You’re a leader and you’re facing a major setback. How can emotional intelligence help you bounce back?

Waves in business are part of it, means they comes and goes. Sometimes you are up and down, you must know it. Nevertheless there are moments to prepare for hard times, which means been one step ahead, been motivated to look for excellence. In the sports language … there is no better way to defend than attacking. Still been in the offense you can get hit, in those cases wind can change harder than what you expected… then are moments to pull together your team make a teamback and keep it together to face hard times. You are not gonna make it alone. Keep smile in your face and keep your team informed, recharge your batteries everyday and don’t stay away from your family. Viceversa! They keep your engine on!

Self-doubt might negatively affect our moods and performance. Self-doubt often appears in the form of negative self talk or negative automatic thoughts. Example "I am not as smart as people think I am. The truth is I am incompetent". There are several ways to deal with negative automatic thoughts. One of them is to play the role of a devil's advocate and find examples that contradict the negative assertion. The other technique is not to extrapolate an isolated event to your entire life. My favorite one however is just observe the thought and let it go as it came. The fact to have a thought does not mean it is true. It is just a thought, you don't have to believe it.

As a leader, I feel, EQ is a superpower ! First step would be to accept the situation to tide the most difficult emotion (i.e. Acceptance of failure). Second would be to perform root cause or the most dominant contributing cause of why the setback occurred. After studying what was the cause(s) I would take actions to rectify any possible gaps. I will encourage the team to review the problem and disconnect the 'problem' from the 'person' for a productive discussion. Basis the above, I would convene a meeting where I will effectively communicate how we will overcome the setback and set the team morale high by watching an inspirational/motivation short film to get the team back on track!

Firstly avoid blaming self or others, secondly accept mistakes that helps maintaining mental balance. This approach helps in maintaining low stress levels and further improving the situations and understanding the consequences. This entire process gives confidence, togetherness, positive feeling leading to overcoming the failures which otherwise to achieve in opposite ways…

An important step before that would be to verify that there is actually a set back and if so in which context . Many a times we are quick to conclude based on initial signals . Most setbacks are just stages in a journey and do not require course correction

When you are going through a lot of stress, pay attention to your body and its reactions. Regular exercise will help you organise your thoughts and manage difficult situations. Meditation and self observation are very good companions too. Do not overlook them.

In my experience as a leader stress is always there. I had bad times when I felt I couldnt take it. Found my self in the need to reduce the impact on my body and on my mind. Practicing self-awareness - to embrace my level of stress and then self-care to overcome it helped a lot. Also, I learned not to “take on” the stress of my direct peers, but to comfort and offer a solution on the spot.

Practicing self care requires structure and rigor. Take some time to seat down and define your well-being plan: make it reasonable and achievable; define specific habits you want to change or introduce, and link them to your existing routine (“Atomic Habits” can be a good reading); make them a priority and assign time in your agenda. Allow yourself for some flexibility, but don’t let your well-being plan to slip down in the list of priorities. It all starts with you.

The number one quality I have found among successful leaders is their comfort with discomfort. Resenting or resisiting stress does not help, rather it harms specially when stress is inevitable. Successful leaders know that progress is all about discomfort; at least in the beginning. So, they learn to become comfortable with the discomfort. They also realise that stress is inevitable but suffering is optional. It does not mean that you are immune to pain. It indicates your readiness with discomfort while keeping the hope for a better future alive.

Na prática, a delega??o eficiente de atividades cotidianas, o estabelecimento de limites, e a habilidade de se socializar ajudam n?o apenas a gerenciar melhor o estresse pessoal, mas também criar um ambiente mais seguro psicologicamente para você e para seu time.

In the face of major setbacks, enhancing communication involves delivering difficult news, managing feedback, negotiating solutions, and rebuilding trust. Two crucial skills in this context are social awareness and empathy. Social awareness is key for understanding the emotions, needs, and expectations of others. It enables you to adapt your communication style to be more effective in various situations. Empathy involves a deeper level of engagement where you put yourself in others' shoes, showing genuine concern for their feelings and perspectives. By combining social awareness and empathy, your communication becomes more effective, respectful, and persuasive.

In my experience when you are in a leadership position, you will have to manage not only your stress but also the stress of others. Reassuring them, leading them and communicating with empathy can be quite draining - especially if you don't have all the answers yourself. So make sure you have someone or a place to diffuse your emotions and communicate your concerns in confidence for example. The more negative emotions you diffuse, the more space you have for your team members for example.

Communication is vital and must practice using all means… develop interpersonal and networking skills to overcome gaps in communication… little over 80% success achieved by pursuing others perception… help connect situations and people around… be it professional or social…

One thing I have found helpful is spending time with the workforce and understanding their challenges, hearing their concerns and appreciating their challenges as they work. This is very helpful when communicating, as you can speak to their actual problems whether providing negative or positive feedback. Always show empathy and have time to hear them out and be fair in your approach.

One of the most important aspects of communication is the ability to listen. There are different levels of listening and to truly connect with people, leaders need to focus on the individual, tune out everything else and listen from their perspective with genuine curiosity. It’s important to put aside our own thoughts and listen without interrupting rather than listening to respond. Listen with empathy to the words said and not said.

A motiva??o e a IE est?o interconectadas e se bem utilizadas s?o uma excelente ferramenta para ajudar a lidar com os desafios da lideran?a, e o "walk the talk" ainda é uma das melhores ferramentas para você inspirar a equipe e fazer com que ela trabalhe entusiasticamente todos os dias e n?o só nos primeiros meses de contrata??o ou promo??o, n?o é fácil, mas é possível, e isso requer muita habilidade empática, comunica??o ativa e claro, estar próximo de fato do seu time.

Giving yourself and your team an evening, a weekend, or even a month to quietly think through what happened, analyze the lessons learned, and process all the feelings from the setback can be a valuable tool to launching yourself and your team even further with the next endeavor. Hitting the “pause” button after any disappointment can allow you and your team time to recharge and gain a fresh perspective.

Motivar os outros e se auto-motivar n?o é uma tarefa fácil em um momento desfavorável. A motiva??o de uma equipe deve ocorrer no dia a dia, em momentos bons e ruins, assim como o espírito de equipe, coopera??o, empatia e busca de resultados. Nada pode ser construído de um dia para outro.

Don't be threatened by someone else's success. Instead, use it as fuel to push yourself to be a better version of yourself. Find the best motivation for you and apply it in everyday life. Dealing with someone else's success isn't easy because it requires changing yourself and your mindset. Celebrate others' success and use it as admiration and motivation to set higher standards for yourself.

One technique I have used with success both personally and with my teams is a concept I called “little victories”. Sometimes the work ahead is daunting and can feel impossible. Couple that with some setbacks and it can make everyone feel hopeless. Focus on the small things! Maybe you didn’t hit the sales goal yet but you got three new leads this week - little victory! Maybe the quality level of the product isn’t where it needs to be for yield goals but you just made three consecutive conforming lots after some process changes - little victory (and possibly a big one coming!). This is especially powerful in a group setting like a stand-up or staff meeting. People’s little victories can inspire others to also be lifted!

Transparency is one of the most important aspects of leadership in my opinion. Stating: "I screwed up!" or "I am not sure what exactly went wrong, but the buck stops here!" or "Help me sort this out!" are powerful ways of accepting responsibility while focusing on a solution. Setbacks are often team efforts and taking responsibility while involving everyone in the solution is quite an emotionally intelligent way of dealing with them.

The adage "every defeat, disappointment, and adversity carries the seed of an equivalent benefit" is a powerful reminder that within every setback lies the potential for growth and gain. This perspective encourages us to look beyond the immediate pain and frustration of our failures, urging us to search for the hidden opportunities they present. It's an invitation to shift our mindset from one of defeat to one of learning and resilience. This philosophy is about actively cultivating a mindset that sees challenges as the fertile ground for personal development, innovation, and eventual success. Embracing this view helps us remain hopeful and proactive, turning life's inevitable hurdles into stepping stones towards our goals.

Being candid and honest with a team is essential. This encourages other team members to be transparent in all matters. If a mistake happens be the first to acknowledge this and look for solutions. Under no circumstances attribute blame. Blame is a useless exercise and does not solve the problem at hand.

Self motivation is believing this is not the End. Setbacks are part of life. Emotional intelligence is learning to take both success and failures in your stride. Best way to deal with ser back is check alternatives. It's best to divert your energies on other possibilities. Secondly just accept it didn't work and perhaps it's best for you.

Stop a little !, make a pause ! ..... To focus on yourself, meditate, do some workout. This can help you to understand that is a setback and you will bounce back, stronger, motivated; so the team you lead, will also understand as is.