Newsletter Sign up

Alison Fragale

Alison Fragale Profile Photo

Speaker. Author. Professor. Wine Lover.

Alison Fragale is an organizational psychologist, professor at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, and bestselling author of Likeable Badass: How Women Get the Success They Deserve. Her academic research on status, power, negotiation, and influence have been published in her field’s top academic journals as well as national media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. She is a sought-after keynote speaker who uses behavioral science to help individuals, especially women, excel. Prior to her academic career, Alison worked as a consultant for McKinsey and Company, Inc.

She holds a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Alison resides in Chicago with her husband and her three children, who are all named after professional athletes. She also loves, in no particular order: cheap coffee, not-so-cheap wine, fabulous shoes, sushi, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Peloton workouts, Hallmark movies, and The Golden Girls.

Likeable Badass Quick Lift: Warmth + Competence = Status (Alison Fragale)
43
Jan. 29, 2026

Likeable Badass Quick Lift: Warmth + Competence = Status (Alison Fragale)

Episode OverviewThis quick recap pulls the most actionable ideas from my conversation with Dr. Alison Fragale, author of Likeable Badass—so you can earn more respect (status), influence outcomes, and still feel like yourself doing it.Be warm → get overlooked.Be strong → get judged.Show confidence → get questioned. …So let’s fix the game instead of blaming you.SummaryIn this Quick Lift, we break down Alison’s core concept: people make fast judgments about you based on warmth and competence. When you intentionally signal both, you build status—and status becomes influence. The best part? The move is usually adding clarity and confidence, not subtracting kindness.
Career Growth for Women: The Likeable Badass Method to Build Influence
42
Jan. 21, 2026

Career Growth for Women: The Likeable Badass Method to Build Influence

Women in leadership often get stuck in the likability vs. competence double bind—and it can stall career growth for women even when performance is strong. In this episode, organizational psychologist Dr. Alison Fragale shares the “Likeable Badass” approach to build leadership confidence, strengthen executive presence, and increase influence at work—without shrinking, over-explaining, or apologizing for being direct.If you’ve ever softened your message, over-explained, or held back from advocating for yourself because you didn’t want to be “that person”… this episode is for you. Alison breaks down why the likability-competence tradeoff shows up so often for women, and the practical shifts that help you build influence without contorting yourself into someone else’s comfort zone.