Level Up

A bold argument that many workplace hierarchies are fundamentally broken and that all of us—regardless of our rank or role—can help fix them.

Workplace hierarchies often evoke fear, anger, and envy in employees who feel caught in competition with coworkers and under relentless pressure from dominant bosses. The ensuing uncertainty and instability harm employee well-being and undermine organizational performance. Stanford social influence expert Nir Halevy argues that this is because we’re doing hierarchy wrong. When done right, hierarchies can be beneficial, and not just for whoever is at the top.

In Level Up, Halevy explains how you can diagnose a broken hierarchy and help fix it, using a framework and concrete solutions that apply to employees across ranks and roles. Drawing on scientific evidence, interviews, and real-world stories from boardrooms to breakrooms, Halevy shows how functional hierarchies create the structure people need to receive mentorship and developmental support, to understand what it takes to move up the career ladder, and to coordinate effectively with one another.

Rather than cynically teaching readers how to navigate the dysfunctional labyrinth of a broken hierarchy, Level Up offers a pathway for keeping many of hierarchy’s benefits without bearing its costs. This book is essential reading for people at any level of the org chart.

• “Nir Halevy doesn’t aim to flatten all hierarchies in the name of humanity—or flatten all humanity in the name of hierarchies. Instead, he offers something more nuanced and more hopeful: a smart, evidence-backed guide to fixing the systems we love to hate but can’t live without. Level Up is an utterly compelling and deeply practical book.”
  Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Drive
• “Winning as a company or an athletic team requires teamwork and culture that propel everyone to perform. Level Up provides a valuable playbook for building an exceptional organization together. With sharp insights from business and sports, it delivers a clear and actionable framework for anyone who wants to lead their organization to reach its highest potential.”
  John Donahoe, former president and CEO of Nike
• “Do humans inevitably form hierarchies? Everyone from anarchists to zoologists weigh in on this ubiquitous feature of our behavior. In Level Up, Nir Halevy skillfully analyzes why some hierarchies do or don’t function and what ‘function’ means for those high or low in status and at the collective level. The book is both broadly theoretical and specifically practical for fixing broken hierarchies, accessibly grounded in science, and deeply insightful about how individuals change when in groups. A superb read.”
  Robert M. Sapolsky, New York Times bestselling author of Behave
• “Many experts tell us that our corporate hierarchies are broken and that employees are stressed and angry. In this fascinating and insightful book, Nir Halevy points the way forward.”
  Carol S. Dweck, bestselling author of Mindset
• “Great leaders create the conditions that allow people to thrive. In Level Up, Nir Halevy provides a compelling roadmap for building organizations where collaboration flourishes and performance follows. A must-read for leaders who believe lasting success begins with WE.” 
  Kyle McDowell, author of Begin with WE