Unlocking Emotional Intelligence: The Superpower for Effective Leadership
Georgina Pawley
I help teams and individuals enhance collaboration, performance and outcomes through leadership impact & alignment / Qualified Executive Coach / Professional wellbeing & executive retreats
About 6 months ago, I started an Emotions Coaching course that had been receiving great reviews in the coaching circles.
When I told others about it, I received comments / looks saying 'have you gone all 'woo woo' on us?'
I haven't, just in case you're wondering!
Having completed my Executive Coaching qualification earlier last year, I felt at the end that although it had been a great learning experience, that there was something lacking.
As a coach, we learn from day one about boundaries and scope and the importance of staying in our lanes. We are not psychologists or therapists and understandably we should not be trying to do that work.
However, what I continue to experience with clients is a desire for our conversations to go 'deeper', to help them understand and make sense of theirs and others' emotions and the impact on business. How can they turn these into strengths or learn from them?
We all have past experiences, learned (and limiting) beliefs and values that impact us in the present.
As leaders, we're often taught to project an image of unwavering strength and composure, but the reality is, our emotions play a far greater role in our professional lives than we may realise.
Think about it - how much of what we do, say, and decide is underpinned by how we're feeling in the moment? Or how someone else's emotions and responses impact us?
Emotions influence our decision-making, our communication, and even our ability to connect with and motivate our teams.
That's why developing emotional intelligence is such a critical leadership skill. It's not about being overly sentimental or letting our feelings run the show. Rather, it's about having the self-awareness to recognise and manage these emotions, as well as the empathy to understand and support the emotional experiences of others.
After all, great leadership isn't just about what we know - it's about how we make others feel.
Being able to have deeper conversations with my clients and help them navigate their own emotional landscapes, helps them show up as their best selves, both personally and professionally.
At the end of the day, emotions are not to be avoided. They are not good nor bad, but signals for learning and growth.
#EmotionalIntelligence #LeadershipDevelopment #CoachingSkills #emotionsatwork