What do you do if your career in Thought Leadership could benefit from emotional intelligence?

Emotional and Spiritual Intelligence are fundamental for thought leadership. It is about the content and the structure. The more integral our view of the issues is, the more we can lead by wisdom.

Integrating emotional intelligence into your thought leadership career is pivotal. Self-awareness is foundational, enabling you to understand and manage your own emotions. Empathy fosters deeper connections with your audience, while relationship building cultivates trust and collaboration. Conflict resolution skills and adaptability are essential for navigating challenges with grace. Authenticity, grounded in vulnerability, establishes credibility and inspires others. Embrace emotional intelligence to lead authentically and drive meaningful change.

"Oh what power the gift to give us, to see ourselves as others see us." Robert (Rabby) Burns. Burns was an 18th century Scottish poet. This is a line from his poem To a Louse. This about it for a moment or two. Imagine yourself looking through the eye of someone else and what do they see, how you are behaving not only towards them but others as well. Being kind is a leadership role is one of the traits historians and philosophers will discuss about you in the future.

If our career in thought leadership could benefit from emotional intelligence, we could focus on developing skills such as empathy, active listening, and conflict resolution. Building strong relationships, understanding diverse perspectives, and effectively communicating with others can enhance our influence and credibility as a thought leader. Additionally, incorporating emotional intelligence into your content and presentations can make your ideas more relatable and impactful to your audience.

Develop self-awareness to understand your emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and triggers, and reflect on how emotions influence thoughts, behaviors, and interactions with others. Cultivate adaptability by staying flexible, open-minded, and willing to adjust your approach based on feedback and evolving circumstances to navigate change and uncertainty effectively. Leadership development involves fostering a positive work culture, empowering individuals, and demonstrating empathy, authenticity, and integrity through emotional intelligence and leadership style.

I agree, to a point. Humans are poor self assessors. We are too easy on ourselves in situations where we are the offender, so we make excuses or justify. Do the self reflection, but place more weight on the feedback from those who rely on your leadership to really figure out adjustments to prioritize.

Businesses are about people whether customers, employees or stakeholders. In e-commerce companies it is a usual practice to offer bonuses on new sign ups. I have seen in online gaming customers abuse the bonus by making multiple accounts and using bonus money. Companies build intelligent models to identify multiple accounts, and blacklist customers. So, we thought of calling customers saying “you must have forgotten your password and hence opened another account. Let us know which account is to keep and we will transfer your money to the preferred account.” This one step boosted players trust tremendously. Risk was more bleed of bonus money. Thought leadership when implemented is more genuine, and EI is inseparable.

Self assessment comes on many forms. 1) 360 peer feedback and interviews 2) Culture assessments to improve woek environment 3) self awareness skills: culture index with Tom Feldhusen 4) spiritual gifts: Human Design with Jenna Zoe and Jennifer Rochlis. 5) Meijers Briggs 6) Strengthsfinder 7)Eniagram These all have in common skills and stimulus based responses. This level of science backed awareness can help control your emotional intelligence. I have learned so much about myself after these assessments that I wasn’t able to articulate before I took them. Now it’s all making sense!!

It is best to remember to drop all your troublesome baggage at the door, not only at the moment but to begin every day. If you cannot drop your baggage, remember that you must carry it so it doesn't affect others in their abilities to operate and communicate.

When things get emotionally out of hand, and they may, reset by taking a quick break from the issue, discussion or event at hand. The reset give you and others time to think and focus.

Seeking feedback from a close and trusted friend is essential for improvement as they can guide you by observing your interactions and responses that can highlight the improvement areas.

Self-reflection is immensely valuable, but it can only be the start. Seeking feedback from those close to you is critical. Sometimes we have blind spots. Sure, we may know the behavior that is obviously getting in our way, but what about other areas where we may be impacting others that we don't know about? For instance, over time I learned that not everyone shares my hyperbolic sense of humor and that people were taking me seriously when I made sarcastic platitudes. I now try to limit those jokes because they don't always translate. I wouldn't have known that without seeking feedback.

A leader who can't seek out and receive honest feedback is a leader headed for disaster. Trust and confidence in the relationship are required for the feedback to be honest and helpful, otherwise you'll only get what the person thinks you want to hear.

People often say that knowledge is power. If that was true, every librarian would be skinny, rich, and happy. Knowledge acted upon is power and the daily evaluation of those actions is powerful. Knowledge creates awareness, which provides us with choices. When you become aware of your need to increase your emotional intelligence, you have a choice to make, which seems simple....but taking action is THE important part of that puzzle. Discover which areas in EQ you especially need to improve on, then just do it. There are enough books and articles available, or find an EQ coach to support you on that journey.

Try reading fictional and nonfictional books on historical events. Try to feel the experience that others experienced in their events and ordeals. This will help you see and feel from "walking a mile in someone's shoes."

To me Empathy is not only putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, but it is believing that others have the right intentions in mind with all of their actions and responses. This simpleton mindset shift takes the emotional triggers out of your response because you unpack WHY they said what they said, and don’t assume that they meant ill intend or negative feedback, or even to upset you!! This can save some drama and unnecessary conflict because you can approach a solution from the common ground !

I used to be believe empathy is to put my feet into other’s shoes AND walk 2 miles. However empathy is more than that. In this metaphorical scenario, the shoes may fit me better, maybe I am healthier than you, maybe I have more food and liquid supply during the walk…you got the idea. Then my experience will be different than yours. True empathy is that I don’t have to experience what you experienced, but I trust your experience and believe in your feelings. And I am here…listening to you.

Ability to see things from someone else's perspective is easily said than done, because we all have biases. Its crucial to not assume but seek clarity and validate. "If you change the way you look at things, things you look at change"

Every business interaction happens between humans and this is a fact that we often forget. Our customers, suppliers, customers and leaders are all driven by human emotion and that has a huge impact on decision making. Taking a moment to reflect on the emotion driving the action and its impact on decision making can alter your own reaction to the situation. This empathy can allow you to preempt challenges and proactively service unstated need. For example, the iPod came from a latent need to eliminate the numerous buttons and the bulkiness of the Walkman.

To get started, do a belief and value exercise. List all your beliefs (your acceptable truths) on one side and values (your principles) on another. Now, map the top 3 priorities from both to create your virtue system that will help you understand your emotional inclinations and strengths. Make these virtues your fundamentals in thoughts and perspectives, your value additions and your teaching. This simple yet self-reflective approach will put your content way ahead on empathy. All the best??

The irony is that, although emotional intelligence (aka EQ) is mainly about you, thought leadership is not about you – at all. In context of a B2B business model, thought leadership should be focused externally, not internally. It starts with listening to your customers, and requires insight into broader market trends, issues, and pain points. That external perspective creates opportunities for you and your company to offer effective solutions and guide customers through their complex journey. When customers trust your guidance (your thought leadership), they are more likely to become loyal evangelists of your brand.

Always be assessing yourself as to your own goals but also think about how your actions affect others in the decisions you make and the things that you do. It's been said that what you've done makes us how we are. Turn that into positive actions for yourself in how you treat and interact with others.

Emotional intelligence is key to effective leadership. Leaders who develop self-awareness, empathy, emotional regulation, and social skills can build strong relationships with their team, manage conflict, and make sound decisions. Investing in emotional intelligence development can lead to success in leadership.