Emotional Intelligence

#week2

This week's focus on emotional intelligence has including the exploration of the related traits via an online self-assessment as well as various readings and resources.  DuBrin defines emotional intelligence as follows:

"Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to do such things as understanding one’s feelings, have empathy for others, and regulate one’s emotions to enhance one’s quality of life."
DuBrin, Andrew J. (2015-01-01). Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills (Page 50). South-Western College Pub. Kindle Edition. 

The four key factors of emotional intelligence identified by DuBrin - Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management - have ramifications on levels of leadership.  While performing the online self-assessment, I realized that many of the points focused around communication and dealing with relationships.  In my opinion, successfully developing emotional intelligence is not as easy to assess as other more discrete measures of success such as reputation and accomplishments.  

Reflecting back on relationships and observations of prior colleagues and peers, it has become clearer how varying degrees of emotional intelligence have affected the level of success that they've had.  I have had the opportunity to work with many high performing individuals in leadership positions, however, their levels of success in their positions and their institutions have varied greatly.  Those who have been quite successful were the ones that created great relationships with coworkers and customers through an understanding of their peers emotions in relationship to their own.  Successful leaders did not alienate or cause others to feel unappreciated, disconnected, or not getting the recognition they deserved.  Rather, those leaders that were successful cultivated relationships with employees that made them feel appreciated and active contributors to collective goals.

In seeing these interactions, I've had the opportunity to refine my emotional intelligence skills to follow the good examples that my peers set forth.  An area discussed in this week's materials that I would like to further develop is the aspect of social awareness which includes empathy for others' emotions.

Organizational Leadership Program - Why am I here?

#week1
This week I am starting the online Masters of Organizational Leadership program at Manhattan College.  I am excited to be part of of a new online program. Ever since I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in engineering, I have been contemplating going back to school for a Master's degree that would complement my engineering background.  I had even dabbled with a few Master's level courses over the year, but found that working full-time and having a family made it difficult to put forth the effort required to be successful in a traditional Master's program.  I am now participating in the online MSOL program because i believe that now is the time to seize the opportunity and complete my Master's degree.

Although I have had the opportunity to participate in a number of professional development opportunities around leadership and and leading change, I am especially excited to take a deeper dive into better defining leadership and how I can develop skills to be a better leader for my institution.  I am looking forward to sharing experiences with my new classmates and to learn from the diverse perspectives that they bring with them.  

I am grateful for the mentoring that I have received throughout my career and the different examples of leadership that I was able to experience.  I feel that I have been able to learn from those experiences and develop my own leadership style that incorporates the best aspects of those who have shown me how to be a great leader.  I am confident in my ability to lead my organization, however, I look forward to new opportunities to extend that confidence to new and exciting opportunities that will challenge me to perform at a higher level.