OWP 2022: Leading For the Future

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KEYNOTE

“WHEN YOU ARE STUCK IN YOUR COGNITIVE CENTER, YOU DON’T REALIZE YOU HAVE YOUR BODY. YOU HAVE TO TAP INTO THIS. I HAVE TO FEEL THAT SENSE OF BEETHOVENWHEN I AM UP THERE, I NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE EMOTIONS OF THE SCORE AND USE MY BODY TO TRANSLATE THAT WHEN I AM CONDUCTING. WHENWE TAP INTO OUR EMOTIONS AND INTO OUR BODIES, WE HAVE THE POSSIBILITY OF RELATIONSHIPS.”

“But when you are leading teams in business and corporations, you need a sense of connection with your team. How do you connect? You cannot just rely on data, that is not going to work all the time. You need an emotional connection with your team or with what you are doing – your project.” He also points to the importance of connecting with your body, and of being aware of how what you do and how you move impacts others.

TAPPING INTO OUR EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE CENTERS “We have a cognitive center, but unfortunately we spend too much time up here. We are data driven, in fact, we are obsessed with it. We live in a society that rewards data, that rewards aiming for breaking records, earning as much profit as possible,” said Lai. Lai points out that many people forget about what other tools we have at our disposal to lead successfully. “Some of us don’t tend to realize that we have real estate below our neck; we ignore the emotional body because, in business, emotion is bad.”

“As a conductor, I know that the real power comes from the orchestra, they make all the sound. So I have to keep my orchestra happy, keen, ready to work, and energized to keep my audience happy. If I don’t, the orchestra will not give a high-quality performance and the audience will simply not come back. This is why it is so important for me to understand them and to have a relationship with them,” said Lai.

A HAPPY CUSTOMER DEPENDS UPON AN ENGAGED TEAM Comparing a CEO’s relationship with his or her team and consumers to that of a conductor with his or her orchestra and audience, Lai emphasized why connecting with your team is so important in driving results.

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