Sometimes, with leaders, the stakes are very high indeed. Churchill, in WWII, for example, could not afford to utter publicly his concerns about England's ability to survive Hitler's onslaught. He thought about them, but the leadership conversation sometimes needs to inspire, not voice doubt.

The unconscious mind governs our decision-making, and much of our communications. It's imperative, if you want to be a successful leader, to become aware of these key human actions.

Every human emits unconscious vocal undertones that determine who the leader is in the room.

The conscious mind is easily overwhelmed. The unconscious mind is vast and far more powerful, but by definition we're not aware of it.

Being embarrassed means that you're human, and we like you better for it

There are four different kinds of power in a communication: position power (the CEO talking to her direct reports), emotion power (passion sometimes rules the day), expertise (people often listen to the most knowledgeable person in the room), and conversational power (the subtlest, this is the ability to direct the conversation through body language).

Indeed, we learn far more from our mistakes than our successes.