, Leadership Unchained, begins with her direct style of writing. Focused on the practical application of leadership principles, Canaday identifies the key elements of leading others in today's workplace without bogging down the reader with theory. I engaged with her book from the first page because I quickly related her experiences to my own leadership style and practice, and I kept reading because I wanted to know more. She emphasized the impact that leaders can have and reminded me of my own reasons for embracing my work, and that I can make an impact as a leader. I felt like we had a personal conversation and I emerged stronger and more committed to leadership. I highly encourage anyone interested in leadership to read this book. 
--Nonfiction Book Awards