Lead With Emotion

How leading with emotion can lead to better results

I’m writing this on a word doc, which my team has informed me makes me an Old. 

(Editor’s note: Courtney’s team did indeed read this draft on a Google Doc instead.)

Currently our team all identify as women. There is a comfort level, a camaraderie, and an energy that we are able to bring to our work, which is a big part of why Woolf Strategy has the client successes that we do.

We lead our work with a qualitative strategic approach first. When applied to the digital space, it means leading with real voices, real stories, and understanding who will be receiving the messaging or images we create and how they will most welcome the content. This is how our clients see increases in fundraising dollars, more responsive campaigns and ads results, and websites that attract the intended actions and audiences.

We listen, we learn, we apply, we test, and we update.

Here’s the bottom line: I strongly believe that having feelings and incorporating them into work leads to better outcomes, especially when paired with our data and testing methods.

Here is the part where I add the International Women’s Day action steps:

I encourage you to seek out consultants who identify as women or non-binary. I encourage you to seek out business books authored by women. (BTW, read Kathryn Finney’s Build the Damn Thing. This is the one I send to my other business-owning women. Please, send me your must read biz books written by women!) I encourage you to seek out employers and businesses run by women. I encourage you to hire women and parents onto your staff at all levels of leadership and learning. I encourage you to include and elevate BiPOC women. And I encourage you to fund candidates and organizations led by women.

Anyway, happy Women’s History Month. I thank you, smart, creative, strong, thoughtful, masc and femme, folks identifying as women or nonbinary. You inspire me every day.

Let’s celebrate all the reasons it’s fantastic to be us. Let’s continue to demand pockets and standard sizing in our clothing. Let’s stop using exclamation points in our emails! And let’s pass truly inclusive, accessible health care, for all stages of life.

Thoughts and Feelings,

— Courtney

P.S. Here’s a fun fact about me and International Women’s Day.  On March 8 in Italy, bouquets of Mimosa flowers are given to women to mark the holiday. They also bake Torta Mimosa cakes, which I used as my wedding cake. March 8th is also the birthday of my first kid!