Navigate Your Emotions for Leadership Excellence
SUMMARY
Are you sick and tired of being told to leave your emotions at home or not to be emotional? As a leader, emotions are a part of you as a human being. This month, I want to help you understand this amazing thing called emotional intelligence so that you can celebrate the fact that you are an emotional being and use that to your advantage.
Hi, this is Grant Herbert, Leadership and Sustainable Performance Coach, and today I want to start a conversation that will help you navigate your emotions for leadership excellence.
Emotional Intelligence is the ability to be aware of your emotions - in the moment - and then use that information to manage how you respond. Unfortunately, over the years, many myths have been perpetuated, including by people like me when I had less understanding. Before I became a neuroscience enthusiast and sought the true story behind emotions and emotional intelligence, I unknowingly worked against myself.
Many people talk about emotional intelligence as having four quadrants. However, I like to clarify that it is not emotional intelligence alone in these four quadrants. It’s not until you add social intelligence into the mix as well, that you get the four quadrants.
Social intelligence is your ability to understand the emotions of others and use that information to enhance relationships.
Emotional intelligence consists of two key quadrants:
1. Self-awareness
2. Self-management
When we move into social intelligence, we explore two additional quadrants:
3. Social Awareness
4. Relationship Management
This week, as I share three more videos, I will explore some key areas that will help you dispel some common myths about emotional intelligence and develop practical skills so you can navigate your emotions without unnecessary stress and turmoil.
Emotional Intelligence is your superpower, and I want to teach you how to embrace and leverage it for both yourself and those you lead.
I will see you then.
TRANSCRIPT
Are you sick and tired of being told to leave your emotions at home or not to be emotional? As a leader, emotions are a part of you as a human being. This month, I want to help you understand this amazing thing called emotional intelligence so that you can celebrate the fact that you are an emotional being and use that to your advantage.
Hi, this is Grant Herbert, Leadership and Sustainable Performance Coach, and today I want to start a conversation that will help you navigate your emotions for leadership excellence.
If I look back at my military and corporate careers and if someone had asked me, "What is emotional intelligence?" I would have had no idea whatsoever. What I do know now, after being highly credentialed and spending many years studying the topic of emotional intelligence, is that back then I had none. In fact, this was the root cause of all my problems as a leader.
As we discussed last month, there are things you believe about yourself—limiting beliefs and roadblocks—that get in the way of your leadership. These exist in both your personal leadership and your leadership of others. Therefore, it is critical to be able to work through and with your emotions in both areas.
Today and throughout this month, I want to give you information and strategies that will empower you to use the fact that you are an emotional human being for your benefit and for the benefit of the people you work with. Many people think emotional intelligence is some airy-fairy, fluffy, warm and fuzzy concept that is nice to have. However, I am pleased to see that, these days, key decision-makers are finally recognising its importance and declaring that emotional intelligence is the number one skill for all leaders as we navigate this age of AI in the post-pandemic era.
Emotional Intelligence is the ability to be aware of your emotions - in the moment - and then use that information to manage how you respond. Unfortunately, over the years, many myths have been perpetuated, including by people like me when I had less understanding. Before I became a neuroscience enthusiast and sought the true story behind emotions and emotional intelligence, I unknowingly worked against myself.
What I want to do today, and in the short videos I will share this month, is dispel those misconceptions and help you unlearn what has been incorrectly taught. For example, phrases like "manage your emotions" need to be re-examined. Instead, we will replace these outdated ideas with strategies that will help you embrace emotional intelligence as your superpower.
Many people talk about emotional intelligence as having four quadrants. However, I like to clarify that it is not emotional intelligence alone in these four quadrants. It’s not until you add social intelligence into the mix as well, that you get the four quadrants.
Social intelligence is your ability to understand the emotions of others and use that information to enhance relationships.
Emotional intelligence consists of two key quadrants:
1. Self-awareness – The ability to be aware, in the moment, of the emotions you are experiencing and how they influence the way you think, what you say, and what you do.
2. Self-management – The ability to take that self-awareness and use the information it provides to manage how you respond to your emotions.
When we move into social intelligence, we explore two additional quadrants:
3. Social Awareness – The ability to empathise with others, understand, or at least seek to understand, what emotions they might be experiencing, and use that understanding to communicate effectively and reduce conflict.
4. Relationship Management – The collection of what people often call "soft skills," which enable you to communicate, inspire, and develop teams, and through that collective intelligence, get the results that you want.
This week, as I share three more videos, I will explore some key areas that will help you dispel some common myths about emotional intelligence and develop practical skills so you can navigate your emotions without unnecessary stress and turmoil.
First, I want to help you celebrate every emotion and understand the significance of each one.
Second, I want to debunk the myth that you should "manage your emotions" and show you what to do instead.
Third, I will introduce a proven strategy and process to help you navigate every emotion you experience. This approach allows you to engage with your emotions fully—without suppressing or ignoring them—in a way that fosters healthy behaviour.
Emotional Intelligence is your superpower, and I want to teach you how to embrace and leverage it for both yourself and those you lead.
I will see you then.
