August 15, 2022

Below is a lesson from Psychology Today on using emotional intelligence as a leader to enhance your VUCA, as well as our key learnings.

The Blue Courage team is dedicated to continual learning and growth.  We have adopted a concept from Simon Sinek’s Start With Why team called “Learn, Share, Grow”.  We are constantly finding great articles, videos, and readings that have so much learning.  As we learn new and great things, this new knowledge should be shared for everyone to then grow from.

Emotional Intelligence Leadership Needed in a VUCA World

Here are a few strategies to be the best leader for your team and family.

Relly Nadler Psy.D., M.C.C.

Posted March 25, 2020

We now live in a different world than we did just a week ago. COVID-19 numbers are growing, the stock market is tanking, and families are sheltering in. This is the time to lead with Emotional Intelligence (EI). An EI stimulus boost is needed now, where leaders can up their game to influence and reassure an anxious world.

Today emotions are heightened, with anxiety, apprehension, fear, uncertainty, overwhelm, and worry. You and your team may be feeling some or all of these moment to moment. We have what the military call a VUCA environment: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. There are many unkowns and many feelings, and this is when people need their leaders to step up, connect, support, and soothe. This is the leadership Super Bowl. 

• VUCA Environment: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity
• VUCA Leadership: Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility

As leaders, this is the time your team and family are using you as their emotional thermostat. This is the time that how you are dealing with the changes directly influences them. This is the time they need Your VUCA Leadership: Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility to move forward. These are all EI competencies that can be an immunity for your culture and team performance.

I have often said most leaders underestimate their influence over others and thus they and their team underperform. It is usually because the task takes more focus than the person, plus shortcuts take precedent over thinking long and hard. In addition, it’s easier to gloss over feelings than truly explore them. This is the time to practice Emotional Intelligence even more to stimulate and encourage others.

Continue Reading Here.

Key Learnings:

• Todays emotions are heightened with anxiety, apprehension, fear, uncertainty, apprehension, fear, uncertainty, overwhelm, and worry.
• VUCA environment: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity.
  This is when people need their leaders to step up, connect, support, and soothe.
• As a leader this is when your team and family will use you as an emotional thermostat. How you deal with the changes directly influence them.
• VUCA Leadership- Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility. Emotional intelligent (EI) competencies needed to move the team forward - for the culture and team performance.
• This is the time to pay attention to your emotions, honor and accept them, and inquire and accept the feelings of your team.
• EI stimulus checklist of key actions to enhance your VUCA to manage yourself:
  
  1. Emotional self awareness - identify and name what you are feeling.
  2. Accept your feelings as information about what is going on for you - not right or wrong. Non-judgmental.
  3. Managing anxiety - much of anxiety is about a future threat. Many are exasperated or catastrophized. Ask: is it true? How do you know it is true? what would be your plan if it was? Making a plan brings in more cognitive certainty - you feel more in control.
  4. Ruminating - if you ruminate on negative thoughts and feelings for 5-10 minutes, those chemicals begin to harm the memory and Emili too al regulation centers in your brain. (Newberg and Waldman). Your impulse control is worn down and it becomes easier to lose it with others around you. Change “what-if’s” to “how can I best handle this?”
  5. Mindset management - turn your perceived threats into a challenge. As a leader you can change your mindsets of fear into seeing things as a challenge for you and your team. This mindset shift can produce more creativity and productivity.
  6. “Go to” feeling - it gets you ready for hard conversations, like empathy, curiosity, compassion or flexibility. Use it like a ritual to get ready to perform.
  7. Self-control - identify your triggers so you can catch them and redirect them.
  8. Self-compassion - 3 components of self compassion that help us accept what is:
     
     • self-kindness - not self-judgment
     • common humanity - not isolation. Understand that all people are feeling similar feelings and you are not alone with this challenge.
     • mindfulness - not overidentification. Observe without judgement when it comes to painful experiences.  
  9. Recharging rituals - what is your best way to recharge during chaotic and stressful times? This is imperative - your team and family will be leaning on you to be at your best.