Emotions, Achievement, Compassion, Inspiration

emotionally intelligent leadership

It's the ability to move people in the direction you want to go based on a deep understanding of yourself and them. First comes you: gradually improving your self-awareness and self-management skills. Then comes others: gradually building your social awareness and relationship management skills. It's a simple formula but a difficult journey. And it doesn't matter how emotionally intelligent you currently are. What matters is how emotionally intelligent you can be.

emotional intelligence tips

1. As you might have during the pandemic, keep asking yourself, "What can I and what can't I control?" It helps build a stronger internal locus of control which is the belief that you can influence your life outcomes. It's also a key driver of self-confidence.
2. Build relationships with mentors, coaches, and therapists. Their impartial feedback and ability to ask thoughtful questions get you to self-reflect in unique ways, helping you build a more accurate self-image.
3. Breathe. It's the simplest way to regulate emotions proactively and, in difficult moments, reactively. There are a variety of methods you can experiment with: box breathing, Siberian North Railroad, and the physiological sigh. Each one can help build your centeredness.

featured building blocks + more tips

emotions. Your emotional awareness consists of three things: the ability to recognize specific emotions you're feeling, why, and the impact they can have on you and others. TIP: before your next 1:1 or huddle, check-in with yourself. Using the Junto Emotion Wheel, identify your emotions and ask yourself what signals they may send to others.

achievement. Your achievement orientation is defined by how you're motivated and your resulting ability to set and pursue challenging goals. TIP: to lead others with your achievement orientation, be explicit about your standards and goals; follow your intrinsic motivators; express hope, optimism, and belief; and deliver actionable feedback.

compassion. It's empathy plus action: the capacity to understand one's suffering or distress, and then do something to help alleviate it. TIP: show compassion at work by discussing highs and lows with your team, and then offering to help people with their lows.?

inspiration. The most complex leadership skill, it's the ability to unlock another's motivation so they move in the direction you want to go. TIP: after any small win for your team, bring them together; share the organization's vision, mission, and/or purpose; discuss how the small win fits in; and express appreciation for the work the team did to achieve it.

Why are the four levels of building blocks in the order they are? Because it's essential to increase your capacity to lead yourself before leading others.

your brain + body

According to scientists, your behavior is an outcome of two systems of thinking.

System one is fast, intuitive, and cannot be turned off. It's when your automatic and emotional brains drive your behavior, and shows up when you do routine tasks, react emotionally, or do things automatically. In other words, you don't have to think.

System two is the opposite: it's slow, logical, and must be turned on. It's when your thinking brain drives your behavior, managing your automatic and emotional brains, and shows up when you make tough decisions, respond rather than react, or do things intentionally. In other words, you have to think.

A useful practice is to reflect on when your behavior relied on system one thinking, and how differently it might have been if you had turned on system two.

got a question?

If you have a burning question about emotionally intelligent leadership, or how to make leaders (including yourself) better at who they are and what they do, ask us! We'll do our best to answer it in an upcoming newsletter.