JUNE 2021 NEWSLETTER

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, WELLBEING, PREVENTING BURNOUT & LEADERSHIP

I recently presented to the Environmental Law Institute’s Emerging Leaders Initiative about the connection between emotional intelligence, your wellbeing, preventing burnout and leadership capacity. You can see the slide deck here.

Emotional intelligence is defined as a set of emotional and social skills that influence the way we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with challenges, and use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way. 

EI is like the hub of the wheel. To do the work you want to do and have the impact you want to have, you need well-being and capacity to lead. EI helps you with that. EI relates to how well you handle stress. It relates to your wellbeing, to the strength of your relationships, all of which relates to your leadership. EI can help you identify your purpose and find meaning in your work because you know yourself better and you can communicate with your employer about your needs. And knowing yourself and your emotions can give you a heads up that you are close to burnout and it's time to make change and advocate for yourself. 

According to responses during the presentation, most in attendance found that they either had too much work, too little communication with their supervisor and colleagues, or both and this was impacting their wellbeing. Not everyone felt that they could have conversations with their bosses about this. For those reading this who are in leadership roles, please reach out to your people. Ask them how they are and find out what they need. And then act on what you learn. Asking how someone is and then doing nothing about it is hollow. They need to hear from you. They need to know that you care. Flex those EI muscles!

Read the full blog post here.

BUILD TRUSTING TEAMS

Simon Sinek is one of my favorites. He’s the eternal optimist, has written numerous books including Start With Why and Find Your Why. Knowing why you do something is more important than what you do. You inspire when you lead with purpose.

One of my business partners and I developed a workshop called Trust and Team Success™. So when Simon’s weekly email has an offer for a webinar on building trusting teams, I needed to hear what he had to say (or rather, his business partners). Below are a few tidbits. For more choice nuggets, check out my blog.

How to build trusting teams

1.     Create a circle of safety. If everyone is worried about protecting themselves from within the company because there is no safety, they will be less productive.

2.     Show vulnerability. Leaders need to show vulnerability.

3.     Use candor with care. Feedback should be given in a way that allows

4.     Live the culture

You can’t make anyone trust you. You can only behave in a way that allows people to choose to trust you. 

Trust is a feeling we get. It’s an active choice that we have to make. 

All we can do is show up in a way that encourages people to trust us. 

WELLNESS RETREAT

10 women, one mountain house

1000s of laughs and great food

Nature Roaming. Hiking. Qoya. Lots of reflection. Dancing. 

My cup is full. 

We reflected and took time to quiet ourselves so that our minds could think and reflect. And then we came back to the retreat house and shared with each other. Then of course we laughed, drank and danced!

A few photos are on my blog.

If you know someone who would enjoy this email, please forward it to them.