Tuesday, March 1, 2016

L.E.A.D.E.r

Emotional Intelligence: For some inexplicable reason this topic kept coming up for me in December. As I dug into it I enjoyed a few articles* that I'll gladly share with you.

First and foremost, Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Quotient are used interchangeably - I wonder if it was to ensure that "Emotions" are introduced to interrupt our much touted "IQ" - Intelligence Quotient especially at work. 

This self-assessment and video (respectively)
As a leader, it is imperative that you take this quote - which has been attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, John Maxwell and others to heart:

"People don't (& won't) care how much you know
until they know how much you care."
 
I don't believe that means we should become "softies," it just means that we need to be able to identify and differentiate between "Kleenex" and "Clean-up" moments. Caring about people includes actively developing them which inherently includes discipline if required. No, not the way you'd discipline a child but in a way to help the person not go off-track.

Our EQ though not tangible, but produce tangible results. We must create "enabling and empowering environments" for those we lead.

When I saw this picture, I smiled and said to myself, just as no-one can survive in life with only their brain, as leaders we must always take our hearts to work with us. I guess that's my definition of EQ/EI - it's taking our hearts to work with us and letting our head & heart collaborate.  

A lot more has been written on this key leadership skill than I can say on this topic so I encourage you to read some more.
Remember, readers are leaders and leaders are readers. Have a great month ahead.

*Further Reading


 





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