emotional intelligence Archives

10 Things Mentally Strong Leaders Do

July 28, 2018July 27, 2018 Taylor Stauffer Leave a comment

Really, it’s a bit of a misnomer to refer to ‘mentally strong leaders’. Most leaders, by definition, are mentally strong. But like the chicken and the egg argument, which came first? The leadership or the strength?

Most successful leaders started out with many of these strong traits in their back pockets, but their time in leadership roles has honed them so that they have become a real part of their personality.

1.Embrace change and challenges

A mentally strong person will not shy away from change or challenges in life and in business. In fact, they will invariably see adversity as an opportunity, not a negative. There is a willingness to act outside of their comfort zone, for a greater result.

2. Take (calculated) risks

Risk for the sake of it is not on the agenda for a mentally strong person, but a calculated risk that could result in a valuable result is something they will engage in. That’s because, at it’s foundation, a calculated risk is evaluated based on logic, not gut.

3. Willingness to fail

Intertwined with the willingness to take a risk is the willingness to fail. One comes with the other! Mentally strong people maintain a constant state of relative optimism. That is, while they’re not mired in negative thoughts of failure, but they aren’t blindly optimistic either. Instead, they live in a happy medium where they prefer to see the positive but are open to reality.

4. Celebrate others

As with any personality that leans towards a good dose of self-confidence, the mentally strong person will always and happily celebrate the successes of others. That’s because they understand the merit that comes with achieving things and a core belief is that we none of us succeed alone.

5. Think wisely

Time is a finite thing when you consider our mortality. Mentally strong people tend to be able to think ‘bigger picture’, remove the extraneous details that don’t matter or aren’t worth worrying about and keep focused. This is the best use of their time and energy.

6. Maintain core beliefs

Even in the face of opposition, a mentally strong person will stay true to their core beliefs. Not in a stubborn way: they are always open to being disproved by others and will modify their beliefs if convinced. But they will also not sway in their beliefs because of peer pressure or some vague nod to popularity. They’re comfortable in their way of thinking and will defend it, if necessary.

7. Focus on that which you can control

Too many of us spend a lot of time fussing about things that we can do nothing about. Mentally strong people will take stock of whatever they are dealing with and make cogent plans for managing the issue, rather than worrying about it.

8. Learn from, and make peace with, the past

Whenever a past decision turns out to not have the positive results expected, a mentally strong person won’t dwell on the result. Instead, they’ll review it, take responsibility for it, see what can be learned from the experience, and move on. Viewing failure as an opportunity to learn and grow is in their nature.

9. Spend time alone

There’s a great line in the 1995 movie: Sabrina. Fanny Ardant, playing an editor at Vogue France, says to the young and impressionable Sabrina: “You seem embarrassed by loneliness, by being alone. But it’s only a place to start.” It’s so true!

Whether to get a handle on their thoughts, work through a problem or simply relax, mentally strong people are comfortable spending time alone; indeed, they look forward to it.

10. Practice gratitude and kindness

Being grateful and kind are choices that we make. We can choose to be those things vis-a-vis other people and situations. A mentally strong person will practice gratitude and embody kindness whenever they can because they know that these two attitudes can help keep any problem they might have in proper perspective.

An effective way to be mindful and remain grounded in gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal. This ‘secret ingredient’ to happy, productive lives is one that mentally strong people are aware of and embrace.

What do you do to stay mentally strong? Would you add to this list?

The Quick Guide to Improving Your Emotional Intelligence

November 11, 2014August 16, 2017 Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

Emotional Intelligence ➳ a phrase that’s become one of the latest business buzzwords. Articles and books are popping up about the importance of emotional intelligence and how it may rival your on the job knowledge. Here are three ways to enhance emotional intelligence in the workplace:

Enhance Your Emotional Intelligence with Awareness

First, it’s important to be aware of your own emotions. You must become more self-aware and know how you’re feeling, how to recognize those feelings and how to find a way to appropriately deal with them in the workplace. Not recognizing your feelings and/or repressing them in your day-to-day nine to five can be detrimental to your emotional intelligence and thus make you less focused on the work.

Improve Emotional Intelligence by Asking the Right Questions

Secondly, you must learn to ask the appropriate questions to gauge how others are feeling. Learn how to read the people you work with daily first. Then, learn how to read others that you may do business with less frequently. It’s also important, in today’s working world, to recognize tonal cues that a person may give as much business today is done remotely.

Leverage Empathy & Motivation for Greater Emotional Intelligence

Finally, you must use your heightened emotional intelligence to react to others through both empathy and motivation when appropriate. A nod or conversation that says you understand will be just as helpful as a pick-me-up when used in the right situations. If we all heightened our emotional intelligence levels in the workplace, we could go a long way to improving our businesses from the inside out.

We found another helpful post from the folks at Advanced Systems Inc, with more information on how EQ can improve your business –> Emotional intelligence and the Future of Work.

How is your organization incorporating EQ? We’d love to hear. If we can help you and your team improve relationships, work performance, and hone your emotional intelligence to achieve greater levels of personal and professional success, please contact us.

Three Components of Emotional Intelligence

November 5, 2014December 1, 2014 Shannon Cassidy Leave a comment

For a long time, intelligence was divided into “book learning” and “street smarts.” People now come realize the importance of emotional intelligence. A person with emotional intelligence produces better work, knows how to relieve stress, manages emotions well, and forges stronger relationships. They also get along better with people and can work well as team members and leaders alternately. Whether your particular brand of intelligence involves book learning or street smarts, you can still develop emotional intelligence and become successful in your field.

See the Glass as Half Full. A key component of emotional intelligence on which everything else depends. How do you develop the talent of seeing the positive side? One excellent way is by watching what you say. If you find that you are a critical person who tends to see the glass as half empty, make an effort to see things the other way while you’re talking to people. Instead of saying, “Bill never finishes anything on time,” you might say, “Bill is a very detail-oriented person who takes his time doing things. However, he does them well.”
Make Yourself Happy. Oftentimes people focus on keeping others happy. You may spend a lot of time doing the things others want you to do. As you go through your day, you need to ask yourself if the things you’re doing are making you happy. In the eastern traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism, this is called mindfulness. In truth, it’s using self-awareness. Ask yourself how you feel and use your feelings as a map.
Stay Healthy. As any psychologist will tell you, physical health is an important constituent of mental health. If your body is unhealthy, your mind is also going to be unhealthy. Your very first priority in life should be your physical health. Make an effort to eat healthy and exercise every day. Keep in mind that you don’t have to push yourself more than absolutely necessary. If you’d rather take a brisk walk than do weights, then by all means, take a brisk walk.
Surround Yourself with Positivity. You can literally surround yourself with positivity by changing your surroundings. Paint your walls a cheery color. Hang paintings or posters that you like. Buy books that appeal to you. Listen to music that recharges your batteries. Make friends who are also positive so that you can learn from their example. Work in a place that you find encourages positivity. Honing your social awareness will enable you interact well in groups by recognizing dynamics and picking up on social cues.

Where are areas you want to improve your emotional intelligence?

4 Ways to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence

August 14, 2014August 14, 2014 Shannon Cassidy 2 Comments

A recent blog post from the Harvard Business Review questioned whether people can really improve their Emotional Intelligence. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic wrote our emotional intelligence is relatively stable, but not rigid. He notes change requires “a great deal of dedication and patience.”

What are we talking about here? Emotional intelligence describes a person’s ability to understand her own emotions and the emotions of others. Insights from emotional IQ are useful for improving all professional and personal relationships. Quite simply, you make better decisions when regularly considering this information.

Here are four tips to help you improve your emotional intelligence with the recognition that change takes time:

1. Become a better listener. A big mistake people often make in the business world is thinking about what they want to say next instead of listening to other participants in a conversation. If you tune in to others, you will catch important clues about their emotions and choose more appropriate responses.

2. Acknowledge your weaknesses. According to the Four Branch Model of Emotional Intelligence (Mayer and Salovey, 1997), emotional intelligence involves the abilities to accurately perceive your emotions and those of others, use emotions to guide thinking, understand emotional meanings, and manage your own emotions. You may be weaker in one or more of these four areas.

3. Set a goal. You are going to increase your emotional intelligence by setting a personal goal and taking incremental steps to reaching it. If you know you need to focus on understanding emotional meanings, you can work with a professional to recognize the signs people give you. Stopping to think about emotional meanings can help you avoid many difficult situations.

4. Improve by up to 25% by following a well-designed coaching program. Chamorro-Premuzic noted working with an executive and business coach can help you make improvements in your emotional intelligence. Ensure you are working with a coach who is giving you the right feedback.

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