7 principles to being a leader: Start with better breathing

Executive coach, author and speaker Susan Freeman recently received a phone call from a client who joyously wanted to thank her for helping him with something that, on the surface, seems rather elementary: breathing.

The client, in business to business sales, told Freeman he had a prospective customer meeting that began ominously. The prospect, a gruff procurement manager, had his arms folded with a frown when Freeman’s client walked into the room. The manager had a look, Freeman’s client told her, that screamed, “if you are trying to sell me something today, I have bad news for you.”

So the client paused. He did some centered and deep belly breathing for 30 seconds. Then he calmly went into his sales pitch. And he walked out, Freeman says, with a $50,000 equipment sale. “He called me from the car after, and was so excited,” says Freeman.