No #182 | August 17, 2025

by Matthew Boyd

Good morning, welcome to the weekly Lead It Cool newsletter.

Vacations are great, but Dorothy was right, there is no place like home.

Looking forward to the last couple weeks of August and the anticipation for the start of school for the kids!

In this week's Lead It Cool newsletter:

• ⛵If I Had a Boat
• 🤔Love is Blind
• ⚡Energy Givers and Takers
• 🤣Fish Thrill Ride
• 😎Cool Links

⛵If I Had a Boat

Oftentimes the most beautiful songs are the most simple.

Case in point: Lyle Lovett’s If I Had a Boat.

The lyrics are playful and plainspoken, almost childlike, yet somehow they open up a wide horizon of imagination. A pony on a boat, out on the ocean - it’s absurd, it’s whimsical, and it’s unforgettable.

Over the past couple of weeks I've been lucky enough to spend a lot of time on the ocean with friends and family. And while I didn’t bring along a pony, the spirit of simplicity stuck with me. Out there, the rush of daily life feels distant, and the water seems to remind you that not everything has to be hurried.

Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.

Enjoy the ocean.

🤔Love is Blind

Last week my family got all swept up in watching the latest season of Love Is Blind.

The show is sooo bad it’s good.

For those unfamiliar, a bunch of single people get to interact and connect with each other, but here’s the twist: they can’t actually see what the other person looks like.

If sparks fly, they get engaged first, and only then do they get to see each other. That’s when chaos (or hilarity) usually ensues.

The concept is both fascinating and ridiculous.

On the one hand, it challenges the idea of instant attraction; on the other, it exposes just how much of our decision-making is wrapped up in appearances.

Watching it led me down a rabbit hole of other experiments and moments where the experience was designed to be “blind.”

Here are a few of the most interesting ones:

Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Blind Auditions

In 1952, the Boston Symphony Orchestra became one of the first major orchestras to audition musicians behind a screen. The idea was simple: remove visual bias so candidates would be judged only on their sound. The results were groundbreaking. Legendary flutist Doriot Anthony Dwyer won her position this way, one of the first women to break into the male-dominated orchestral world.

The Pepsi Challenge

Coke was the market leader, but then Pepsi launched a bold marketing stunt: blind taste tests in malls and supermarkets across America. Time after time, people picked Pepsi over Coke when they couldn’t see the brand. It rattled Coke so much they reformulated their product into “New Coke”… which turned out to be a disaster.

Blind Wine Tastings

​Studies have shown that even seasoned wine experts can be swayed by labels and price tags. In blind tastings, expensive wines often lose out to cheaper bottles. There's a great movie called Sour Grapes that explores this phenomenom.

⚡Energy Givers & Takers

Very true (source).

Question though: Where does coffee fit in?!?!

🤣Fish Ride

Oldie but a goodie.

😎Cool Links

🧠Why Mental Fitness Is Today's Ultimate Leadership Flex. Mental fitness—resilience, focus, and emotional agility—is no longer optional; it’s the entry fee for leading in today’s high-pressure world - and pairing that with strategic kindness? That’s the real knockout punch.

💬HBR's Best Tips on Communication. Some great info and tactics in this article.

👟No Shoes at the Start-Up. Is this new office fashion trend? No shoes?

🤔Nostalgia is an Overrated Brand Strategy. This is where “modern heritage” comes in. It isn’t about retro aesthetics or recycling old logos. It’s a strategic act of excavation, going deep into a brand’s history to uncover what made it resonate in the first place. Sometimes that means literal digging: storage units, eBay listings, forgotten ad reels. The goal isn’t to replicate the past, it’s to retool it for now.

🖼️But What If It Works? Inspiring art piece.

💌Share it on LinkedIn​

Thank you!

Let’s connect! 💬 You can find me on LinkedIn and Twitter