6 Tips to Expand Your Ability to Lead
6 Tips to Expand Your Ability to Lead:
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the capacity, skill or ability to identify, assess and manage the emotions of one’s self or others and of groups (Source: Wolfram Alpha).
EQ includes 4 phases posed as questions worth your reflection:
- How aware am I of my own emotions? Perceptions, beliefs, assumptions that trigger my emotions?
- How capable am I at managing my own emotions?
- How aware am I of the emotions of other people?
- How capable am I at managing the emotions of other people?
Studies have continued to point to one BIG FAT behavior that is directly linked to positive leadership and impact on business: IMPULSE CONTROL. Your ability to effectively lead others is in direct correlation to your ability to practice the behavior of impulse control: the ability to control your desire for immediate satisfaction and directly influences success in relationships, school and career.
What does that look like? It is the ability to pause before responding and intentionally choose words and behaviors that align with the highest version of who you are committed to being.
Impulse control involves the ability to override your innate desire for immediate gratification. Negative behaviors often associated with lack of impulse control include: bullying; micro-managing people; ugly talk; defensive behavior and stone walling. In neuroscience, this type of behavior is fueled by “BOTTOM UP” thinking (fight/flight/freeze: primal brain).
Positive behaviors linked to the art of impulse control include: appreciative inquiry; effective questioning; empathetic responses; reflection; intentional responses fueled by a desire to understand another’s point of view. In neuroscience this type of behavior is fueled by “TOP DOWN” thinking (frontal cortex, executive thinking part of the brain that is solution oriented and fueled by the fruit of the Spirit: Self-control).
Practice: The more you practice delaying gratification of your strong impulsive and reactive behavior the easier it will get. Your brain will actually retrain itself in the direction of impulse control which will lead to the all powerful PAUSE and give you the space to up your EQ game in life along with your IMPACT on BUSINESS and personal life.
In addition to expanding your ability to delay gratification of strong negative emotions that lead to destructive behaviors, explore Six Points of Leadership taken from a very powerful article written by Tom Zollar (my amazing Uncle):Building the Perfect Beast – Developing Future Leaders in Your Company
- Things will not improve until you admit that something is wrong.
- Set Goals – Pick goals that everyone can understand and know their roles in achieving them
- Demand High Standards – Let people know what is expected from them.
- People will rise (or sink) to the standards you set.
- People work to succeed – Let them know how success will be measured.
- Recognize Success – Also accept mistakes, “Latitude to learn, NOT Freedom to fail”.
Power Down! – Don’t tell people how to do their job. Give parameters – give standards – give authority – tell them WHAT to do, then let them do it! Weak leaders lack confidence in themselves and thus their people.
Support Resources:
Many times leading others has a stress factor that can interrupt the desired impact explore summer reading:
5 Minutes to Stress Relief and 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Stressing Out:CLICK HERE