Magnus Carlsen slammed his fist on the table when he lost

 

Magnus Carlsen slammed his fist on the table when he lost. He slammed so hard that the Chess pieces toppled. 

A flash of emotion. 

A moment of frustration. 

And the internet did not miss it.

The world champion lost to Gukesh.

But what will people talk about?

The reaction. Not the result.

That is also the paradox of #leadership

You can build a reputation over decades.

But one moment of visible loss of control, 

just being even human, completely understandable,

and it will shift how people feel about you.

And the perception only magnifies. 

In leadership, how you react when things break down says as much about you as your achievements when things go right.

Because people don’t remember what you said. 

They remember how you made them feel.

And they’ll retell the story; 

often with added drama, 

exaggeration & judgment.

One outburst can be replayed, reinterpreted, relabeled.

The perception flips. And flipping it back? That’s a long road.

The takeaway:

You are allowed to feel, 

anger, disappointment, stress.

But as a leader, you’re responsible 

for how visibly you manage emotions.

Because people are not just watching what you do.

They’re building narratives around who they think you are.

#LeadershipBehavior #EmotionalIntelligence #ExecutivePresence #PersonalBrand #CoachHemant #UncomfortableCoach 

BTW ... this post is not about Carlsen. Gukesh reaction to Carlsen’s Norway Chess meltdown was "I've also banged a lot of tables". 

If you are interested in what kind of Leadership Brand you have created, DM me for the Leadership Brand Audit Tool, a simple self-assessment tool.