Why Not Lead With Emotions?

Studies have shown that companies that have acquired competencies to lead with emotional excellence are far more productive and efficient because of the impact emotional excellence has on employee morale, loyalty, retention and overall performance of the organization to name a few.

Since the early 1990's and especially after the internationally renowned author Daniel Goleman's book "Working with Emotional Intelligence" hit the bestseller's list, the business world began to pay close attention to this competency and began to incorporate it in their employee training programs.

In his book, Daniel introduces emotional intelligence as the new issue for employers. He expresses emotional intelligence in terms of maturity and flexibility thus the increased demand for those who have qualifications and know how to handle people.

...So What is Emotional Excellence?

Emotional Excellence is not for women. It is not about "mushy" stuff and certainly not about "touchy"/"feely" feelings. Emotional Excellence is true intelligence and the new yardstick employers are judged by.

? Emotional Excellence is one's ability to manage his or her emotions and those of others and in turn use them to turn difficult situations into more rewarding ones.

? Emotional Excellence is the state of mind in which you respond to events from your vision and purpose in life rather than reacting to circumstances, events and other people.

Whether we're supposed to or not, we bring our emotions with us to work. We simply fail to "check them" at the door. So the key to create the climate where employees thrive and work their hardest is to recognize and manage those emotions and not ignore them.

The #1 competency to understanding Emotional Excellence is Awareness. Awareness is the state of mind in which you are conscious, awake and paying attention. I call this the state in which your mind and body are in gear allowing you to respond rather than react.

While being aware might help you recognize those emotions, if used alone, it will not help you manage them successfully. Understanding triggering events (key moments) and choosing to respond to those events positively is your pathway to master emotional excellence.

Vera Haitayan, Principal Consultant of The Leadership Laboratory., a California-based employee development and process improvement consulting firm and is the senior editor of The Stepping Stone Newsletter featuring leadership and process improvement best practices. http://www.1leadershiplab.com

mailto: vera@1leadershiplab.com

In The News:

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, December 1, 2008. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)AP - Wall Street advanced cautiously Tuesday, as investors waded back into the market in search of bargains after Monday's big selloff, ever mindful of the health of the financial, retail and auto sectors.



(L-R) UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, Chairman and CEO of General Motors Richard Wagoner and Chairman and CEO of Chrysler LLC Robert Nardelli wait to testify on November 19, 2008 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Chastened executives from the Big Three US carmakers will return to Washington this week in a bid to convince lawmakers that their companies are worth saving.(AFP/File/Tim Sloan)AP - Detroit's automakers, making a second bid for $25 billion in funding, are presenting Congress with plans Tuesday to restructure their ailing companies and provide assurances that the funding will help them survive and thrive.



A couple study the exchange rate at an exchange office in Kiev, Ukraine,Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. Ukraine's currency has continued to fall dramatically amid the global financial crisis. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)AP - Walloped by the recession, automakers' U.S. sales are plummeting as hard-to-get credit, job losses and other stresses make many Americans wary of taking on big-ticket financial commitments.



An anti-goverment protester reacts to the news that Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat's ruling People's Power Party must disband at Suvarnabhumi Airport Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008 in Bangkok Thailand. Somchai says he has accepted a court ruling to step down because of electoral fraud committed by his political party. (AP Photo/Ed Wray)AP - Thailand's prime minister was ousted Tuesday after weeks of protests closed the capital's airports, stranding 300,000 travelers. Protesters promised to lift their siege, and international flights were expected to resume Friday.



In this Jan. 8, 2007 file photo, Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as 'Chemical Ali,' for his alleged use of chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds, listens to prosecution evidence during the Operation Anfal trial, in Baghdad, Iraq. A special Iraqi court has sentenced Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as 'Chemical Ali,' to death for his role in the 1991 suppression of a Shiite uprising Tuesday, Dec, 2, 2008. Ali Hassan al-Majid already faces death by hanging after being convicted last year for his role in the killing of tens of thousands of Kurds in a crackdown in the late 1980s. But that execution has been delayed by legal wrangling.  (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, Pool)AP - A special Iraqi court sentenced Saddam Hussein's notorious cousin, "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid, to death Tuesday after convicting him of crimes against humanity for his part in crushing the 1991 Shiite uprising in southern Iraq.



Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate Jim Martin, right, thanks hip hop artists T.I., left, Jeezy, second from left, and Ludacris for their support during an election rally held on the capitol steps  Monday, Dec. 1, in Atlanta. Martin is facing Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga, in a runoff for a U.S. Senate seat tomorrow. (AP Photo/John Amis)AP - Georgia voters had their hands on the balance of power in the next U.S. Senate in a runoff election Tuesday, one of two unresolved races that Democrats need to win to get a 60-seat majority impervious to GOP filibusters.



Mumbai residents sit near the boat landing behind the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai which was open again after attacks in had closed off the area in recent days Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. India picked up intelligence in recent months that terrorists were plotting attacks against Mumbai targets, an official said Tuesday, as the government demanded that Islamabad hand over suspected terrorists believed living in Pakistan. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)AP - India picked up intelligence in recent months that Pakistan-based terrorists were plotting attacks against Mumbai targets, an official said Tuesday, as the government demanded that Islamabad hand over suspected terrorists believed living in Pakistan.



Karolinska Institute student Andrew Ketterer, left, faces a mannequin in 'body-swap' illusion test, a method whereby people can experience the illusion that either a mannequin or another person's body is their own body Monday Dec. 1, 2008 in Stockholm. In a study presented Tuesday, neuroscientists at Stockholm's renowned Karolinska Institute show how they got volunteers wearing virtual reality goggles to experience the illusion of swapping bodies with a mannequin and a real person. (AP Photo/Niklas Larsson)AP - Shaking hands with yourself is an amusing out-of-body experience. The illusion of having your stomach slashed with a kitchen knife, not so much.



Pop star Britney Spears leaves Fountain Studios in Wembley, London, after her X Factor performance on Saturday November 29, 2008. (AP Photo/PA, Carl Court)AP - She did it again: Britney Spears was the most popular search term on Yahoo for the fourth year in a row — her seventh time topping the list.



Eri Yoshida, a 16-year-old Japanese girl, smiles during a press conference of the Kobe 9 Cruise in Kobe, western Japan, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2008. Yoshida, a knuckleball pitcher, signed with the regional baseball team Tuesday, becoming the country's first female professional baseball player. She will play for the Kobe 9 Cruise in a new independent league starting in April 2009. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)AP - A 16-year-old Japanese girl signed with a regional baseball team Tuesday, becoming the country's first female professional baseball player.



A stranded passenger rests his feet on a luggage while waiting to check-in for his flight at a makeshift airline terminal in Bangkok December 1, 2008. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)Reuters - Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat was banned from politics for five years and his party disbanded on Tuesday, spurring exultant anti-government protesters to end their blockades of Bangkok's airports.



Incumbent Senator Saxby Chambliss reacts as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin addresses the crowd during a rally in Duluth, Georgia December 1, 2008. (Tami Chappell/Reuters)Reuters - The U.S. state of Georgia votes in a run-off election for U.S. Senate on Tuesday that will help decide whether Democrats gain a big enough majority in the chamber to ram through legislation virtually at will.



New trucks are displayed for sale at a Ford dealership in Encinitas, California in this November 11, 2008 file photo. (Mike Blake/Reuters)Reuters - Ford Motor Co said on Tuesday it expects overall and North American automotive business pretax results to break even or be profitable in 2011.



Women walk near a currency exchange bureau in St. Petersburg, December 1, 2008. (Alexander Demianchuk/Reuters)Reuters - European ministers sought to push lending banks back into action, Japan moved to help its cash-strapped companies, and global markets endured mixed fortunes as the financial crisis swirled onwards on Tuesday.



David Roseboro fills up his pickup truck at a gas station in Charlotte, North Carolina September 29, 2008. (Chris Keane/Reuters)Reuters - Oil rose above $49 a barrel on Tuesday, in response to a rally in U.S. and European shares after heavy losses the previous day.



Candles are lit by people during a peace rally in front of Taj hotel in Mumbai, November 30, 2008. (Arko Datta/Reuters)Reuters - India demanded Pakistan hand over 20 of its most wanted fugitives as a sign of good faith, while both sides on Tuesday tried to cool tensions over the Mumbai attacks before a visit by Washington's top diplomat.



Reuters - Two U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan have been charged with the abuse of Afghan detainees, the U.S. military said Tuesday.

A Seattle police officer helps a person injured after a mock nuclear 'dirty bomb' explosion in a 2003 terrorism response exercise. (Robert Sorbo/Reuters)Reuters - The chances of a terror attack on a major city somewhere in the world using weapons of mass destruction are better than even, according to a task force mandated by the U.S. Congress, The Washington Post reported in its Tuesday edition.



An anti-government protester was killed and 22 wounded in a grenade attack at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok. Thai anti-government activists have agreed to end protests that have paralysed Bangkok's airports, after a court stripped Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of his post and outlawed the ruling party.(AFP/Str)AFP - Thai anti-government activists on Tuesday agreed to end protests that have paralysed Bangkok's airports, after a court stripped Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of his post and outlawed the ruling party.



Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that Islamabad has suggested setting up a AFP - Pakistan offered on Tuesday to work hand-in-hand with India to track down those responsible for the Mumbai attacks but declined to respond immediately to a demand that it hand over 20 terrorist suspects.




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