What Makes a Leader?

I attempt to write a small sub-piece to the original brilliant article from Daniel Goleman.

For most of last year and some posts here on LinkedIn this year I have tried to promote the need for all of us founders to understand our emotions. Even in my other newsletter - Social Media Marketing for You - I try and piece together the emotional understanding of what I am doing and why I am doing it. This breaks into the need for me to increase my EQ through simple actions like reflective practice and reflective writing. Now do I think good modern-day Business Executives need to assert reflective practice and reflective writing to improve their leadership skills? Of course, I do as I know that evaluating my personal development at the moment - leans into a formidable force when it comes to emotional intelligence leadership practice. In short, you have to know your emotions to be a true leader.

What is a true leader?

True does not mean good for starters when I talk about emotional intelligence leadership practice. I mean true in the sense the leader understands the importance of recognizing their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors for the greater good of leadership development. Although, many articles here on LinkedIn would have you believe that true means good - and it's about empathy, empathy, and more empathy.

Whilst empathy is an important ingredient to emotional intelligence and learning to be a better leader - it's not the magic ingredient. What I have learned through lived experience is that slowing our thought processes down, and learning to sit in a chair without social media - and meditating on our thoughts is one of the best ways to improve as leaders.

The Core Components of Emotional Intelligence Leadership Practice

1. Self-awareness
2. Compassionate Leadership
3. Creative Abilities
4. Vulnerability Actionable Intelligence

Self-awareness

It does not take a rocket scientist to work out that we Business Leaders need to know our core emotions - meaning self-awareness to improve our performance in the workplace. Now how you choose to gain access to your personal development zone in this domain is down to you. You have to find a way that matters to your conscious and unconscious thinking. For me, it is reflective practices, reflective writing, and meditation - meaning just sitting down and brainstorming.

This works me for me as it drives my personal development to when and as I need that extra dose of EQLP. Moreover, answering the question does a higher state of self-awareness automatically mean you are a better leader? No - not on the surface as sometimes with poor mental health we gain access to more information than our brains can cope with.

Just think of when you get bad news and how you choose to process it. Some of us go for walks like me - or hit the gym to ease up the dopamine fix. - I would argue that due to my core ability to think about the bad news and deal with it and then - a small element of the fight or flight response - I can shift my EQ to different directional needs.

Now a clinical psychologist may give you a better scientific explanation, and even more complicated - however, I use lived experiences and a small dose of psychology. This works for me as an independent business Leader and Founder. More importantly, may self =-awareness needs to be strong to combat my long-term mental health disorder - known as NEAD (Non-Epliteci Attack Disorder)

In many ways, I feel that god himself has blessed me with this difficult condition as I entered new thought leadership around emotional intelligence and mental well-being.

To kind, of summarise this area of the article I offer my best advice on improving our self-awareness of our emotions, fears, and anxiety by first heading them straight on and standing your ground. Do not run away from your emotions, and learn to listen to them as a safeguarding system of leadership development.

To Be Continued!

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