Conscious Leadership: The Key to a Strong Company Culture?

Until last October at IMEX in Vegas, we’d never heard of Conscious Leadership. But when we caught Hilton's Kim Napolitano, Executive Director of Industry Relations and Intermediary Group Sales, in conversation with leadership expert Holly Ransom Ransom, we knew we had to listen.

Our first thought? Aren’t all great leaders conscious, aware, and tuned in? Turns out, it’s never that simple.

Hilton recently followed up with a fascinating white paper: A Spotlight on Conscious Leadership – A Modern Approach to Workplace Culture. It’s worth a read.

What is Conscious Leadership?

As we listened to Kim and Holly, it struck us that SongDivision has had the privilege of working with dozens of leaders who fit Kim’s definition of conscious leadership.

These leaders are:

• Caring, considerate, and emotionally intelligent
• Focused on their people and teams, not just short-term profits
• Committed to long-term culture and organizational health

Typically they’re in Employee Retention, HR or Learning and Development?but sometimes they’re CEO’s, Engagement Strategists and Culture Managers.

We’ve seen organizations led by these individuals go from strength to strength—some have become dominant market leaders or high-performing brands. We like to think our work played a small but meaningful role in that growth.

Leadership in a Post-Pandemic World

Kim shared how the pandemic forced her to rethink her leadership style. Managing a large, remote, and understandably stressed team required a fresh approach.

She worked with a coach and realized: You can’t lead or inspire others if you don’t take time to refuel yourself first.

It’s not every day you hear a senior executive use words like love, appreciation, and gratitude, but that’s exactly what Kim emphasized. (These are the same values we treasure at SongDivision.)

Then she said something that made us smile:

“People think conscious leadership is woo-woo, but what it really means is gradual and deliberate work on culture.”

That hit home. SongDivision’s work often faces the same misconception. People see the fun, the laughter, the energy we create, and they mistake it for just a party vibe.

But here’s the truth: Using music and creative expression to bring teams together is intentional culture investment—grounded in neuroscience and designed for long-term impact.

The Business Case for People-First Leadership

Kim also shared an eye-opening statistic:

Companies that take a people-first approach are 3x more likely to exceed financial targets and 11x more likely to achieve high employee engagement.

At a time when loneliness is at an all-time high and fewer people are finding connection in traditional community spaces, workplaces are sometimes, but always, filling the gap.

For leaders, this presents a huge opportunity.

• Get the culture right.
• Invest in and nurture it.
• Foster belonging and connection.

Do that, and the financial success you’re aiming for might arrive far sooner than you expect.

Looking to Strengthen Your Culture? Let's Talk.

This wraps up our final article from IMEX America, the market-leading trade show for the global meetings and events industry.

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Who Are You?

You lead or advise on company culture, employee engagement, and retention. Your organization already invests in a positive workplace, and now you’re searching for fresh approaches to energize and unite your teams. You understand that without innovation, competitive advantage fades—so you’re determined to foster creativity, spark innovation, psychological safety, and belonging.

Who Are We?

We’re SongDivision. We use the scientifically proven power of making music together to bond teams and amplify your culture. There’s a reason humans have used music for thousands of years—to tell stories, entertain and educate. Because it works.