THAW · On sale 2/23/27 · Pre-orders open now
Pre-orderWhat leaders are saying
"THAW puts words to a truth I've lived throughout my career: strategy matters, but it's that people driving it that determine impact. This book is a practical, battle-tested playbook for unlocking human potential and accelerating change."
Daniel DworkinOrganizational development leader, Google
"The greatest barrier to organizational success is often not strategy or execution, but the gap between them. THAW brilliantly addresses that challenge by revealing how the 'frozen middle' of corporations can limit performance and how leaders can unlock its tremendous potential."
Joseph ImpiccicheFormer president and CEO, Ascension
"A powerful book. I can't remember reading a leadership book that provided so many hard-hitting points on how to achieve transformational change."
Darryl ScearceIT Leader, Fortune 10 Company
"When leaders truly engage the middle of the organization, the results are not incremental, they are transformative. This book provides a practical, proven path to turn strategy into real outcomes in weeks and months, not years."
Molly LaegelerLeading integrated energy company executive
"THAW brilliantly addresses what matters most to me as a CEO: how to deliver breakthrough performance while also building leaders at every level. This is a must-read business book."
Joseph Lee, MDPresident and CEO, Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
"Our partnership with Empactful Advisors has been instrumental in driving significant improvements across our operations, particularly boosting throughput, reducing costs, and enhancing overall reliability and consistency."
Kevin CrutchfieldCEO, Intrepid
"We've all heard about the frozen middle, usually mentioned with a sad sigh. Jimmy and Justin give you the tools to get past that, understand where you are, and then unlock the creativity in your organization to do more than you thought was possible."
Former PresidentDefense Acquisition University
The problem: meet the frozen middle
The middle isn't necessarily broken.
It may be frozen.
Every organization depends on its middle managers to translate strategy into action. They connect leadership's vision with the people, processes, and decisions that drive performance.
Yet too often, these capable, motivated leaders find themselves caught between competing priorities, unclear expectations, limited authority, and systems that make progress harder than it should be.
They are accountable for results but lack the conditions to deliver them. Sound familiar?
Pre-order THAWSeven conditions that freeze the middle
- 01Too many priorities
- 02Unclear decision rights
- 03Competing incentives
- 04Insufficient authority
- 05Cross-functional friction
- 06Layers of process
- 07Accountability without the ability to act
The Five Deltas
A delta is the distance between where your organization is and what it is capable of. Jimmy and Justin found the same Five Deltas in hundreds of organizations, and the frozen middle widens every one of them.
01
Profitability
Where you are
The financial results you are achieving today.
What you are capable of
The value you could create by unlocking the capabilities you already have.
02
Time
Where you are
How long work takes today.
What you are capable of
How quickly an aligned, empowered organization could deliver results.
03
Quality
Where you are
The outcomes your teams produce now.
What you are capable of
The quality, consistency, and performance those same teams are capable of.
04
Systems and Communication
Where you are
Information, decisions, processes, and teams that fail to connect.
What you are capable of
An organization that connects across every level and function.
05
Leadership Development
Where you are
How your leaders are being developed today.
What you are capable of
Their potential to drive performance, empower others, and sustain growth.
THAW is the playbook for closing all Five Deltas.
Pre-order THAWThe solution: what it takes to THAW
Unlock the middle.
Unlock the organization.
You don't unlock organizational potential by asking people to work harder. You unlock it by changing the conditions that determine whether they can succeed.
THAW introduces three essential elements that help organizations move from stalled ambition to meaningful action.
- 01AlignmentUnite leadership and teams around shared priorities, clear objectives, and meaningful outcomes.
- 02ClarityDefine expectations, decision rights, and accountability so people have the authority to act.
- 03SpeedBuild momentum through faster decisions, disciplined experimentation, and measurable progress.
When organizations create alignment, clarity, and speed, middle managers can become what they were always meant to be: catalysts for execution, innovation, and growth.
Don't just read THAW. Put it to work.
The ideas behind THAW were forged through real-world experience, helping organizations overcome barriers to execution and unlock their full potential. Now, bring these proven insights and practical strategies to your leadership team, your next event, or your entire organization.
Workshops
THAW Leadership Workshops
Find the gaps. Challenge assumptions. Unlock what's possible. Bring your leadership team together to identify where execution is frozen, explore the Five Deltas, and uncover the conditions limiting performance.
Explore THAW workshopsKeynotes
Book Jimmy and Justin to Speak
A provocative new perspective on why organizations get stuck, and how to get them moving again. Bring Jimmy Leppert and Justin Wasserman into your next conference, leadership meeting, executive offsite, or company event.
Book a speakerTHAW for Teams
Bulk Books, Plus the Authors
Give your leadership team more than a book. Combine copies of THAW with an author conversation, keynote, facilitated discussion, or customized working session, and turn a shared read into organizational change.
Bring THAW to your organizationBook a speaker
Bring THAW to your stage.
Keynotes, fireside chats, and leadership conversations with Jimmy Leppert and Justin Wasserman. Tell us about your event and we'll be in touch within two business days.
How frozen is your middle?
Take the quick, free Execution Readiness survey and get your score in minutes. The THAW Score assessment is coming. Want the full picture? Request a comprehensive organizational analysis and we will reach out.
- Decision rights
- Strategic priorities
- Accountability
- Authority
- Cross-functional execution
- Management capacity
Ready to unfreeze your organization?
THAW: Unfreeze Middle Management to Unlock Strategy, Innovation, and Growth. By Jimmy Leppert and Justin Wasserman. Henry Holt and Company, February 23, 2027.
Pre-order THAW