Hearts, Minds & Wallets: The Thin Book That Closes Gigantic Deals, a profound new book from Jennifer Morgan, presents itself as a practical guide for professionals to communicate more effectively. As it says on the tin, it is a thin book that provides effective ideas and methodologies for closing deals. However, its true value transcends that because it is about so much more.
For example, in the early days of the COVID pandemic, New York City saw an increase in the number of fireworks. The psychological impact on pets was profound. Sustained fireworks made owners wary about their pets. The pet read all of this demonstrated anxiety and became more anxious themselves. This is what Morgan describes as an “emotional contagion.” The emotional state of one person affects those around them.
The idea of an emotional contagion can be useful in business. Showing up to a pitch angry or sullen will make others close off, while showing up with joy in your heart and a wide-eyed curiosity invites a reciprocal reaction. This insight also speaks to something true about existing in the world as a human being.
Connecting in an Increasingly Disconnected World
Morgan showcased her expertise at last year’s Exchange conference and Hearts, Minds & Wallets expands and builds on many of the concepts she went over in her extremely popular session. In an increasingly complex, challenging world, breaking through the noise, fatigue, and barriers to create a genuine connection can feel impossible. Fortunately, Morgan’s book is up to the challenge.
She has a knack for succinctly breaking down some of the biggest obstacles to real communication. Her insights are sharp, and Hearts, Minds & Wallets make them easy to digest and deploy. Sales professionals, financial advisors, and anyone who must navigate clients and prospects in their work will find a lot to mine from this book. It is full of more than just best practices for pitches, sales, and client relationships, but also offers profound advice. At a time when AI is generating emails, people are becoming more isolated. An array of distractions compete for our attention constantly, Morgan’s work offers a more humanistic approach.
From 7 Habits to Hearts and Minds
The structure of Hearts, Minds & Wallets centers around giving readers easy to use tools, tactics, and mechanisms to better communicate and connect with people around them. These tools are wrapped in charming anecdotes, but the book wastes no time delivering actionable insights. It is a book that fundamentally understands the value of your time.
This is such a refreshing perspective from a business guide, and Morgan manages to avoid the typical pitfalls of the genre. Business guidebooks have been around for ages, but ever since Stephen Covey’s 1989 blockbuster, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, they have been a driving cultural force. But they are not without baggage. Look ahead bias is an endemic problem in the genre. Many also take simple ideas and pad them out, creating lots of filler content. Morgan’s book very much takes her own advice to “be brief, be bold, be gone.” The ideas are enormous, but the page count is not.
Business guidebooks are often written by successful people who have attributed their success retroactively to things that may or may not have been actual differentiators. In other words, it is possible to follow all of the habits in 7 Habits and still not be successful or effective. Hearts, Minds & Wallets neatly sidesteps this trap, in part because its focus is relational rather than transactional. It is packed with tools and ideas the reader can immediately put into action, and though these tools can be leveraged to close the titular “gigantic deal” they are also just plain useful in real life. Putting your phone away when talking to someone in person will be helpful in a meeting, but it’s also helpful in making you happier in your day-to-day life.
Every. Single. Detail. Matters.
Morgan understands the importance of getting details right as you work to connect to and engage others. She deeply advocates for and respects the time and agency of people. Accordingly, this is another huge differentiator of Hearts, Minds & Wallets within the business guide space.
As a theater major in the world of finance, I was delighted to see Morgan bring in terms and ideas from the theater, such as “Run of Show.” Plays demand a choreography of people and objects that is meticulously mapped out and rehearsed. Actors have their blocking and lines, props need to be in the right places at the right times, lights need to go up and down at certain junctures. The run of show is the collection of all of these details. Morgan writes, “As a former professional dancer, this is something I proudly introduced to the world of business, updating and adapting the framework to suit pitches, keynotes, meetings, and beyond.”
She was met with “vigorous” resistance trying to implement these ideas. Ultimately, the teams she worked with began to see the value. Spending the time, energy, and care to track the details matters, and it can drive profound results.
Get more insights from Jennifer Morgan at Exchange
Hearts, Minds & Wallets is available for purchase today, and Morgan will be returning to the Exchange conference in 2026. Anyone looking to improve their ability to close deals, pitch effectively, network, and communicate with clarity would be remiss to miss out on her session.
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