Emotional Intelligence. I was at a conference a few years ago where the moderator asked a panel of executives what they were looking for when hiring leaders – three of the four answered high emotional intelligence. Having self awareness is an important competency for leaders. Knowing your triggers, motivators and what makes you – you, is critical. Being able to manage yourself in tough situations and provide self feedback is a skill set. Being able to manage yourself effectively while also gauging the temperature in the room can be game changing. If you haven’t read, Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry, I highly recommend it. The book is a quick read and includes a pre-test as well as on-line tools to improve your EI. Despite the plethora of information on EI, many leaders either struggle with self awareness or it doesn’t occur to them that their facial expression, tone and engagement level is being read by others.
Recognizing Your Bias
While EI is important, there is another component, related to EI/Self Awareness, that leaders should consider – perspective. When I think about perspective, it is in relation to what is occurring. Let me explain. The best leaders are emotionally invested. Invested in their organization, the people and what they have created or helped create. Good, right? Yes, as long as the leader is able to maintain perspective and recognize their belief bias. I will be honest, that is not always easy. Pivoting can be difficult, especially when it is on something that you feel invested in. A few warning signs that you might be losing perspective;
- Opposing new models, products and innovation
- Continuing to fund a non-performing area, product or service
- Avoiding difficult conversations
- Defending or justifying poor performance
- Not listening to peers and team members
Perspective
We have all been there, but being able to recognize this is happening is step 1. I have watched many leaders go down the spiral and not recognize what is occurring. Here are a few pro-active ways to build in perspective;
- Ego – everyone has one but be mindful of yours and how it screens information and puts up barriers.
- Feedback – ask your team and peers for feedback, especially in areas that are not doing well.
- Data/Metrics – routinely look at your metrics and benchmarks, where are you underperforming?
- Acknowledge the Elephant – create a safe space to discuss the difficult topic.
- Critic the Plan – openly question your course, embrace the healthy dissent.
- Industry Knowledge – stay up-to-date on current trends, technology and models.
- Work through Discomfort – it is part of leading, change takes discomfort.
Take the opportunity to build this into your leadership practices. The world is changing quickly, leaders have to be able to change course and pivot with the environment.