I’m a spoken word poet who’s walked into tech conferences, healthcare summits, and boardrooms filled with suits and skeptics… and I’ve walked out with standing ovations and minds forever shifted. Why? Because I don’t just bring poetry — I bring perspective.
Here’s what most businesses don’t realize: poets are some of the world’s greatest innovators. We’ve been remixing language, reframing truth, and redefining culture long before innovation became a buzzword. While others follow blueprints, we break patterns. While others seek answers, we question everything.
That’s why some of the best leaders I know are secretly poets at heart.
Think about it. Poets spot patterns in chaos. We sit in discomfort and find beauty. We wield metaphor like a scalpel — cutting through complexity to reveal clarity. That same mindset is what fuels the best innovators in business.
As a Grammy-nominated poet and motivational keynote speaker, I’ve helped Fortune 500 leaders discover that the secret to breakthrough isn’t always another meeting or model — sometimes it’s a mindset shift. Sometimes it’s embracing a poetic lens that sees not just what is, but what could be.
This is why I created Poetic Voice — a unique blend of inspirational speaking and spoken word poetry that helps organizations communicate with more soul and lead with more imagination. It’s why I train executives through my Stage Might method, showing them how to harness the power of poetic thinking to deepen impact and inspire change.
So, what can leaders learn from poets?
- Challenge convention. We don’t color inside the lines — we redraw them.
- Humanize data. Numbers tell a story — poets help you feel it.
- Lead with empathy. Poetry makes space for every voice. It invites inclusion, vulnerability, and authenticity — the cornerstones of high-performing teams.
And here’s the kicker: innovation isn’t just about launching the next big product — it’s about creating a culture that dares to dream, dares to disrupt, and dares to feel.
So to the corporate leaders, the motivational speakers, the disruptors in waiting: channel your inner poet. Tap into your metaphorical mind. Speak in ways that move people, not just metrics.
Because when your leadership sounds like a poem, your business begins to feel like a movement.
And movements? They change everything.
