"There is no separation of mind and emotions;
emotions, thinking, and learning is all linked."
– Dr. Eric Jensen
Let’s be real, leading an organization is fairly straightforward. There are myriad business schools and great books like The Visual MBA to walk you through the process.
Then, sprinkle in some emotions, and voila, a ridiculously complex undertaking.
Here are some of our favorite resources to help you get better at managing your emotions so that you can lead happier and more effective teams and organizations.
In this episode Michael Gervais (performance coach for the Seahawks) interviews Daniel Goleman about the history of EQ, how to develop more emotional intelligence, and the power of mindfulness.
Once leaders develop self awareness and some ability to manage their emotions, social awareness is a critical skill. Also called empathy, there are a couple different types and there are ways to develop empathy as a skill. This episode outlines some ways to develop your empathy, so that you can make better informed decisions and build consensus effectively.
If you have not spent too much time thinking about emotions, this article explores what emotions actually are, how scientists think about them, and how you might develop your emotions to start responding to events the way you want to instead of reacting in ways you wish you had not.
Book, by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee
A key book on the subject of emotional intelligence as it applies to leading people, teams, and organizations. Get ready to go into the history of homo sapiens, how mirror neurons work, and how leaders can use emotions to help teams thrive.
Book, by Jim Dethmer, Diana Chapman, and Kaley Warner Klemp
“Feeling All Feelings,” commitment three in this book, includes an amazing discussion of emotions and how leaders can process them in healthy ways. This is an alternative view on emotions and could help you lead in a more holistic way.
The rest of the chapters are great too!
Book, by Paul Bloom
Paul Bloom is an informed heretic in the research world and this book is full of Psychology 101, as well as different ways to look at how we think and feel. For example, empathy can be used by psychopaths to manipulate people. Too much empathy could also make it impossible for leaders to make hard decisions. If you want a more well rounded perspective on emotional intelligence, read this.
This book is also fascinating about many other topics in psychology and helps you understand why we do what we do.
