Lovers know it. Would-be leaders forget it. And too many wanna-bees ignore it.

It is foreplay of the business kind.

It is the kind of leadership behavior that establishes a mood, ignites a dynamic and mutually satisfies any negotiation: from gaining buy-in for a merger to pitching a new account.

Walk into any grocery store and you’ll immediately get a leadership lesson up front and center in establishing the mood that creates a more conducive grocery shopping experience for the customer and a more profitable business transaction for the grocery store.

Consider the produce section that is always positioned close to the entrance.

It is bathed in lights glistening in an array of orange, green and red colors. Spot lights beam everywhere like a Broadway production, shining on the oranges and grapefruits, cucumbers and tomatoes so intently you almost expect them to break out into a song and dance.

(That’s last paragraph is way over the top, but that’s the point. So is the following exaggeration:}

The lights lure you in closer and closer. Almost seductively.

You feel the smooth skin of a cucumber.You feel the round, breast-like shape of an orange. You smell the enticing aroma of a banana. Your hands seemed to be automatically squeezing. Your mouth involuntarily sucking. Your hands automatically caressing the fruits and vegetables.

You can’t resist. You fill your cart with oranges and bananas. And now you feel empowered to say good bye to the Jolly Green Giant and start courting Sara Lee. You are guilt free. Mission accomplished!

The retail store management is thrilled: they sold you more fruits and vegetables than you had planned to buy.

And they empowered you to feel less guilty in filling your shopping cart with chips, cookies, and cakes etc during the rest of your trip to the grocery store. They set the mood for success.

For more ideas in establishing a winning culture that continually sets the mood for success, consider purchasing a 280-page book that is available now on Amazon.com.

It is titled THINKING LIKE A LEADER.

That book on thinking like a leader is the first of three books in The Leadership Mints Series designed to help leaders refresh their feeling for leading with short stories (called Leadership Mints) you can grab ‘n go like a candy mint.

The two others books focus on leading with empathy LOVING LIKE A LEADER and leading with civility SPEAKING LIKE A LEADER.