We are excited to welcome leadership coach, Kathy Archer, to the Volunteer Alberta blog! This is the second of a two-part series on leadership and emotional intelligence. Read last week’s blog: Why successful leaders put intelligence and emotion together.
Developing emotional intelligence (EI) takes time. The ability to recognize and manage your emotions requires self-reflection and personal growth. Becoming more emotionally intelligent requires you to access your inner wisdom, or as I call it, your Inner Guidance System (IGS). Your IGS is your emotions, thoughts, feelings, and body sensations. You deliberately access your IGS by repeatedly cycling through the Inner Guidance Cycle (IGC):
Pause
Take a deep breath and tune in. If you have time, write down what’s going on for you.
Ponder
Reflect on what going on inside your body and mind as well as in your surroundings.
- What emotions are you feeling?
- What just triggered your reaction?
- What meaning are you attaching to that event?
Pivot
Choose to see the event in a new perspective that will allow you to feel the way you want and move you forward in this moment.
Proceed
Get back into action by responding rather than reacting to the event.
Repeat
The final note about using the IGC is that to increase your EI you must constantly be looping back through the Pause, Ponder, Pivot, and Proceed steps throughout your day. Committing to becoming clearer on your emotions and feelings, and learning to manage them rather than attempt to banish them, will put you back in the driver’s seat.
The most effective leaders welcome their emotions. They know their emotions are their constant companion and they learn to manage and control them. It’s a powerful shift!
Learn more about using the Inner Guidance Cycle to access your inner wisdom.
Leaders often hit a point where they find themselves in over their heads and wondering if they have what it takes to lead. In Kathy Archer’s online courses and leadership coaching sessions, she teaches leaders the inner and outer tools to restore their lost confidence so they can move from surviving to thriving in both leadership and life.