Storytelling sticks in the mind because it attaches emotions to events, and that's the way we remember things. If you don't tell stories, no one will remember what you say.
The questionnaire is a simple first step toward becoming more self-aware.
The key is to become aware of how you are signaling your presence in meetings, conversations, speeches - everywhere you show up. Then you can take charge of them.
The world is a very big place and there are many wonderful people in with ideas you haven't thought about. Talk to them, find out what they're thinking, so that you can be the best person you can be.
Emotions are charismatic. Focused emotions are very charismatic. To lead people with charisma, you need to take charge of and focus your emotions.
Mirror neurons make human empathy possible.
The unconscious mind governs our decision-making, and much of our communications. It's imperative, if you want to be a successful leader, to become aware of these key human actions.
In cyberspace, we get many fewer cues about the emotional states and attitudes of the people we're talking to. That makes it less interesting, easier to mis-communicate, and more likely to destroy trust. So you need to treat cyberspace with care, especially being aware of the fragile nature of trust in the virtual world.
Indeed, we learn far more from our mistakes than our successes.
Being embarrassed means that you're human, and we like you better for it
A language like Ruby is a toolbox with some really neat little tools that do their job really nicely. JavaScript is a leather sheath with a really really sharp knife inside. That knife can cut anything, and with it you can do anything. You can kill a bear. You can catch fish. You can whittle a piece of wood into a pony. It's even a toothpick.
Every human emits unconscious vocal undertones that determine who the leader is in the room.
If you adopt the body language of a power player, it will greatly facilitate your ability to be a power player.
Gestures come first! Before we're consciously aware of our thoughts, we start to gesture. Pay attention to your gestures, and others', and you can become a more powerful communicator.
There are four different kinds of power in a communication: position power (the CEO talking to her direct reports), emotion power (passion sometimes rules the day), expertise (people often listen to the most knowledgeable person in the room), and conversational power (the subtlest, this is the ability to direct the conversation through body language).
The whole reason to study (and learn to control) body language is to have that support (rather than undercut) your message.
Speakers find joy in public speaking when they realize that a speech is all about the audience, not the speaker. Most speakers are so caught up in their own concerns and so driven to cover certain points or get a certain message across that they can't be bothered to think in more than a perfunctory way about the audience. And the irony is, of course, that there is no hope of getting your message across if that's all the energy you put into the audience. So let go, and give the moment to the audience.
The conscious mind is easily overwhelmed. The unconscious mind is vast and far more powerful, but by definition we're not aware of it.
You have to learn to trust - and listen to - your unconscious mind. If you pose the question to your unconscious "is this person a friend or a foe" - safe or a threat - your unconscious mind is hard-wired to assess that brilliantly for you. It's just that we're not very good at paying attention to what our unconscious minds are telling us.
First ask why, and decide whether something is worth doing. Only after that should you set about doing it as well as you can.
You have to begin by posing questions to your unconscious mind, and then listening very carefully for the answers. If you pose the right kinds of questions, and listen well, you can begin to tap into the power of your unconscious mind.
The Dalai Lama is my personal (and the world's) hero and has been for me since I was 17 and I first learned about him. His openness and acceptance of the world and his focus on others are constant inspirations for me.
The person in power takes up the most space.
You can strengthen your leadership voice by finding what I call its Maximum Resonance Point and learning to pitch your voice there. That gives you the strongest voice and thus the one that people are most likely to want to follow.
Sometimes, with leaders, the stakes are very high indeed. Churchill, in WWII, for example, could not afford to utter publicly his concerns about England's ability to survive Hitler's onslaught. He thought about them, but the leadership conversation sometimes needs to inspire, not voice doubt.
