TCIP #057 – Fort McMurray Wildfire with Garth Rowan
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
Release Date: 05/17/2016
Strategic Emotionality: The New Skillset for Visionary Leaders
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
We've been taught to lead with logic, suppress emotion, and control the narrative. But what if that’s exactly what’s keeping us stuck? In this episode of Leading Through Change, Melissa challenges the outdated belief that emotion has no place in the boardroom. She explores how emotionality—when understood, named, and strategically integrated—becomes a powerful leadership tool. You’ll learn: Why emotion is not the enemy, it's simply energy in motion How low-frequency emotions like anger and grief can become catalysts for connection What “meeting people in their emotionality”...
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How to Create Safety Amidst Chaos and Uncertainty
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
Why do people resist change—even when it's clearly good for them? If you've ever felt frustrated trying to lead people through transformation, only to hit wall after wall of resistance, this episode will change everything. The breakthrough insight: Resistance isn't something to overcome—it's a signal that people don't feel safe enough to transform. In this episode, discover the four levels of safety every leader must master to dissolve resistance and create the conditions where real transformation becomes possible. You'll learn why one's level of transformation is directly linked to their...
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The One Truth That's Destroying Our World
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
There's one "truth" everyone accepts without question. It shapes how leaders respond to crisis. How organizations handle change. How teams navigate conflict. How entire societies function. And it's actively destroying everything. In this paradigm-shattering episode, Melissa Agnes exposes the lie that's been driving failed leadership responses, broken systems, and endless cycles of division and suffering. From Wells Fargo's $3 billion crisis to Peloton's 94% stock collapse, every leadership failure traces back to this single illusion. But here's what makes this episode transformational: Melissa...
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Everything You've Been Taught About Leadership Intelligence Is Wrong
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
In this transformative episode, Melissa challenges one of leadership's most fundamental assumptions: that we should think our way through decisions. But what if our overreliance on logic is precisely why leaders feel paralyzed during times of uncertainty and change? Through the lens of the 2020 pandemic response, she illustrates how even the most powerful leaders became frozen when lacking cognitive answers – creating a dangerous leadership vacuum that amplified fear and suffering. The solution? Accessing our three intelligence centers: the brain (cognitive intelligence), the heart...
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How Coherence Turns Chaos into Clarity
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
In times of crisis and change, the most powerful person in the room isn't the loudest or the most authoritative—it's the calmest. But what creates this calm, and how does it transform chaos into clarity? In this episode, Melissa explains the science and practice of heart-brain coherence—a leadership superpower that few have been taught. She reveals how your emotional state directly influences your ability to lead others through change, backed by fascinating research from the HeartMath Institute (). When fear and resistance run high, logic alone fails. Discover how coherence bypasses...
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Fear Isn’t the Problem — Unawareness Is
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
Welcome to the very first episode of Leading Through Change — a space for leaders who know the old models of control, fear, and reactivity aren’t working… and who feel deeply called to lead differently. In this premiere episode, Melissa Agnes pulls back the curtain on one of the most misunderstood forces in leadership: fear. Not the kind you name out loud. The kind that creeps in under the surface. Hijacks decisions. Clouds clarity. And shapes cultures silently and powerfully. You’ll explore: Why fear is the costliest risk in leadership (and the one most leaders ignore) How...
info_outline![How To Improve Your Crisis Communication Strategy By Understanding Near And Far Enemies [Audio of Blog Post] show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/item/30679893?height=50&width=50)
How To Improve Your Crisis Communication Strategy By Understanding Near And Far Enemies [Audio of Blog Post]
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
Connection is at the heart of any good crisis communication strategy. However, we’ve all seen leaders attempt to connect with their audience with all the right words, and yet something feels… off. While a Crisis Ready Hindrance is often blocking that connection, understanding near and far emotional enemies is a powerful tool to help you overcome those Hindrances to resonate and connect in meaningful ways. Within this podcast, which is the audio version of a recent Crisis Ready blog post, Melissa Agnes explores how near and far enemies give leaders and crisis...
info_outline![How to Apply Emotional Awareness to Powerfully Enhance Crisis Communication [Audio of Blog Post] show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/item/30022223?height=50&width=50)
How to Apply Emotional Awareness to Powerfully Enhance Crisis Communication [Audio of Blog Post]
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
In order to achieve the mark of a true crisis leader, you must be able to effectively apply emotional awareness to your crisis communication strategy. This episode explores what that means and how to achieve it. This is the audio recording of a blog post, written and narrated by Melissa Agnes, and published to CrisisReadyInstitute.com.
info_outline![Could We Train AI with Emotional Intelligence to Predict a Crisis? [Audio of Blog Post] show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/item/30022128?height=50&width=50)
Could We Train AI with Emotional Intelligence to Predict a Crisis? [Audio of Blog Post]
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
Make no mistake: AI absolutely will affect crisis communication — and crisis in general, for that matter. Recently, my friend and the queen of PR herself, Gini Deitrich said something that got me thinking about predictive AI even further: Could AI predict the emotional escalation of a crisis… before it begins to happen? This episode explores this concept and what it could mean for the crisis communication industry. This is the audio recording of a blog post, written and narrated by Melissa Agnes, and published to CrisisReadyInstitute.com.
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How To Never Lose A Customer Again
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
How you make your customers feel is the powerful differentiator from your competitors, lends to the emotional connection you build with your stakeholders, and can ultimately make or break your brand’s invincibility.
info_outlineThe wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada have been blazing since the start of May and have so far destroyed over 2400 buildings, including homes and businesses, and have resulted in an evacuation of approximately 90,000 citizens. Having yet to be completely tamed by fire fighters, the truly exceptional part is that, of the approximate 90,000 evacuees, not one person has died on account of the fires (there have been accidents that have unfortunately resulted in fatalities, but the fire itself has not taken one human life).
As first responders and emergency managers know, this is quite an exceptional crisis management feat. So what is it about the evacuation and the crisis communications of the first responders, the authorities and the local organizations (employers) that has resulted in such an exceptional and successful evacuation?
Tune in to this week’s episode of the crisis intelligence podcast, where Garth Rowan and I embark in a preliminary discussion regarding the crisis communications of those involved in the evacuation and emergency response in Fort McMurray.
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Connect with Garth and Melissa
About host, Melissa Agnes
Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
Email Melissa directly: [email protected]
About guest, Garth Rowan
Learn more about Garth Rowan
Connect with him on LinkedIn
Email Garth directly: [email protected]
Check out Garth’s blog posts on The Crisis Intelligence Blog
Listen to another great podcast with Garth: TCIP #036 – How To Conduct a Crisis Simulation with Garth Rowan
A big thanks to Garth for taking the time to have this interesting discussion with me. And a sincere and heart-filled thank you to all the first responders and emergency managers out in Alberta who have put their lives on the line to help and care for the people of Fort McMurray.