Egon Zehnder International, a leading executive search firm, conducted a
study of over 500 senior executives and concluded “emotional intelligence
was a better predictor of success than either relevant previous experience
or high I.Q.”

“ACCOUNTABILITY AND EMOTIONS IN LEADERSHIP”

Try as you might you simply cannot run away from your emotions. Yet it seems
common practice to try to deny our emotions when making decisions. This
erroneous concept causes great difficulty in the workplace and in our homes.
Paradoxically, the leaders we admire the most demonstrate a willingness to
be held accountable for their emotions, their thoughts and their actions.
Great leaders learn to inspire themselves and others by being in touch with
their emotions and expressing them. Here are some ways to lead by clearly communicating your accountability for your emotions, thoughts, and actions.

Great leaders demonstrate they are in touch with their emotions by:
1) Demonstrating their willingness to listen.
2) Revealing their thoughts, emotions and request actions.
3) Combining sensitivity and empathy with confidence and a bias to
action.
4) Communicating powerfully in both big meetings and while working
one-on-one.
5) Making clear and relevant request of others.
6) Appreciating the value of conflict and divergent thinking, which are
both necessary ingredients in generating innovative ideas and crafting
agreements.
7) Being able to listen and empathize with dissent in a way that makes
it safe for people to disagree.
8) Organizing, shortening and inspiring meetings.
9) Fostering curiosity and cooperation while staying on task.
10) Mediating conflicts and help others develop mutually satisfying
resolutions in workplace disputes.
11) Developing horizontal (side-to-side) collaboration while using top
down power structures to meet the needs of everyone concerned.
12) Giving and receiving, positive and negative criticism with respect.
13) Opening the doors for organizational structures and ideas that
improve human relationships at all levels.
14) Using humor and express gratitude in a way that inspires others to
action.
15) Creating the opportunities for others to learn.

By guest writer, Pat Siebert, pat@patsiebert.com.
Pat’s web site is being revived and will be up again in Nov. He is currently traveling and working in Mexico and returns in Nov. Please direct any questions or request to Pat@patsiebert.com. Pat lives in Austin, Texas where he teaches mediation and conflict resolution skills.