Leading with Emotional Intelligence

Step 6
Choosing A Thoughtful Response

Leading with emotional intelligence will be a major factor in your future success as a leader. Emotional intelligence (EI) is one's ability to recognize and manage human behavior by understanding your emotions, and those of your team members.

When you can demonstrate an ability to know what you're feeling, and why you feel the way you feel, you will make better decisions in the process. As a leader, you can help others do the same.

Mastering your emotions is critical to your future success. You will know you are emotionally intelligent only after you have effectively faced some adversity with a thoughtful and effective response. Too often make quick decisions based out of emotional circumstances.

Leading with emotional intelligence means you recognize how you are feeling when it happens and you are able to see past the emotion and focus squarely on how best to respond to the situation at hand.

Wise leaders understand that you can make a conscious choice to either react or respond to challenging situations.

To REACT is to blindly indulge yourself to gain some sense of significance. An emotional reaction is actually a very thoughtless act.

To RESPOND, however, is to act only after careful consideration of your particular circumstance. A thoughtful response increases your credibility with all persons that you are in contact with.

A helpful analogy for contrasting a reaction versus a response is that of a sick patient who has just received a medicine prescription from his doctor.

"To increase your effectiveness, make your emotions subordinate to your commitments."

- Brian Koslow

It’s ideal when a patient responds positively to the medicine. Responding to the medicine is the best outcome, correct?

On the other hand, it would be troubling to learn that the patient experienced a bad reaction to the medicine prescribed.

Moral to the story: To react is a negative outcome. To respond is always the best possible approach when making important decisions.

"Any person capable of angering you becomes your master."

- Epictetus

Recommended Tools for Leading With Emotional Intelligence

Free Emotional Intelligence Test

An important skill for every successful leader is to make decisions in an informed, deliberate and thoughtful manner. Leaders who make hasty decisions on the fly can miss out on important opportunities. When decisions are made too quickly it can negatively impact costs and add unnecessary risk to a project.

Use this free test to determine how you can benefit from leading with emotional intelligence.

Master Action Plan (M.A.P.) Template

The M.A.P. process walks you through the process of thoughtfully mapping out how you will achieve a specific goal. Using this tool you will clearly identify the goal and the purpose. By stating the purpose of the goal you are defining the "why". Why is this goal important? The answer to the "why" question can be a powerful motivator as you work through the process of achieving the goal.

In addition to answering WHY, you'll complete sections that cover WHO is responsible for doing WHAT, by WHEN, and HOW will each task be achieving. Identifying potential obstacles and how those obstacles will be overcome are also an important part of the M.A.P. process.

Personal Finance Tools

One of the most common sources of stress is related to money matters. Using effective financial tools is a great way to minimize stress related to your finances.

In our free ebook, 10 Steps to Conquer Debt, you receive a package of templates that will aid you in staying on track with your money.

Tools include a debt reduction calculator, household budget template, and a cash envelope system. Use these tools to effectively manage your personal finances.