Fix The Primitive Mental Bug That Threatens Your Happiness
I’ve been obsessed with happiness lately because few people seem to have it. It’s an important subject for leaders, entrepreneurs, business professionals and students because our thoughts control our behaviors. Neuroscientists and cognitive psychologists...
How Southwest Airlines Uses Emotional Storytelling To Connect With Its Customers
There are 175 seats on Southwest Airlines’ new Boeing 737 planes. And every seat tells a story. Southwest’s leaders recognize the power of emotional storytelling to connect with employees and customers on a deeper level than the average company. Over the...
Warren Buffett Loves This Ancient Tool Of Persuasion To Enliven His Annual Letters
Analysts and Berkshire Hathaway shareholders look forward to reading Warren Buffett’s annual letter for its wit, wisdom, and insights. I enjoy it because I can always count on Buffett, a life-long student of communication, to use metaphorical references to...
Great Business Leaders Are Unshakable Optimists (A Conversation With Harvard’s Steven Pinker)
Twenty years ago, I read a book called My American Journey by retired four-star general (and later U.S. Secretary of State) Colin Powell. One of his rules for successful leadership sticks with me to his day. Powell said, “Perpetual optimism is a force...
Leaders, Own Your Story Or Someone Else Will
Harvard business professor John Kotter once said that leaders “under communicate their visions for change by at least a factor of 10.” A single email, a single presentation, a single tweet is not enough. Changing a narrative requires repetition. I was...
When Is The Perfect Time For A Meeting? We Asked Bestselling Author Dan Pink
The famous TED speaker and New York Times bestselling author Daniel H. Pink, along with his team of researchers, spent two years analyzing more than 700 studies in fields ranging from economics to psychology to unearth the hidden science of perfect timing....
Abe Lincoln Captivated His Audience Used A Tree Stump Like A TED Stage
President’s Day is a good time to think about the lessons past presidents have taught us, especially those leaders like Abraham Lincoln whose words and actions changed the world we live in today. While researching a new book on individuals who stand out in...
This Five Year Study Reveals What Propels Top Performance
A remarkable new study of top performers finds that great leaders are great communicators. And they are great communicators because they’re great at simplifying. I recently sat down with UC Berkeley management professor and former Harvard Business School...
Budweiser’s Super Bowl Commercial Taps The Brand’s Best Marketing Tool
UPDATE: The day after Super Bowl LII, USA TODAY ranked the top 5 ads based on feedback from thousands of panelists who voted for their favorite Super Bowl ad. From a list of 65 commercials, Budweiser’s “Stand By You,” came in third, reinforcing the power...
Story Is A Powerful Contagion That Can Fight The Flu
Facts and data are not enough to convince people to take action, especially if that action requires getting poked in the arm with a needle to protect themselves from the flu. What does work to change minds is the subject of today’s column. The 2017-2018...
How Ideas Go Viral According To This Nobel Prize-Winning Economist
To study narrative is to examine ourselves. We think in story, process our world through the lens of story, and use storytelling to communicate ideas. One prominent economist believes that stories are the heart of human behavior. He says to understand the...
The One Leadership Skill That Turned The 12 Horse Soldiers Into An Elite Team
In October, 2001, small teams of American soldiers on horseback defeated thousands of Taliban fighters because the soldiers were trained in one critical leadership skill: Persuasion. In a scene from the movie 12 Strong, an Afghan general who linked up with...
HBO Chief Uses The Ancient Tool Of Persuasion To Make His Pitch
A comedian was being courted by both Netflix and HBO. According to this article in The Wall Street Journal, HBO president of programming, Casey Bloys, used a metaphor. Bloys’ pitch to comedian Jerrod Carmichael went like this: “If you have 50 kids, you’re...
Change Comes When Leaders Master The Power Of Words To Inspire
Since my conversation with Darkest Hour screenwriter Anthony McCarten, the movie continues to build buzz. Actor Gary Oldman, who portrays Winston Churchill as he rallied the English people to fight Nazi Germany, has won both the Golden Globe and Critics’...
Oprah’s Golden Globe Moment Reminds Us That Inspiring Leaders Are Potent Storytellers
Storytelling took center stage at Sunday’s Golden Globes when Oprah Winfrey gave an inspiring speech as she accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Even if you didn’t watch it live, you’ve probably heard about it because it's become a social media sensation...
Churchill’s Speeches In Darkest Hour Provide A Master Class In Communication
On May 19, 1940, newly-appointed British prime minister, Winston Churchill, was editing his first speech to the public. With minutes to go before the microphone went live, Churchill was dictating edits to his typist and marking up his printed speech. It’s...
Propel Your Career In 2018 With These Books
The most common New Year’s resolution is to “exercise more.” That’s followed by the second most common resolution—to lose weight. Reading more books doesn’t crack the top 10. But for leaders, maybe it should top the list. After reading more than 75...
Carmine’s Picks For The Top Ten Books of 2017 For Leaders
From billionaires to CEOs, and from neuroscientists to navy SEALs, the authors of some of the best business books of the year offer plenty of invaluable advice for entrepreneurs, managers, leaders and aspiring change-makers. These 10 insights from 4,000...
Why Joe Biden’s Heartfelt Moment With Meghan McCain Went Viral
A seven-minute therapy session on live television the other day is trending on YouTube and Facebook. It’s featured in The New York Times and the BBC. There’s a scientific reason for it, and there’s an aspirational lesson on how to debate ideas—especially...
Starbucks’ New Digital Brew: Stories Of People Not Product
While many leaders search for the latest marketing strategy to grow their brands, Starbucks wins people over by adding a digital twist to old-fashioned storytelling. The Starbucks storytelling secret—don’t make the story about product; make the story about...
Perhaps The Best Investment Advice From Billionaire Warren Buffett
In an essay celebrating Forbes’ 100-year anniversary, billionaire Warren Buffett says there is one investment that “supersedes” all others: Invest in yourself. “Address whatever you feel your weaknesses are, and do it now,” Buffett writes. Buffett goes on...
The Communication Tip That Opens Hearts, Minds And Wallets
Philanthropist Melinda Gates is a storyteller. “The power of stories open our hearts to a new place, which opens our minds, which leads to action,” she once said. Storytelling is front and center at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates’ wanted...
Pep Talks Work According To Science
New scientific studies show that pep talks work. From the baseball field to the workplace, great leaders energize teams with their words. The Houston Astros provide the latest example. On November 1st, the Astros beat the Dodgers in game 7 to win the...
The Best Leaders Encourage Fearless Feedback
Recently, I was seated in a room at a U.S. Air Force base as a class of the best and brightest were listening to an instructor. He was making a provocative argument about a foreign adversary. When he concluded his presentation, the instructor didn’t ask...
Most Employees Want To Quit, Here’s How To Keep Them Happy
First, the bad news. Employees are really unhappy. Most of them of can’t wait to jump ship and find another job, according to a new survey of 17,000 employees across 19 industries in the U.S. According to “Mind the Workplace,” a joint study by the Faas...
According to Richard Branson: Storytelling Is Your Advantage
Richard Branson is an entrepreneur, billionaire, adventure and risk-taker. He’s also a storyteller, which he made clear in my recent conversation about his new book, Finding My Virginity. “My dad was a great storyteller,” Branson told me in this video...
Richard Branson’s Best Tip For Anyone Pitching An Idea
If your pitch cannot pass the ‘Richard Test,’ billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson isn’t interested in your idea. The Richard Test has two components. First, the pitch must be free of jargon. Second, the pitch must be short enough to fit on a drink...
Scientists And Speechwriters Say This Music Style Sparks Creative Ideas
As I write this sentence, the soundtrack from the movie, Rudy, is playing in the background. It always inspires me. By the next paragraph I might hear my favorite film score, Gladiator. The last song, “Now we are free”, gets me every time. I know it’s only...
Twitter Expands Its Character Limit, But You Should Stick To The Magic 140
Twitter is experimenting with expanding the number of characters allowed on posts to 280. The test began this week with a small, random group of users. If the company finds that people like it better and are more actively engaged on the platform, then good...
Three Traits Recruiters Find Most Desirable In Face-to-Face Job Interviews
Recruiters and hiring managers have always considered conversational skills an important trait in new hires, but a new survey now places communication at the very top of the list. The recruiting software company, Jobvite, together with Zogby Analytics, has...