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Amanda Wildman - Director of Emotionally-i-Fit is an expert in Emotional Intelligence and leadership development.
Emotionally-i-Fit runs assessments, coaching programmes, workshops and leadership retreats that help leaders and organisations to measure and develop the 16 metrics of Emotional Intelligence.
Empathy is the degree to which a person is in touch with the feelings of others. It is a dimension of emotional intelligence and can have a massive impact on emotional engagement of employees at both an individual level but also at an organisational level. The degree to which a leader is in touch with the feelings of others will be based on how aware they are of themselves - their emotions from a physiology perspective, their feelings, intuitions and to some degree, their thoughts. From an organisational perspective, engagement surveys regularly check and measure how people feel and provide a significant amount of information that assesses this. The challenge with this is that once an organisation has this information, it needs to do something different to make changes, if appropriate, based on what it has learned.
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK and the theme is on relationships. Building healthy relationships and connections both personally and professionally can have a significant impact on performance and our health.
'A leader without a great team, or without an excellent relationship with his team, will struggle to achieve greatness, as a leader cannot do everything themselves.' - Gordon Tredgold
Being an authentic leader is about knowing who you are, your principles and values. By inviting the trust of others by being known and through honest relationships, authentic leaders can improve long-term individual and business performance.
This is how I made my own decision to choose authenticity in my leadership and working practices.
Gender diversity in the boardroom is proven to have a positive impact on corporate performance. I believe the way to achieve greater gender diversity in the workplace is to develop dimensions of Emotional Intelligence in both men and women leaders. Organisations need to look at this issue on a much deeper level in order to effect transformational change.
I believe that many leaders and businesses globally are heading for burnout. We only have to reflect on the recent crisis in the health service to see that doctors are already experiencing poor mental health and the inability to keep striving at such a pace. This is risking lives - not only their own but others.
I see so many parallels in the work that I do within the corporate business world. HR functions are constantly looking at creative solutions to fix issues around wellbeing, absenteeism, attrition and develop a high performing culture.
Positive self-regard is essential if you are to develop the high level of emotional intelligence that will enable you to see beyond setbacks and stay centred. It is not about being egotistical or arrogant. It is about being clear in your purpose.
Positive self-regard naturally develops as you become more experienced and confident in yourself and your capabilities – it is something you need to work on daily, while accepting and valuing yourself for who you are.
Self regard or self-esteem is a prerequisite for effective leadership. It is critical for developing relationships and influencing others.
Self-regard is based on the beliefs you hold about yourself - the degree to which you accept and value yourself. This influences both how you behave towards others, and how in turn they respond to you.
It is now believed that emotional intelligence is one of the highest indicators of performance. Whether you are in transition and wanting to develop your career further or just want to be more successful, placing greater investment on your ISP will help you to be extraordinary.
Today I feel very lucky.
It is the first day of my new business venture (Emotionally-i-Fit), which I am combining with my role as Global Head of Learning & Development at Morgan McKinley. My vision is to develop emotionally fit leaders that inspire, empower, motivate and engage the talent they have. The impact will be emotionally fit businesses that grow and excel in performance. read more
