Helping businesses attract and retain diverse talent
Helping businesses attract and retain diverse talent
For decades, leadership in many organisations has been framed as a role of restraint. The ideal leader was described as rational, controlled, and always “professional”—as though this meant keeping emotion outside the boardroom door.
But the reality is different. Every decision leaders make has emotional ripples: in how it affects teams, how it lands with stakeholders, how it is felt by customers or patients. Leaders who ignore this truth do not become stronger—they become disconnected. And disconnection costs more than we admit.
Strong leadership, then, is not emotionless. It is emotionally fluent. It recognises the full palette of human experience—joy, fear, empathy, frustration, hope—and chooses to use those colours with intention. Like an artist with a brush, emotional fluency is not about splashing feelings across the canvas; it is about creating balance, meaning, and resonance in the picture we leave behind.
Remote work promised freedom. No commute. More flexibility. Space to think. And for many leaders, it delivered those things—at least at first.
But here’s the quiet truth: leading at a distance can slowly erode the very boundaries that keep us effective. The pings and messages never stop. The “quick call” becomes the third in a row. And somehow, home starts to feel like one long meeting you can’t quite leave.
This isn’t about rejecting remote work—it’s about recognising its hidden costs on leadership presence, energy, and balance.
In The Lioness Effect, I describe how lionesses lead in ways that balance fierceness and nurture. Watch a pride, and you will see the rhythm: the same lioness who fiercely defends her territory will also gently guide her cubs. Her leadership flows between protection and presence, between boldness and quiet care.
This is emotional fluency in action. It is not about suppressing instinct or hiding feeling—it is about knowing which emotion belongs in which moment. The lioness doesn’t waste energy on unnecessary conflict, nor does she hesitate when decisive action is needed. Her power lies in discernment.
For leaders in today’s corporate spaces—especially in industries like life sciences, where innovation carries profound human consequences—the lesson is clear. Leadership is not about erasing emotion but integrating it. Because in spaces where decisions affect patient lives, communities, and global trust, emotionally detached leadership is not sustainable.
The most respected leaders in these sectors understand this deeply. They know that data alone does not persuade, and that strategy alone does not inspire. It is the leader’s ability to connect emotionally, while still acting with clarity and courage, that moves people to act.
Emotional Fluency in Leadership Means: – Empathy with Boundaries – Listening deeply without carrying everyone else’s weight. – Strength with Softness – Delivering hard truths with compassion. – Clarity with Humanity – Making tough calls without losing sight of the people behind the data.
This is not about feeling less. It is about feeling wisely.
We’ve seen this emotional fluency in action. Leaders like Emma Walmsley, CEO of GSK, who balances scientific precision with a clear commitment to patient impact. Or Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, whose public communication during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout blended confidence with candour—reassuring millions without overpromising.
These leaders remind us that emotional presence is not a weakness in corporate leadership. It is a strategic strength.
1. Name What You Feel Clarity begins with acknowledgement. If you are anxious, hopeful, frustrated—own it. Leaders who model honest self-awareness give permission for others to do the same.
2. Balance Heart and Spine Empathy without boundaries leads to burnout. Boundaries without empathy lead to detachment. Emotional fluency is found in holding both together.
3. Use Emotions as Data, Not Directions Feelings signal what matters most. Treat them as insight, not instruction. Ask: What is this emotion telling me? And how do I choose to act on it?
4. Practice Courageous Compassion Speak truth with care. Hold space for discomfort. Remember that people don’t just follow what you know—they follow how you make them feel.
The lioness doesn’t lead by denying her instincts. She leads by integrating them—by knowing when to nurture and when to defend, when to rest and when to rise.
As leaders in complex industries, we can learn from her. Emotional fluency is not indulgence. It is intelligence. And it is urgently needed in boardrooms, labs, and policy rooms alike.
“Leadership is not about shutting emotions down—it is about opening them up with wisdom. Because the goal is not to feel less, but to feel wisely.” — Professor Laura Serrant
The future of leadership will not be built on detachment, but on discernment. Not on rejecting emotion, but on learning its language.
That is the quiet strength of emotionally fluent leaders. That is The Lioness Effect.