The other day, I ran across this blog post by Mitch Ditkoff about thought leaders being replaced by “feeling leaders”. He had attended the World Innovation Forum and witnessed several top-notch presenters. What he observed was that the truly compelling presentations were made by those speaking from their hearts, not their heads.

This makes perfect sense for several reasons but here are 3 that illustrate the point rather well:

1. Psychology professor, Daniel Kahneman, was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize for Economics after his studies proved that we behave emotionally first, rationally second.
2. According to research, IQ accounts for only 4-10% of career success! Perhaps up to 25-30% within certain industries but, even so, it remains a fairly low overall percentage.
3. 75% of executives derail due to lack of emotional competencies.

Given this rich data, it’s no surprise that we prefer to be in the company of those who move us emotionally. If you are a leader who continues to leave your emotions at the door, it is only a matter of time before your career stalls out or the brilliant minds around you choose to follow another leader home.

I was reminded of this quote by Maya Angelou during a recent Presentations Training class I attended. Candace BelAir, our instructor and a former CNN broadcast journalist, reads it before every speech she delivers:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Yep. It matters. Time to plug in and lead with your heart.

In an industry where winning is quite literally everything, the Washington Nationals are doing something a little different. Having signed Stephen Strasburg, the #1 MLB draft pick in 2009, the last-place Nationals have landed themselves a phenomenal pitcher. One that is breaking rookie records while striking out the toughest hitters in baseball.

All of this adds up to dollars and wins for the Nationals. Every time they put Strasburg in they stand to gain another “W” in the win column along with significantly increased revenues – improved ticket sales, concessions, advertising revenue, and merchandise sales. Cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching. Not to mention the nice overall marketing “bump” in what has become a fascinating story to watch in major league baseball. Read the rest of this entry »

By Aimee Windmiller-Wood

Oh fine. I’ll admit it. I like eavesdropping on stranger’s conversations. I’ve even gone so far as to shush my kids at a restaurant so I could hear the end of someone’s conversation at the table next to ours. And I know I’m not the only one. Come on really. Why do we have so many reality shows on TV? Not all of them are about eating bugs. We love looking in on other people’s lives, seeing how they operate - maybe even learning from their mistakes.

I’ve learned a lot by listening in and confirmed what most of us already know: Read the rest of this entry »

I am comfortable with nuance. It’s gentle, considerate, subtle.  Don’t get me wrong, I have explorer tendencies and love difference, even glaring difference. It can be exciting, adventurous, fun. On the other hand – the darker side – glaring difference can be loud, obnoxious, always looking for a fight.

Read the rest of this entry »

I am done talking. No really…I can’t do it anymore. Funny position to take, given what I do for a living. But, I am done. I started a conversation just the other day and it went south…fast. I was being “schooled” on the difference between tolerance, compassion and endorsement, when I just disengaged. As I was crafting my witty, brilliant response, I just stopped. I didn’t need to have the last word. There wasn’t a last word to be had. We both had very different views about tolerance and compassion. I just didn’t want to try and understand anymore. And I knew I wasn’t being understood. Read the rest of this entry »