Episode 36
Brand Story Podcast

Cultivating Emotional Optimism

featuring Claude Silver

Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia

Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia, discusses the importance of infusing empathy into your company culture with our president, Steve Gilman.

Emotional optimism. A way to frame in cooperation with our whole selves and combine our thoughts and our feelings into new understandings. It’s an awareness that we have the capacity to influence how we think and feel, and it’s something Claude Silver teaches others to help them become the best version of themselves.

It’s no longer enough to expect others to simply show up at work, turn off their emotions for eight hours, then turn around and go home. When we’re around others for that amount of time, we should be leaning into our emotions and striving to be the best versions of ourselves. So how do we get there? Through kindness, compassion, and empathy.

In this episode, Claude shares what it means to lead from the heart, and the simple ways we can start infusing empathy into our lives.

About the Guest

Claude Silver

Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia

Claude is an emotional optimist, mentor, motivational speaker, thought leader, and industry trend setter who focuses on teaching people and organizations how to disrupt the traditional HR model with the use of emotional optimism and heart-centered leadership. She is the first-ever Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia and host of the podcast, Emotional Optimism.

Quickfire Q&A

What does emotional optimism mean to you?

Claude: It means that we all have emotions that we are aware of. The part that I’m talking about is the acknowledgement of the emotion, but not becoming the emotion. When we can acknowledge the emotion and also have hope, that’s what it’s about for me.

Is there any particular advice that someone has given you that you recall as you're trying to be a leader?

Claude: It’s listening, but listening isn’t easy. So how do you listen with your ears open to learn? How do you listen with intention? You have to listen because you want to. Listening to learn is essential.

About The Host

Steve Gilman

As the President of Gravity Group, Steve is passionate about helping brands reach their goals through honest, creative marketing and powerful brand stories.

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