Doug NollI'm called in when human dynamics are getting in the way of strategic leadership execution.

Listening to Emotions, Not Words #mindfullistening

8 Jan 2026 · 1 min

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In this brief dialogue, Speaker A explains his professional value: he helps leaders manage team conflicts and personal stress by teaching them to listen to emotions rather than just words. He introduces affect labeling—a technique where one names the felt emotion—as a tool for emotional listening. He references a seminal 2007 study from Matthew Lieberman's UCLA lab, which found that labeling emotions suppresses activity in emotional brain centers and activates the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, enabling rapid de‑escalation. He claims this method can calm an angry individual in under 90 seconds. Speaker B reinforces the concept by likening emotion labeling to identifying a musical note, underscoring the precision and clarity the technique provides.

Chapters

The, um, the value that I bring to the table is that sometimes when you're working with leaders, they are dealing, they've got conflicts, they've got fights and arguments on their teams. They've got, maybe they have problems at home where they've lost connections with their family. That's where, that's where I would come in and I would teach them. I teach these people how to, um, listen to emotions rather than to words. Smart. Through a process called affect labeling. And there's some really strong neuroscience The seminal study came out in 2007 out of Matthew Lieberman's lab at UCLA that shows that when you label emotions in a particular way, it inhibits the emotional centers of the brain and reactivates the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. And you literally can calm any angry person in less than 90 seconds.
Because you're labeling it, you're, you're, you're identifying— it's like identifying a musical note.
Correct.