The One Powerful Trait Every Conscientious Leader Possesses

If you asked me to define a Conscientious Leader in one word, I look to Steve Prefontaine. While the great American distance runner from the University of Oregon left this world over four decades ago, he lived and breathed the most important trait of what we see in today's evolved leaders.

In a word: grit.

It was the heart and soul of Pre.

I was fortunate enough to see the majority of his incredibly inspiring races in Eugene.  At 5' 9" and 139 pounds, he would always leave everything on the track. "Somebody may beat me but they are going to have to bleed to do it," he said in one of his more famous quotes.

No matter what event he ran, no matter who he competed against, he always raced the same way. Pre led from the starter's gun and rarely ever looked at another singlet in front of him as he ground the field's legs into rubber by increasing his speed lap after punishing lap.

Now this thing grit is something my business partner and I see regularly in the inspiring and conscientious leaders we've met with over the past 9 months. People dealing with equity issues, social challenges and global environmental impact problems. They most definitely display a powerful combination of passion and perseverance.

In spite of the hurdles facing them, in spite of budget challenges, in spite of dwindling government support, these incredible women and men pursue their goals of "changing the world" with talent for sure.

But what separates the Conscientious Leader from others  is what author Angela Duckworth concludes in her book "Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" after studying high achievers in business, sports and entertainment. "Talent is not enough. It is grit that matters most if you want to achieve something spectacular."

In other words, there is simply no slowing down, no quit, no finish line in them. They continue to grind down the challenges they face as they practice day in and day out Benjamin Disraeli's belief that the secret to success is the constancy to purpose.

Just as Pre did around that oval track at historic Hayward Field.

To get our book, "25 Building Blocks To Create a Conscientious Organization" free, go to HCollaborative.com for an instant download.

How Grand Central Station's Black Spot Improves Your Content

You make your content sticky when you use the power of curiosity. It is a subject we discuss here often. And on my recent trip to NYC, it was yet again underscored while standing in the center of Grand Central Station.

Here's the story...

My youngest son lives in Norwalk about an hour north of the city. He, my oldest son and I rode the train in on Saturday morning to celebrate a birthday weekend. After getting off the train, I remember walking up into the "palace" and felt my jaw drop at all the splendor greeting my very wide opened eyes. The three of us just stood there not saying a word and letting it all...soak...in.

After a minute, Ross pointed out a very small black brick in a corner on an otherwise perfectly pristine and breathtaking ceiling. I looked at him and felt an immediate need to know why and now not later. Curious, indeed. He said that during the station's mass restoration in 1988, the team transforming this historical American icon decided to leave a nod to what the ceiling once looked like.

Initially, I thought it was the result of decades of soot from the trains chugging in and out of tunnels below. Wrong. Research proved it was mostly nicotine and tar and the result of the cigarette smoke swirling inside the terminal in earlier times.

So what does this all have to do with sticky content you're asking?

Well, research has proven time and again that when curiosity gets used in a well-crafted title, a post always gets more eyeballs and engaged minds. We've said it before and we will say it again. Curiosity is an itch that must be scratched. It's what well-known content marketing company Upworthy calls the curiosity gap. It basically piques human interest so much that we want to close the gap between what is known and what is not known.

Needless to say, they use the strategy day-in and day-out as the foundation for the volume of engaging content they craft and produce. In terms of how they approach that content, these brilliant marketers sum it up in one sentence:

Simply write a headline that is tantalizing enough to get read to click through but does not give away the whole story.

Centuries ago, English philosopher Thomas Hobbes said, "Curiosity is the lust of the mind."  No argument here as I lusted to know why that "black spot" was on the beautiful ceiling of Grand Central Station.

To get our book, "25 Building Blocks To Create a Conscientious Organization" free, go to HCollaborative.com for an instant download.

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Why NYC's Oldest Bar Is a Content Writer's Dream

Picture Abe Lincoln. Babe Ruth. Teddy Roosevelt. John Lennon.

Can you imagine their conversations over a beer or three? The heated discussions about politics? The talk about America's favorite pastime? The words about Dylan, the Stones and McCartney?

Well, these icons at one time patronized the Irish establishment pictured above (circa 1937).

It's better known as McSorley's in the East Village. And it is said to be New York City's oldest bar dating back to 1854.

Two Saturday nights ago, my sons and I sat at the table in the foreground. We shared the joint with a loud and lively crowd of men and women of all ages, from 21-year-olds to octogenarians and everyone in between.

Talking, laughing, yelling and yes, drinking beer. No doubt many offered their own solutions to the world problems of the day.

No fancy IPAs, Stouts or Lagers served here.

Just your choice of a white or dark ale. And because two beers are better than one, suds are served in pairs of seven to eight ounce glass mugs. Simply remember two words: light and dark. It’s the only type they offer. And cash only, please.

You want an appetizer you say? Sure, how does an unadorned platter of white cheddar slices and a sleeve of saltines sound?

Because that's what you get. 

Everything's stripped down to the bare essence of a good time.

I thought about the stories the dark wood walls of McSorley's could tell.

Stories of love and joy.

Stories of anger and hate.

Stories of betrayal and revenge.

Stories of life.

Very compelling content, indeed.

In fact, enough ideas for a content writer to engage their audience for awhile. Make that a good...long...while.

Think about that the next time you struggle for an idea or angle into a story.

What things do people feel strongly about?

What keeps them awake at night?

What makes them laugh so hard they snort?

What brings joy to their daily grind?

Ask enough of those questions and you get unstuck quicker than the Great Bambino's swing at a pitch.

It's something skilled content writers and conscientious leaders already know. Not to mention the patrons frequenting McSorley's over the past 162 years .

To get our book, "25 Building Blocks To Create a Conscientious Organization" free, go to HCollaborative.com for an instant download.

Why the Conscientious Leader Loves the Electric Bike

Never ever underestimate the power of curiosity.

I was reminded of this last weekend as my oldest son Cam and I visited my youngest son in Connecticut for his birthday. Ross works for Cannondale, one of the premiere bicycle manufacturers in the world. He took us on a tour of his very cool corporate HQ and showed us the latest and greatest in the cycling world.

Touring, mountain, hybrid---pick a style of bike and you will find it inside the Cannondale labs, along with all kinds of memorabilia from the Tour de France and other world class cycling events.

This particular Saturday, we tested two bikes in the company's empty parking lot. One was a cutting edge new trail bike called "Bad Habit" with an uber suspension system. Thanks to its design and the fat 3-inch wide tires, you can climb over parking curbs and feel...no...pain.

We also tested a Cannondale E-Series model (pictured above), better known as an electric bike. Basically you pedal real fast for a few seconds and then feel the electric current kick in and power you along for a ways. (Ross said that a lot of employees use it at lunch to run out for a quick pastrami and rye pickup.)

Let me be totally honest with you. I had no idea what to expect. But my virginal ride on the E-Series was a total blast.

I felt exhilarated and energized (pardon the pun) as it was a new experience for me.

Then I got to thinking how the whole exercise reminded me of what every conscientious leader knows about the value of curiosity and a willingness to step out of the box to try new things. Not only does it make you happier, research show curiosity to be associated with higher levels of positive emotions, lower levels of anxiety, more satisfaction with life and greater psychological well-being.

What's more, curiosity has been proven to improve on the job performance. Yes, it's obvious to most of us, but when we're more curious and interested in what we are working on, it's easier to jump in, do the time that a project needs and see success in the process.

In fact, we've talked before about how smart marketers and companies know that curiosity is the key to engaging their audience no matter what form of communication is crafted.

So what's the point of all this?

Just a simple reminder to keep things interesting in the workplace.

Keep an open mind and don’t settle for the same old routine.  Find ways to pique the curiosity of your teams. Give them opportunities to try new ways of learning, brainstorming, communicating.  

It's what the evolved conscientious leader already knows. And it's why they love the idea of bringing an electric bike into their work environment.

To get our book, "25 Building Blocks To Create a Conscientious Organization" free, go to HCollaborative.com for an instant download.

10,000 Most Shared Articles on Web: Strongest Emotional Appeal?

You put a ton of effort into your content writing. But how do you make sure you get a big return on all that sweat and time?

A recent study by respected web-metrics company BuzzSumo took a look at the web's most shared articles. In fact, 10,000 of them got mapped to a specific emotional appeal. (As you who follow us know, we believe emotion is the foundation for any great piece of content writing.)

The emotions included joy, anger, sadness and so forth. Here's how those emotions ranked when put into a pie chart:

You see that easily the most popular emotions injected into these highly shared articles were:

-- Awe at 25%

-- Laughter at 17%

-- Amusement at 15%

The unpopular emotions in the chart? Sadness and anger.

There's a simple lesson in all this.

If your content is boring, you're not going to grow your audience.

So make sure it is entertaining.

David Ogilvy, my favorite ad guru, famously said in the 1960s:

"You cannot bore people into buying your product."

- David Ogilvy

If he were with us today, I'm certain he would say that applies to content as well.

~HCollaborative.com~