『Emotional Fitness Of Leaders (Part One)』のカバーアート

Emotional Fitness Of Leaders (Part One)

Emotional Fitness Of Leaders (Part One)

無料で聴く

ポッドキャストの詳細を見る

【Amazonプライム会員限定】今ならプレミアムプランが4か月 月額99円。

10月19日まで。※適用条件あり
Dr Emily Anhalt is an American psychologist who developed the concept of a gym for mental health after researching 100 leaders and 100 psychologists who treated leaders. From that work, she identified seven factors for assessing how emotionally "fit" we are. That concept should get every leader's attention. Does anyone seriously believe leadership is going to become easier, slower and less stressful? I certainly don't. Many of us grew up in the "harden up" era. Soldier on. Suck it up. Grit your teeth and bear it. That approach may have got us through previous decades, but today's leaders operate amid vastly greater technological change, business speed, global connectivity and organisational complexity. We spend considerable time thinking about physical fitness. Perhaps we need to start taking our emotional fitness just as seriously. In Part One, let's look at three areas: understanding our emotional triggers and biases, recognising the emotions of others, and finding comfort in discomfort. Why do leaders need emotional fitness? Leaders need emotional fitness because greater business complexity and pressure place constant demands on how they respond to stress, conflict and other people. Leadership isn't becoming less stressful, so relying purely on toughness and endurance is unlikely to be enough. Previous generations often celebrated the leader who simply pushed through every difficulty. There is certainly value in resilience, but emotional fitness requires more than enduring pressure. Leaders influence everyone around them. When the boss becomes angry, defensive or frustrated, the impact spreads through the team. When the leader remains composed, listens and responds thoughtfully, that behaviour also influences everyone. The objective isn't to eliminate emotion. That would be impossible and probably undesirable. The objective is to become more conscious of our emotional responses and more skilful in determining what happens next. Like physical fitness, this requires practice. Do now: Start treating your emotional responses as a leadership capability that can be deliberately strengthened rather than simply accepting, "That's just the way I am." How can leaders identify and manage their emotional triggers? Leaders need to recognise the "Hot Buttons" that trigger emotional reactions and learn to create a small gap between the trigger and their response. That gap can be enough to prevent an impulsive reaction becoming an unnecessary conflict. This is familiar territory for me because I teach a course called Disagree Agreeably. We examine the triggers that get the temper rising, blood pressure pulsing and body heat climbing rapidly. My wife assures me my temper is getting shorter as I get older. She is probably correct. There never seems to be any shortage of things capable of irritating us. The important point is that we may not be able to prevent the irritation. What we can work on is our response. Rather than allowing the emotional trigger to immediately produce an emotional reaction, insert what I call a cushion. That gives the brain a chance to catch up with the mouth. Do now: Identify your recurring Hot Buttons. Knowing what regularly sets you off gives you a better chance of controlling what happens when someone presses one. How can leaders stop themselves reacting emotionally in difficult conversations? A short, neutral "cushion" statement can act as a circuit breaker between an irritating comment and the leader's response. The purpose isn't to agree with the other person; it is to buy enough time to choose a considered response. Suppose somebody says something that immediately gets your blood boiling. Our natural tendency may be to fire straight back. Instead, try saying something like: "Thank you for raising this topic. It is an important one." That takes me about four or five seconds to say. Those few seconds can be enormously valuable. They give me time to overrule the impulse to launch forth with the first thing that pops into my head and instead find a more considered response to whatever nonsense my interlocutor has been sprouting. The cushion neither diminishes the issue nor inflames it. It simply creates space. Do now: Prepare one or two neutral cushion statements in advance so you don't have to invent them when somebody has already pushed your Hot Button. Why should leaders try harder to understand the emotions of others? Leaders should remember that people's behaviour may be influenced by pressures and problems we know absolutely nothing about. A little more empathy can help us respond with greater patience rather than immediately judging someone against our expectations. There is a saying I have always liked: "Remember everyone in life is carrying a heavy load." I was reminded of this while recovering in hospital from a near-death experience with pneumonia after spending six days in the Intensive Care Unit. It gave me plenty of time to reflect. One conclusion was that I ...
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
まだレビューはありません