Who’s in Charge? You, or your Emotions? – Power Idea by Laura Dillingham

Power Idea from Laura Dillingham, Executive Strategic Partner, HPISolutions

The organization has employed a person who has the knowledge, skills, and abilities and yet is not successful in a leadership position. Why aren’t they successful? Is it from a lack of training, support, or is it more? I would ask you to consider Emotional Intelligence as a possibility.

“Emotional Intelligence is the ability to sense, understand, and effectively apply emotions to be more collaborative and productive with others.”

Emotional Intelligence is critical for every employee and the good news is it can be learned and increased.

On the left are examples of poor emotional intelligence. On the right are examples of strong emotional intelligence.

Successful leaders work hard to develop their emotional intelligence. When faced with a situation they work to improve their emotional intelligence through Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, Motivation, Social Awareness, and Social Regulation. These are the five distinct factors that make up Emotional Intelligence.

Self-control is strength. Calmness is knowledge and understanding. It is important to get to a point where your mood does not shift based on the actions or words of someone else. Do not allow others to control the direction of your life, and this includes work. Do not allow your emotions to overpower your intelligence.

You will suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back, observing, and using restraint. If words control you, that means everyone else can control you. Breathe, employ techniques you can learn when you take the Emotional Intelligence series and learn how to allow things to pass.