Getting Unstuck: Living a Life By Design Through Emotional Intelligence
“If I come into the workplace more emotionally intelligent, it means number one, I manage my stress way better than everybody else. So my overall sense of well being is higher, and well-being in EQ is equivalent to my happiness. Happiness is a scientifically proven predictor for success.”
Today on Getting Unstuck
Today we’re joined by Teresa Quinlan. Teresa is a consultant and coach who specializes in personal and team transformation through EQ. “Transformation” here refers to leadership, collaboration, communication, innovation, and problem solving. She is also the co-host of the TNT ESQ podcast.
The Essential Point
We recently conducted a series of interviews with educators here in the U.S. and U.K. with the goal of learning how they and their teams are addressing COVID-19. Overwhelmingly, the educators said that their chief concern was supporting the social and emotional health of their students. One educator, principal Zaharah Valentine of the Baltimore Design School, took that a step further and spelled out how and why she is supporting her faculty by having them develop a self-care program. Her rationale was “I believe that when you don’t ask adults what they need, that often translates to how they support students. So I think it’s really important as a leader, that you model self-care with staff so that that it translates to when they speak with students.”
The Reuven Bar-On model of emotional intelligence
The bottom line here is that if you’re a leader or teammate, you’re going to need to support the social and emotional health of your colleagues. To do that effectively, you must first establish and be secure in your own emotional intelligence. It’s a variation on the axiom: if you’re going to lead others effectively, you must first lead yourself effectively.
Listen for:
Why balance is so important in emotional intelligence.
The positive impact an emotionally intelligent person can have on people within the organization and on the organization itself.
Why high levels of stress will impede one’s ability to become self-aware, and how we can gradually move ourselves out of high stress.
The difference between a life of design and a life by default.
“We have people within positions of power or authority – parents, or teachers in the school, principals within the school, CEO and leaders within workplaces. They have the power and the authority so they set the tone. I can come to work as the best version of myself. Meanwhile, my authority figure sets the tone as to what we can and cannot do, feel, and talk about. And so if their tone setting does not include emotions, emotional information, emotional intelligence, self care, then I’m not going to be the best I can be in that environment.”
Connect with Teresa
Referenced
Could a book on how to effectively lead change in schools be more timely?
We’re pleased to announce …
…that our book Shifting: How School Leaders Can Create a Culture of Change is now available from Corwin Press or Amazon. If you purchase from Amazon, please consider leaving us a rating and review. Thank you!
From our publisher:
In Shifting, educators and leadership experts Kirsten Richert, Jeff Ikler and Margaret Zacchei empower educational change leaders to proactively and coherently navigate complex change in schools to achieve the desired outcomes.
Using a three-part framework—Assess, Ready, Change—this book leads educators to examine a school’s imperatives and readiness for change, identity the tools and abilities required to manifest change, and take action by defining the roles and processes necessary to effectively implement both sweeping change and smaller day-to-day adjustments.