Emotional Intelligence

In: Emotional Intelligence, Leadership

Use your emotional intelligence and lead from the heart, with all changes and uncertainty currently going on in the world author Anne Taylor explains that leading through rational, analytical and task driven approaches is less likely to achieve results in these volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous times. What is Leading From Your Heart? Firstly to be clear leading from the heart does not mean, not applying your logical or head based leadership skills. It is about adding skills and increasing your effectiveness. “Courage is about doing something dangerous or facing pain or opposition. It’s about putting yourself out there, trying new things, risking making a mistake or looking silly and feeling uncomfortable“ Anne Taylor Leading from the heart takes advantage of your soft skills and the way you interact with people. Know yourself – start by building the profile of you. If you work in a large organisation you will alreadyContinue Reading

In: Crisis Management, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Uncategorized

The Pandemic is bringing up new leadership challenges and it is becoming clear that management styles need to change and that no one person can solve this on their own. This article points out that in these VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) times those who have stood out as the most effective leaders have demonstrated a new set of leadership skills. Based on 25 years of leadership research CLO believe that two very different leadership styles will cause failure or success in these turbulent times. Hero Leaders who direct from the top with an authoritarian, forceful and charismatic leadership style are much less likely to weather the current challenges. What has become clear is that no one person has all the necessary knowledge and experience to solve the problems, therefore leaders need to build an inclusive team that brings together different types of expertise to work together and createContinue Reading

In: Emotional Intelligence, Leadership

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand and use your own empathy and emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate efficiently and empathise with others to over come challenges and defuse conflict. Conversations always start out with small talk, and so often we revert back to a basic question something like “Hi, how are you?”. The social convention is that we often start a conversation asking this generic question and potentially don’t even wait for the answer. Researchers at Harvard Business School analyzed hundreds of conversations to determine what kinds of questions led to better reactions. The findings established that people who ask deeper more interested questions were better liked by those they were having conversations with. It also noted that individuals using this technique were rated as having a higher interpersonal construct of listening validation and care. Authentic conversations are grounded in asking a question that you care about listeningContinue Reading

In: Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Motivation

The Motivation Secret That Works For Everyone. Synopsis of an article from Inc. by Jessica Stillman, Published 23rd July 2020 When the author sent a survey to 2.7 million twitter followers on the best tips for staying motivated there were lots of excellent creative tips on how to stay focused and get things done. Music Playlists Energy Drinks Communicating Gratitude Connecting with friends and colleagues who buoy your motivation Walking and getting fresh air Exercise Mindfulness Faith or Spirituality But there is one motivation that really does work in almost all situations. Focus on the WHY “By focusing on your ‘why;’ your reason for wanting what it is you want. The vision. The big picture. That keeps me #motivated especially when the going gets tough,” Seila Chapman  Connecting goals to the reason why, is the most powerful motivation as it enables people to visualise the end result. Everyone is different we findContinue Reading

In: Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Virtual Teams, Working From Home

Synopsis of an article from Inc. by Anne Gherini, Published 15th July 2020 This article points out that EQ or Emotional Intelligence has been recognised as more powerful predictor of an individual’s success as a leader than IQ. As we continue to work fully remotely what do you need to do to dial up the EQ. “High EQ individuals who display empathy, confidence, and comfort with their own limitations will be able to thrive and emerge as leaders in the pack.“ Human Centric Management Empathy – being aware of how others are feeling and coping. For some working from home can be lonely and feel overwhelming. Not everyone has the best home office set up, they may have to share it with others or have to manage home schooling – be aware. Anne points out that you need to make time for check-ins, with out an agenda to have a basis forContinue Reading

In: Emotional Intelligence, Motivation

Synopsis of an article from Forbes by Rasmus Hougaard, with Nick Hobson and Paula Kelley Published 8th July 2020 Rasmus Hougaard is the founder and managing director of the Potential Project, an organisation focused on building mindful leaders and organisations. In this article he makes the slightly contentious point that leaders often mistake empathy for compassion. Empathy is a foundational emotion for human connection, it is the spark for compassion but they are very different. With empathy we understand the suffering of others but with compassion we ask how we can help. For leaders recognising the differences is critical for “inspiring and managing others effectively”. Empathy is impulsive, compassion is deliberate Our empathetic feelings are an unconscious bias, they originate from the emotion centers of our brain and therefore we are less aware of and less intentional about those decisions. Compassion is deliberate and reflective response from the cognitive partContinue Reading

Goleman - Emotional Intelligence

In: Emotional Intelligence, Leadership

Synopsis of an article from Inc. by Marcel Schwantes Published 13th June 2020 Daniel Goleman is a Harvard Researcher and defined our understanding of emotional intelligence, he wrote his first best selling book ‘Emotional Intelligence’ in 1995. This article links to new work by Goleman on key traits found in each of the four EQ domains. In Goleman’s EQ framework, once you land a job in your field of expertise and start considering things like increasing your role, getting promoted, leading others, and navigating political landscapes, IQ will be begging for EQ to show up and take over. Traits Related to Self AwarenessThe capacity to tune in to your own emotions, understanding of your own strengths and limitations and conscious of the events and situations within your life. When dealing with frustration, you are able to pinpoint the root and cause of your frustration. Traits Related to Self ManagementEmotional self control, remainingContinue Reading