with Liz Goll Lerner
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Why do successful business leaders still feel like they're not good enough?
High achievers often carry deep-seated beliefs that one small misstep will expose them as inadequate. This drives self-sabotage even at the peak of success. The issue isn't performance — it's an unexamined inner narrative that quietly shapes every decision, communication, and relationship in the business.
How do emotions affect business communication?
Unmanaged emotions cause leaders to personalise client pushback, avoid difficult conversations, and coach their teams ineffectively. When emotions go unrecognised, they become invisible saboteurs. When understood, they become a source of resilience, curiosity, and stronger connection — directly improving outcomes in sales, leadership, and client relationships.
Can you actually choose how your emotions affect your communication?
Yes — but most people don't know that choice exists. Awareness is the first step. Once you recognise that an emotional reaction is happening, you can pause, get curious, and respond intentionally rather than reactively. That shift alone can transform how you lead, sell, and collaborate.
Why do CEOs and senior leaders feel so lonely at the top?
Leaders at the top can't show vulnerability to peers, staff, or superiors without risking their authority. There's an unspoken rule to always appear composed. This isolation means emotional tension builds without an outlet — making it harder to communicate clearly and lead authentically over time.
How do you stop taking client rejection personally in business?
Recognise that rejection of an idea is not rejection of you as a person. Most leaders intellectually know this but emotionally react as if it's personal. Practising curiosity — asking why rather than assuming — creates space between the trigger and your response, making you more effective in negotiations and client conversations.
What is the most important communication skill for business leaders?
How you speak to yourself. Internal dialogue shapes your confidence, your tone, your decisions, and ultimately your results. Leaders who audit and shift their self-talk become more resilient, more flexible, and significantly more effective at communicating their vision to teams and clients.
How does emotional communication coaching work for executives who are sceptical?
Even resistant executives — those who believe it's "gobbledygook" — often experience a complete shift within an intensive coaching engagement. When they see how early life experiences have shaped their communication patterns, the insight is undeniable. Awareness creates immediate, practical changes in how they lead and relate to others.
PULL QUOTES:
"Our emotions, if we understand them, can be our saboteur or our champion — and how we speak, particularly to ourselves, does a lot for our business." — Liz Goll Lerner
"People have an awareness that emotions affect some things — but people do not have an awareness that they have a choice about it. And I think that's really critical." — Liz Goll Lerner
"People who are uber, uber successful still fear that someone above them will see one tiny little thing that isn't quite right — and then they sabotage themselves." — Liz Goll Lerner
"We all personalise — even when we're not totally aware that we're doing it. It doesn't have to do with you as a person. It has to do with an idea." — Liz Goll Lerner
"Communication is the key to everything we do, every relationship we have, every business deal we talk about." — Liz Goll Lerner
Liz Goll Lerner is a transformational coach, art therapist, and organizational consultant with over 40 years of experience helping individuals and mission-driven organizations unlock their full potential. She began her career as a clinician in the field of art therapy, drawn to its emphasis on the whole person, strengths, and creativity rather than diagnosis and deficits. Over the decades, her practice evolved from traditional therapy into a deeply transformational coaching model that integrates spiritual development, emotional intelligence, and communication mastery.
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