Emotional Intelligence Leadership

As reported in the Oprah magazine, by Katie Arnold-Ratliff,  in 2001, marketing professor Roy D. Adler of Pepperdine University found that of the more than 200 Fortune 500 companies tracked for profitability over 19 years, the 25 organizations that most aggressively promoted women to executive positions had 34% higher profits as a share of revenue than the industry median. The 10 firms with excellent records of promoting women realized much higher profits than those whose records were considered very good.

http://www.women2top.net/download/home/adler_web.pdf

I am not going to debate gender and leadership, however, it is very interesting that these results were confirmed in studies from 2004-200 as well.

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How are you creating your legacy?

Live on purpose…your purpose. Not someone else’s.

Serve. Be a servant leader.

Be generous in spirit, compassion, your talents and humor.

Forgive yourself and others as soon as you can.

Worry less.

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Recently, I was a participant in an embodied leadership experience through Souls of Our Feet, an expressive arts institute. (See my April 4, 2010 post.)

One of the intriguing things that came up was that in a group of eight, two of us chose to tell our stories in the third person. Our facilitator, Kate made mention of this. Kate said that “de-centering” is a useful way of looking in on ourselves as it removes the personal first person perspective and may allow more objective observation and analysis, an exploration without imposition approach.

As I reflected on this it sparked my curiosity about how central leaders can be in a given situation. The more traditional way of thinking of leadership is the leader is out in front, a key and central figure. In current times, with collaborative approaches, the leader can be more de-central. S/he can foster an environment that drives business results without having to be at the center of things. This calls upon the leader’s ability to be centered does it not?

I am using centered to mean focused, where one can draw on inner strength without being ego driven. To be on purpose. That is, to align your behaviors and actions with your purpose.

My experience being de-centered in telling the story was insightful and it heightened my self-awareness and learning and I believe that a leader should be centered in herself…most of the time.

I welcome your thoughts on being centered as a leader, de-centered as a useful difference in perspective on occasion and being a de-central leader.

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“If leadership is more art than science, perhaps we should use the wisdom of the arts to help shape our leadership and the organizations we inhabit.” Stephanie Guastella Lindsey

I look for opportunities to learn more about, improve and refine my leadership. It’s a continuing path of self-awareness and development. This focus fuels me to be more authentic and more effective, as a leader and as a leadership coach.

A new expressive arts institute, Souls of Our Feet, directed by my good friend and colleague, Stephanie Guastella Lindsey gave me one of these opportunities this weekend. Souls of Our Feet, located in the Pacific Northwest, helps individuals and organizations achieve positive change and growth using movement, the visual arts, and creative writing.  http://www.soulsofourfeet.org/

I was a participant in a workshop entitled, Heroes Journey. Our facilitator, Kathleen Cleary, a performance artist and choreographer started us  with our eyes closed as so much of what we get is through our eyes. Concentrating on our body, we moved through a semi-narrated series of simple movements. In a short 7-8 minutes, I felt relaxed and centered, all without any uncomfortable gyrations. Hmm, “is this what embodied leadership feels like? I wondered. I wasn’t sure, but I did feel really alive.

A large part of our half day was centered on an activity of a pilgrim’s journey. We were given details, bit by bit of this journey. We responded to the challenges and made decisions one challenge at a time, and wrote our choices in a journal. At the end, we were asked to write a story about our journey now that the story was complete. Then we this shared our story in front of the group.

The process was very insightful. The stories were really engaging. I wanted my fellow classmates to go on and on like a good story that my mother read to me when I was a little girl. You know, the kind that you want to hear over and over because you are right there , you are living the story. We all “went” on this same journey (we were solo on our journey, but we heard the same basic outline of the storyline all at the same time), but each of us had a slightly different version of what happened. The pieces that were especially interesting were how we dealt with, managed, and lead ourselves through the challenges we faced.  In the end we all were successful as we reached our fictitious destination,  goal, and bottom-line. We even described our different ways of celebrating, expressing our own personal style.

And this is where it became really interesting. When we talked about what happened (debriefed), Kate asked us what surprised us. And each person HAD a surprise, something not consciously intentional that came from their story. An ‘ah-ha’ that was different than the usual way she leads her life. They ranged from something that he chose to take along but didn’t know why at first, something that she did uncharacteristically, and several of us had somehow developed creative problem-solving skills we didn’t know we had.

So maybe this is what embodied leadership is, or at least a part of what it is: going beyond what we know we have in us as leaders to respond to the challenges and successes that we will inevitably face. And going beyond our preconceived beliefs on several levels:  mental, physical emotional and spiritual to find, create and use resources.

The experience validated  a number of leadership capabilities and competencies for me and it also raised a new question or two, which of course makes it more intriguing. More to come…

What are your thoughts about embodied leadership? How do you experience it?

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As a leader, how do you measure the value of your investment of energy, expertise and time…as a volunteer? Recently, I had a conversation about volunteering. One of the things that surfaced was that the person didn’t feel that she was getting what she expected from her contribution. And she felt what she was giving wasn’t appreciated.

Giving more than what is received may not meet be what you signed up for. Then again, as a leader, you are probably familiar with that situation. In fact, an informal poll of a small group of women business owners, my friends and peers, showed that they all think that a leader goes beyond what is expected, gives the extra something and that sets the tone and example for others. And there are many things that a leader receives in return for this investment: feeling that you are making a positive difference, building relationships, learning, developing others, and having fun among them.

If you are a leader, someone who others look to for guidance and direction, someone who has influence and gets things done through others, think about your gift of energy, expertise, and time as a volunteer and…how you measure your investment.

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I regularly reflect about great leadership and how emotional intelligence (EI) contributes to a leader’s effectiveness. I strongly believe that the more EI a leader has and uses appropriately in daily interactions, the more effective s/he is, all things being equal. That belief is why this blog exists.

When it comes to the year end, I find myself thinking about all the leaders I have encountered, worked with or heard about through the year. The great, good, bad and the ugly. And that review makes me conclude once again, that a leader’s clarity is absolutely critical. We expect that with regard to an organization’s vision, mission, goals, objectives etc., but don’t always consciously require that clarity of a leader at the individual, personal level.

But we should, we must. Without that personal clarity, self-awareness, and self-knowledge at a deep level, how can a leader really hope to earn trust and inspire greatness especially in uncertain, ambiguous times?

As 2009 closes and we embrace all that is possible in the new year, I challenge you and the leaders you know, work with and mentor to find and refine your personal clarity. That will have a huge impact on your leadership, those you lead and the bottom line of your organization’s success. Take action!

Here’s a to a great 2010! I look forward to continuing on the learning journey with you and to furthering your leadership effectiveness.

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A tickle that develops into a sore throat is my early warning system for a cold. My response is lots of hot tea with honey. Usually I can catch it in time so that the cold doesn’t materialize.

Most of us have early warning systems for various aspects of our lives. They may be so automatic, we don’t think about them. But developing them isn’t always automatic.

As leaders, we also need to have reliable early waring systems. And they need to be developed and nurtured. And, we need to pay keen attention to them. Two that work for me (and that I’m still developing) are:

1) my intuition

2) asking big picture and then progressively more detailed questions

Intuition experts say we all have this ability, some of us use it more than others. And it turns out the more you use it the better it is, like a muscle. My intuition has become more reliable over time as I pay attention- become more self-aware, trust it and consciously call it to action.

A quick story. I serve as President on a local board of directors for a not-for-profit organization for women business owners, NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners). Our term started in July and most of the board was staying on for another term. We have a couple new members also. Recently, I had a feeling that one of our new board members was going to resign. It was a “gut” feeling. Over the course of the next three weeks, I touched base with this person a few times to see how things were going and how I could lend support. There wasn’t anything specific she asked of me. But last week she resigned for some personal reasons. I wasn’t surprised. I was disappointed to see her go, but I know this is what is best for her.

Here’s the learning in this example. I had an intuitive feeling something was going to change, but I didn’t pay enough attention at the time. Had I done so, I would have been three steps ahead in having the back-up plan ready to execute. I had somewhat of a back-up plan. Not solid enough. I should have really listened and trusted to my intuition when it started to give me the sense that something was about to happen and then prepared to set plan B into motion.

Plan B has now been put into place, but it took three days longer than it should have.

If you are a leader (and everyone is on some level) what is your early warning system?

Stayed tuned for more…

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Don’t let your emotions get in the way of your leadership or bottom line business results will suffer.

A business owner, my client, was mad. He felt disrespected by an employee. He knew he had to address the behavior, because if he didn’t, his silence would condone what the employee did and in the end it would negatively affect business.

This leader knows that what he permits, he promotes.

First thing first. He had to get control of his emotions. By self managing, he could he maintain his leadership based on integrity and set a good example. We all get mad, upset, frustrated. How you manage those emotions impacts your leadership.  Calm down and focus. That’s what he did. Then he had to get all the facts (there was evidence of wrong doing, but more facts were needed) and then determine next steps on how to discuss the inappropriate behavior with the employee.

Don’t let you emotions get in the way of your leadership. And be clear on what you permit because that is what you promote.

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Yesterday I heard part of an interview on Smart City Radio with Larry Beasley founder of Beasley and Associates, an international planning consultancy.  Larry talked about planning cities based around an emotional response…love.

He is advocating that love is the key force to building great cities (and suburbs), suggesting that we need to tap into people’s emotions and what they want, what will make them happy. If we do this, people will invest back into the city and that will feed the economy. He calls it experiential planning.

This piqued my interest from a leadership perspective as we look at community, what that means and how each of us can contribute. Larry says  it’s as easy as coming together and starting a discussion about one street, one park and it’s design. Creating an environment that we enjoy being in and part of shifts our attitude about it and then the image of our city shifts as people identify their city as very livable, happiness increases. That is what differentiates cities – those that are vibrant draw and create wealth vs. those that simply exist.

Larry points to going beyond the basic economic development model and look to include right from the start, fundamental beauty – the things that evoke a strong positive emotion. A complete vision for what we want, combined with experiential planning and involvement create smart cities.

He urges that we be brave – to step beyond the limitations, safety and security that exist now. This is leadership.

Go to http://www.smartcityradio.com/show/2605/All-for-Good to hear the whole interview.

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Now that I am past a certain point in life I find myself thinking more about my legacy. My leadership legacy. I am using the somewhat broad definition of leadership as being in a position to positively influence others toward a goal.

I woke up today as I do rather often these days, thinking about what positive influence I will have with those I interact with today. My goal is  to be that positive influence to help others be the best they can be toward whatever goal they have for today. Given that one of my mantras is to take baby-steps, I apply that philosophy by deciding what small step I will take today to take action.

I decided to start here and write this blog entry.

Like many, I can be bowled over with the to-do list that seems to grow by the minute, but I choose to focus my energy rather than give-in to being overwhelmed. Being overwhelmed doesn’t serve me or those I hope to assist.

In focusing myself on my goal: to be a positive influence ~ to help others be the best they can be toward whatever goal they have for today, I start to leave my leadership legacy.

I invite you to share your leadership legacy. Let’s start a conversation.

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