Emotion is the Message

Emotion is the Message

I came to the Greta Thunberg party late, introduced to her by my kids. Until a few weeks ago I’d only seen her photo. As I looked at the still images of a teenager in braids I thought she could be on my daughter's soccer team. Except she’s not. Greta is leading a global crusade, bringing people together across cultures and geographies, turning them out in the millions.

 I read her story, learned who she is, and what she is saying. Words, I hear her words, and they leave me curious. I want to know more. I find her YouTube clips and listen to her message. She is blunt, and her word choice and sentence construction are simple, yet precise. But most of all she is angry, very angry.

 We don’t often see anger on display, rarely from women, hardly ever from girls. Our leaders are trained to be polished, eloquent, accommodating. We train them to keep their cool. We teach them. Answer. Transition. Message. Smile. Nod. Say, thank you.

 Seeing anger, not out of control Howard Dean "The Scream Heard Around the World" anger, but fully channeled, entirely focused, unrelenting anger makes you stop and listen. Emotion can motivate more than reason. If authenticity is the gospel, why has media training become an exercise in repetition and over messaging? Is flattening the rough edges worth losing the edge? When did great communications become about making everyone sound entirely reasonable?

 When it comes to authenticity, transparency, and radical candor, leaders often like to talk the talk, not walk the walk. Greta's anger spurred action. Her emotion, as much as her words, rallied the energy of a diverse group of people and channeled it toward a singular cause. Leaders would be wise to learn from Greta. Message delivery is not about how deeply you think; it's about how deeply you feel.

Bob Korzeniowski

Wild Card - draw me for a winning hand | Creative Problem Solver in Many Roles | Manual Software QA | Project Management | Business Analysis | Auditing | Accounting |

5 年

In the past, society valued faith.? Then they took faith off the throne and replaced it with reason.? ?Then they removed reason off the throne and replaced it with emotion. This is how people get manipulated into doing evil.?

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Susan George

Marketing and Communications Strategist

5 年

Interesting piece Lesley!

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Laura Agarwal

Strategic Accounts at Wiz

5 年

Love this. It can be very challenging as a woman in business to be "emotional." People love to praise "passion," but in my mind passion is very much in the feeling and delivery....

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Eric Doyle

Bilingual Comms and Marketing Exec ?? Speaker ?? Crypto, Web3, AI & climate tech advocate ?? AI Prompter ?? Co-founder of AI roast battle show ?? Standup comedian ?? Returned Peace Corps Volunteer

5 年

Totally agree! Her speech was very moving.?

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Heather Sampson Lustig

AVP | Sales Leader | Revenue Growth Catalyst | Business Strategy Innovator | Transformational Change Agent | Life Sciences & Diagnostics Expert | X-Agilent & Life Technologies Executive ????????

5 年

And this emotion makes us all feel deeply and really hear her message. I felt her message and yours Lesley. Thank you

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