Here's how you can harness emotional intelligence to handle stress and pressure in your strategy career.

Harnessing emotional intelligence in your strategy career can help you manage stress and pressure effectively. Start by recognizing and understanding your emotions, as well as those of others. Practice self-awareness to identify stress triggers and develop coping strategies. Use empathy to connect with colleagues and foster a supportive work environment. Maintain a calm and composed demeanor, even in challenging situations, and communicate openly and constructively. By leveraging emotional intelligence, you can navigate stress more effectively, make better decisions, and maintain strong professional relationships.

EI/EQ are the current versions of what I was taught early on: "listen" and "care"...about everything: customers, co-workers, managers, suppliers, vendors, etc. Self-awareness and self-management are the ultimate by-products - and BENEFITS - of the 'science' of the DISC profile. That test told me nothing about myself (off the charts 'I'), but told me everything I needed to know about how others receive and consume the information we are observing/sharing together...or better yet...the information I am sharing with them. The EI/EQ-based platinum-grade insight was that I needed to be aware of, understand and accommodate how the other party(ies) consumed the data that I was sharing - it's all about them. Not me. Win.

First, self-awareness allows you to recognize your stress triggers and emotional responses, enabling proactive management. Practice mindfulness techniques to stay grounded during high-pressure situations. Second, cultivate empathy by understanding your team’s emotions; this fosters a supportive environment where everyone feels valued. Active listening is key—ensure that team members feel heard and understood, which can alleviate collective stress. Lastly, maintain open communication to address challenges collaboratively. By leveraging EI, you can navigate the complexities of strategy with resilience and clarity, ultimately driving better outcomes. #Strategy #EmotionalIntelligence #Leadership

Understanding EI is realizing that your objective is not only "project success", but achieving it while making people feel included and considered in the process. EI understands that the price of success at all cost is too high - alienating people along the way is counterproductive in the long run.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) and strategy go hand-in-hand. Much like strategy, EQ involves seeing beyond the present situation and understanding how things could change based on how you manage yourself and interact with others. While the here-and-now may be filled with stresses and frustrations, looking beyond them allows you to see how these moments can help you and your team achieve both short-term and long-term goals. By developing your self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management skills, you can turn reactive responses into strategic actions that drive success.

Aligning and clarifying goals is crucial for effective teamwork. When the goals of individual team members, the team as a whole, and the sponsor are misaligned, conflicting efforts and increased stress will inevitably surface. When you notice stress creeping into your effort, take a step back and have each person express their priorities and perspectives. This process will help identify common ground and enable you to prioritize effectively, ensuring that the team feels united and confident about the direction you’re heading.

With all of the big and visionary thinking there is to do in strategy planning, it's also just as important to pause to come back to the present moment. You're often juggling so many different ideas, data, perspectives and possibilities that can feel overwhelming and difficult to make sense of it all. Mindfulness can help you to clear your mind to see things more clearly. Mindfulness can be a simple pause of a few deep breaths, taking some time to look out the window and let your thoughts go, or taking some time to doodle and get the left side of your brain going. It's a quick break to come back to centre with a calm new approach to the project.

Mindfulness can be as simple as taking a few deep breaths, gazing out the window to clear your mind, or doodling to engage your creativity. It's a quick break to recentre yourself and return to your project with a fresh, calm perspective. Talking to my friends helps me in this area. Find out what calms you down and makes you feel grounded.

We all have some level of EQ and the key is understanding what your natural specific tendencies are to handle stress and pressure as you continue to grow. As you continue to understand yourself in this space you will harness your gifts in the EQ space. One of the greatest gifts is not to get side tracked when it comes to stress and pressure. Harnessing your EQ so the stress and pressure is not a distraction where you intelligence lets you know how to handle these things. Actually becoming a builder of your EQ can suppress the stress and pressure coming at you. Building of your EQ is critical to understand yourself better to handle when the stress and pressure comes your way from situations, people, circumstances etc…