Page 134 - Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton

MAKING YOUR WORDS COUNT

have heard both their words and their emotions, and truly
understand what they are telling you and how they are feel-
ing about it. Often this means that you are talking about
things like hopes and dreams or fears and pain. This is
called having empathy. It’s a major component of emotional
intelligence. It not only demonstrates that you “get it” but
also shows that you care enough about the other person to
make sure that you “get it right.”
Then you need to be able to show that you genuinely
care deeply about the issue and that you are committed to
making a difference. Each conversation is very personal,
and it is not unusual for some of us to become emotional
as we engage with others at this level. If it is genuine, the
emotion is spontaneous and can be very powerful. But it
cannot be faked or manufactured in order to have a certain
effect. People know the difference.
Finally, you need to be able to move from the emotion
to the inspiration. You need to close with your vision in a
way that gives the other person confidence and moves her
forward.
Going back to my example of Hillary’s speech at the
2008 Democratic National Convention, you’ll see what I
mean. After demonstrating that she had listened to people
on the campaign trail by citing key themes that she had
heard, she got personal and shared how specific individuals
had “touched her heart” with their stories. She said:

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