The Gray Matter In Leadership: Self-Awareness

In these days, our usual day to day stressors are compounded by external stressors, including but not limited to, the coronavirus and governmental unrest. With so many uncertainties, and so little control over them, how do we find peace? How do we remain emotionally intelligent during these trying times? One way is by practicing effective change management.
We have had vast experience with change throughout our lives, whether our response was to resist it or embrace it. Many are familiar with change management strategies we have learned throughout our professional careers and other aspects of our lives.
The additional unwelcome external stressors I mentioned above that we are dealing with today are no different. By being involved, and being part of the change, we have a voice in the change. At the very least, our role as a change agent can be as a positive role model.
Remember in a previous blog, when we discussed “happiness is a choice”? Accepting change, is also a choice. Change is inevitable. We don’t have to like it, but it isn’t going anywhere. So how do we face it in a manner that improves quality of life, and the quality of life of those around us?
There are many roles you can play in change from simply accepting the change, to being a role model for others, or even leading the change. These options very well may require stepping outside of your comfort zone, which is a sign of emotional maturity and social intelligence.
When you effectively manage change, others around you sense your comfort level and adapt similarly. You are helping others by being a change manager, and even a leader. A major part of leadership, and a major emotionally intelligent skill is to be adaptable. Always anticipate that another change is coming.
Listen to the audio extracted from a Drexel University research project.
Work Life Balance
Why do we put our work before the people we love?
We take those we love for granted, but we do not take our jobs for granted. We identify ourselves by our role in our career rather than our role in relationships. We justify with financial security. Work adds purpose to our life, but it is not our life purpose.
There is research that shows those with income over what is needed to meet basic needs does not contribute to our overall happiness or wellbeing. Neither money, nor our career, contributes to our global satisfaction. Global satisfaction, happiness, and well-being are achieved only through Emotional Intelligence.
“Emotional Intelligence is defined as the ability to recognize, regulate, and utilize emotions that drive moods, feelings, and behaviors,” (Weinzimmer et al., 2017). High Emotional Intelligence is directly related to our ability to exhibit a healthy work-life balance. Work affects family and family affects work. If we are emotional about something at home, it will definitely have a direct effect on our job performance. Likewise, high Emotional Intelligence is also correlated to improved job performance – including, but not limited to leadership, tasking, and decision making.
There are two kinds of Emotional Intelligence that are relevant to managing the balance. Intrapersonal Intelligence is our ability to manage our own emotions and feelings. We decide whether to have a positive or negative response to each “event” that happens in our life. Second is Interpersonal Intelligence, which allows us to manage the emotions of others in a constructive manner. This insight allows us the ability to deepen our emotionally intelligent philosophy of life while having a positive impact on our work-life balance. We are our own managers, and we should manage ourselves in an emotionally intelligent manner. And when we cannot we are responsible for our own checks and balances to recover quickly from the breach.
If you have high Emotional Intelligence, you have the ability to effectively manage your work-life responsibilities in a balanced fashion.
Some of us always work from home, but now most of us do.
So how do we keep the balance?
According to Taylor, April 8, 2020, here are some suggestions:
1) Schedule working hours
2) Discuss your work schedule with others
3) Create a morning routine
4) Establish a dedicated work space
5) Plan your day
6) Take regular breaks
7) Prioritize social interactions
8) Exercise and get fresh air
9) Mark the end of your working day
10) Don’t be too hard on yourself
When master the work-life balance is mastered, success and your job performance incidentally improves.
We have both work-related influences and non-work-related influences. Research shows that in addition to improved job performance, this balance also improves job satisfaction, which decreases turnover. Because of these proven positive consequences many employers are supportive of and encourage the work-life balance, many offering education in Emotional Intelligence help to achieve it.
It is hard to see this direct affect until you commit to create the above habits in your own routine. Some use work as a coping mechanism for non-work-related stressors. Many who are addicted to work are unable to see the harm until it is too late. Neglecting life outside of work results in many physical and psychological negative effects on our lives that lead us to regrets, stress, and heartache.
Everyone is seeking purpose, but many are looking in all the wrong places. Open your heart and open your mind to allow yourself to see what might be right in front of you. In order to claim that you have emotional intelligence, you must be open minded and be willing to continuously learn, practice, and grow. There must be a will to change and a commitment to creating the healthy habit.
The balance between work and life is only one of many focuses of emotional intelligence. We look forward to continuing to offer insight into the most important aspects of emotional intelligence that improve your overall global satisfaction.
Kelly, J. D. (2019). Your Best Life. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 477(3), 509–511. doi: 10.1097/corr.0000000000000656
Taylor, L. A. (2020). Ten work–life balance tips for researchers based at home during the pandemic. Nature. doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01059-4
Weinzimmer, L. G., Baumann, H. M., Gullifor, D. P., & Koubova, V. (2016). Emotional intelligence and job performance: The mediating role of work-family balance. The Journal of Social Psychology, 157(3), 322–337. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2016.1208141
How Sleep Applies To Emotional Intelligence. By Dr. Melissa Bouassaba
I hear many stories of peoples’ perceptions of working from home meaning no alarm clock, wearing pajamas all day, no make-up, not having to do your hair. And while these are all good for a while, eventually… we are creating bad habits that can have long lasting physical, emotional, and psychological effects.
On the contrary, I have also heard people say how much better they feel when they stay on their schedule and still maintain their normal daily routine, even if at home.
Even when not in times of crisis, stress is constant. Financial, relationships, career progression, children, aging parents, illness, death, natural disasters, and the list could go on. But during these times we must be even more diligent and intentional regarding self-care including, but not limited to, sleep.
There are many self-care habits to develop and practice that will limit the effect of these stressors on your physical and mental health and well-being.
Without sleep we will perish.
How much sleep?
It is estimated that adults need at least eight hours of sleep for adequate results, and teenagers need at least nine. The younger the age, the more sleep is needed.
In order to claim you have achieved adequate sleep (mind and body rejuvenation), you must have slept long enough for your body must complete all 5 of these stages at least 4-5 times per night, which can take up to 9 hours for an adult, depending on the person.
Circadian rhythm – your body’s internal clock
When you maintain a sleep routine, your body will adjust to the routine and it will be easier to fall asleep at night and to wake up in the morning.
Why is it important to sleep at during nighttime hours (darkness)?
Melatonin is a hormone produced by our bodies that maintains our circadian rhythm, mental acuity, and decreases the risk of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. This hormone is mostly produced in complete darkness during the nighttime hours.
Things you can do to improve your sleep hygiene:
Some major consequences of poor sleep hygiene:
Ways sleep helps build emotional intelligence:
The amygdala is the emotional part of our brain. Without adequate sleep, we put our prefrontal cortex (our rational brain) at risk for emotional hijack, and we decrease our ability to control this phenomenon. According to Kivel (2018), one study compared two control groups, one sleep deprived, and one not and their response to images that ranged from neutral to negative. “the sleep derived individuals showed well over a 60% increase in emotional reactivity in the amygdala. The well-rested group showed only a modest degree of reactivity.”
“We can think of REM sleep like a master piano tuner, one that readjusts the brain’s emotional instrumentation at night to pitch perfect precision, so that when you wake up the next morning, you can discern overt and subtly covert micro-expressions with exactitude (Kivel, 2018).”
Simple things such as facial expressions can be affected by lack of sleep which can completely distort a person’s perception of our response.
Many of us try to justify why we don’t need to sleep 8 hours of sleep, or why it is okay to stay awake all night and sleep all day. It sounds cliché, but if you don’t take care of yourself you cannot take care of others. Most of us have at least someone how is depending on us to remain well. This can be done by ensuring we receive adequate sleep and maintaining a healthy sleep schedule.
Cherney, K. (2019, November 14). Medical information and health advice you can trust. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/
Kivel, S. (2018, October 22). How Sleep Primes Your Brain For Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from https://www.keystepmedia.com/sleep-brain-kivel/
National Sleep Foundation. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/why-electronics-may-stimulate-you-bed
Have you ever been told to make the best of something? Or to think positively?
And you believe this is a personal characteristic of “positive people.” But, “positive thinking” is actually a learned behavior and a sign of emotional intelligence. Something anyone can, and should practice and learn.
Positive Outcomes / Benefits of Happiness
Science actually confirms that happiness opens doors to success – including your career, your finances, your family and your health.
“Global Life Satisfaction”
Imagine being satisfied with every aspect of your life, including work, marriage, and family… and this can be accomplished by simply committing to changing the way you think.
Life satisfaction and happiness can be achieved through awareness and control of our emotions. We must recognize and acknowledge those things which bring us joy, common connections and interests, and opportunities. These are the stepping stones to building the resources that equal global life satisfaction.
Life circumstances can be either created by us or out of our control – but we can always control our response to those circumstances – through positive thinking.
Crucial Components of Happiness:
A Scientific Theory behind this concept is the Broaden-and-Build theory of Positive Emotions – which supports that a positive emotional response is a learned behavior (adaptation to a situation) that evolves over time.
Positive emotions lead to more creativity, flexibility, more expansive ideas, and increased social opportunities.
And a negative emotion negatively affects the bodies coping mechanisms, cognition, and attention.
The Broaden-and-Build theory views “positive emotions and long term growth as part of everyday human functioning, rather than a rare or exceptional state.”
“Prospective and longitudinal studies show that happiness often precedes and predicts positive outcomes, rather than simply resulting from them.”
“Positive emotions forecast valued outcomes like health, wealth, and longevity because they help build the resources to get there.”
It works something like this… Curiosity develops into expert knowledge.
Or common interests can develop into a long term and supportive relationship.
The more frequently you experience and/or practice positive emotions, the more improvement you will see in overall well-being. Your brain is storing resources. As this habit is developed you will start to see positive changes in all aspects of your life.
Happier people DO do better in life. They enjoy their life, but more importantly are happy because have developed the needed personal resources to cope with day to day life. The result is global life satisfaction.
The “Power of Positive Thinking” is a REAL and POWERFUL, and it can change your life.