Episode 35 – Doug D Gordon – From Near-death to a New Direction in Empathetic Leadership

In this episode of Doing the Opposite: Business Disruptors, Jeff Dewing speaks to Doug D Gordon, CEO of D&S Performance Optimisation – a training, consulting and coaching company. He speaks internationally on stage and has a radio show on Dublin City FM called Inspirational People.

Doug’s story is one of transformation from a life marred by stress-induced health issues to becoming a beacon of hope and resilience. Doug explains how he was a board director at Fidelity, one of the largest investment fund managers in Europe, during the 2008 financial crash. The resulting stress, partly as a result of having to lay off so many workers, impacted heavily on Doug’s health ultimately leading to a near death experience.

Doug talks about the relationship between consciousness and success, where consciousness comprises emotional intelligence, self-awareness, situational awareness, people awareness, social skills and effective communication. He also emphasises the need to understand your teams and the relationships therein; “I always break the ‘relationship’ word down into ‘relay’ in terms of conscious communication, your ‘tions’, your expectations, your intentions, your motivations, then make sure that everybody’s on the ‘ship’ traveling in the right direction”.

Doug and Jeff discuss how to approach difficult conversations with your team, and how to get the most out of them. Doug highlights that to be a good leader, you need to be a good listener. Often the most intelligent person in the room, is the person who listens the most! They also discuss purpose – learn how to discover yours by working to enhance the lives of others, through whatever your organisation offers.

Doug’s book ‘Charge yourself up for success: Energizing your life, work and relationships’ is available now.