The Transformational Leader

18Navigating Effective Communication

Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe.

—Winston Churchill

CAN YOU IMAGINE a world in which diamonds were as commonplace as quartz? Even those who know little about jewelry recognize the stone's value. While part of this is simple economics, namely, the principle of scarcity, it's also the result of deeply ingrained traditions and cultural popularity. The most prevalent is the diamond engagement ring, a tradition so powerful that even those who believe it to be ridiculous and archaic bend to the social pressures surrounding it.

But have you ever wondered how this tradition originated and why the stone in that ring isn't quartz? After all, diamond and quartz are minerals that retract and reflect light, hold chemically inactive properties, and rate highly on the Mohs Hardness Scale.

In the 1930s, the diamond industry experienced another potent economic principle: supply and demand. Technological advancements made it easier to mine and ship diamonds, thus flooding the market. This increase in availability happened at the same time the United States experienced a catastrophic economic downturn; prices fell. From 1929 to 1932, the U.K. Wholesale Price Index for rough diamonds plummeted by 42%, dropping from a rating of 100 to 58. Do you want to know how this precious stone went from an unwanted global ...