“I lose my temper, but it’s all over in a minute,” said the young man. “So is the hydrogen bomb,” I replied. “But think of the damage it produces.” – Unknown
by Jamar Wright – Mind Food International
[KINGSTON, Jamaica] – In a world that is filled with uncertainty, chaos and enough negativity to pollute one’s very soul and especially during times of crisis, our anxiety, stress, anger, frustration and fear of impending doom skyrockets. Like water eroding the banks of a river so does crisis erodes people’s peace, joy and cause their emotions to be enflamed. Leaders who tend to shoulder more burdens than others, if they are not careful in controlling their emotions, it will destroy the quality of their personal life, important relationships with business partners, investors, employees and customers.
Leaders Set the Tone and Mood
The emotional intelligence component of leadership is very important, leaders set the tone and mood for their institution. Imagine a high-level executive with constant mood swings. They have a roller coaster of feelings from happiness in one moment to a drastic change the next moment. In addition, infuriated emotions cursing and shouting. This kind of erratic behaviour and mood swings will pollute the organization.
Many years ago, I was working at a medium sized entity, and the two owners for the enterprise would be in frequent quarrels, screaming and calling each other names. They were both hot heads and they erupted frequently. They did not care who was present, it did not matter whether employees or customers were around. Like two UFC fighters they were going after each other and screaming. Guess what happened at this company? It sets a tone and eventually becomes the culture. Whenever employees had a disagreement with each other they would quarrel and shout at each other, it became the norm.
Toxic Environment
The organization over a period of time developed a toxic environment. Many employees had a volcanic temperament that erupted at the slightest issue. Some of the most talented employees left the environment saying, “It was just too toxic”. The organization eventually went out of business. I am not saying this was the main cause, but it was a contributing factor.
How Can Leaders Succeed?
For leaders to succeed in this new global climate, where the world is literally shrinking at an alarming rate, leaders will now have to deal with diversified culture and different personalities. Leaders must be emotionally intelligent. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand your own emotions and others as well. A leader that understands how to control his or her emotion is better equipped to lead others. They understand that their behaviour will affect everyone around them and eventually creates a culture within the organization. An explosive leader creates an explosive culture, one where people are on the edge of their seats, it breeds unpredictability, disrespect, and unprofessionalism.
Having emotional intelligence allows a leader to be more sensitive towards others and their feelings, they are aware of what make others tick and how to motivate their team members.
Having emotional intelligence allows leaders to see people through the correct lens, this gives them the right perspective, facilitates more understanding and meeting colleagues and other parties at the level that they are.
How Leaders Grow with Emotional Intelligence
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Who Am I
Grandma said small pot boils quicks. If a leader has short fuse he or she should be aware of this. In others words a leader shouldn’t be leading until he or she discovers themselves. It is called self-awareness. It allows a leader to acknowledge his or her strengths. With knowing who you are, you know what ticks you off and what doesn’t. This puts a leader in a better position to control their emotions. When a leader is mindful and aware they can make the necessary adjustments in their attitude to defuse such shortcomings, if not a short fuse will destroy a leader. Solomon king of ancient Israel wrote, “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.”
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Self control
“Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control”, said Solomon. A leader who lacks self-control can become a tyrant and unleash their furry of verbal assault on others. This verbal abuse can be damaging to team members self-esteem and their self-worth. A leader who has self-control develops better character and learns how to effectively manage difficult situations, despite what they are feeling in the moment. As a leader you can’t always act or lead as how you are feeling or say something simply because you are angry. As a leader self-control is everything.
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Empathy
Leaders who develop their emotional intelligence are more empathic towards others. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s situation, see what they seeing from their perspective and try to feel what they are feeling. Leaders who show empathy gain respect and loyalty from their team members. When an individual realizes that you can see a situation from their perspective and treat them as person, it shows that you care and value the.
There are leaders who do not show empathy, they treat people like numbers, this lack of empathy is expressed distastefully and received by the other parties in a negative way, bottom-line is they do not see the value of others. These king of leaders do not gain much respect or loyalty. Team members will leave in a flash and we know people don’t leave organizations, they leave bad leaders.
As the master teacher Jesus said, “do to others what you would have them do to you” follow the golden rule. Leaders should love people. You can’t be a true leader and not genuinely care for people; you will destroy them.
Leadership Growth
As you grow as a leader and I am praying you are, developing Emotional Intelligence. If you don’t, your sea of emotion will control and rule over you. Unfortunately, your emotion can destroy what you are trying to build, given people are our greatest resource. You cannot truly build effectively without the right people. Without emotional intelligence, you are at risk of losing your empire to moments that only lasts for a few minutes, hours, days or weeks. Take charge of your emotions. As Solomon said, “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty; better to have self-control than to conquer a city.”
For Corporate Trainings, Leadership Events and Engagements, contact Mind Food International. Our goal is to “Develop Leaders to Transform the World Around Them”. Visit us at www.mindfoodinternational.com or email them at [email protected]
