Knowledge base
Knowledge base
My vision is and has always been to help leaders lead others more wisely with emotional intelligence and positive psychology. It is why I have gone above and beyond to pack my services full of professional expertise, including selected tools, techniques, and practical advice for implementation.
Emotions are the invisible hero of both successes and failures in the workplace. How emotions influence your creativity, ability to achieve goals and quality of your work and life is up to you.
This knowledge base gets right to the heart of emotional intelligence in the workplace and provides practical knowledge and tools for helping yourself. You will find here scientifically-validated tools, exercises, and techniques; ready-to-use interventions and convenient, downloadable exercises; engaging, interactive sessions with ready-made videos; and a wide range of treatment plans, coaching and development solutions.
The most common myths and unconstructive beliefs about emotions in the workplace
Most companies pay little attention to how employees are or should be feeling. They don’t realize how central emotions are to building the right culture. There is a misconception that expressing feelings is unprofessional or out of place in the office. In work culture, “emotional” can be a dirty word. There is a belief in the corporate world in not voicing emotions.
Maybe you have heard one of these expressions or maybe you express one of these yourself:
“My emotions play no role at all in my decision making.”
“Emotions don’t belong here (in a meeting room or office space)”.
“Why do I have to name my emotions? Isn’t it better for me to remain objective and unemotional?”
“Why do I have to ask the other person what they feel? Isn’t that stepping over the line and too personal?”
“What if I ask and their emotions are out of control? What am I supposed to do then?”
“We make a point of separating emotions from the workplace. After all, we are here to work, nothing else. They are not appropriate and only cause problems.”
Beliefs, own opinions, and preconceptions about when and how people should show their emotions can be problematic and can cause people to unfairly judge those who may be experiencing mental health concerns. Our beliefs may be shaped by a number of factors like past experiences, family patterns, and education.
The Centre for Mental Health in the Workplace has created a table that explores common myths and stereotypes about emotions and provides a more realistic and constructive way of understanding the roles emotions play. Keeping these realities about emotions in mind can give you – as a leader – better ideas about what to do next time when, for example, a worker becomes distressed or you will find yourself feeling very angry at work. Moreover, new and healthy beliefs will put you in a better position to effectively manage your own emotions.
Leadership as a Lighthouse
In this article, I would like to contemplate on leadership and present my own insights on leadership in two dimensions using a lighthouse metaphor supported by some of science-based theories. This leadership analogy is a helpful tool to design better strategies when leading in challenging times, and describes leadership principles as they relate to a lighthouse that provides light, hope and safety to the people we lead. Moreover, it stands tall and rock solid during even the worst storms. The first dimension of leadership like a lighthouse refers to ourselves and the second one is the leadership like a lighthouse to others.
FRIS® Thinking and Action Styles
During years of my practice as a trainer and coach I have noticed, that knowing oneself is the real freedom of a men, both in private and professional life. In the MBA Program we offer the work based on the FRIS® methodology- based on cognitive psychology theories and models, it is a diagnostic tool to foster the development of managers, teams and organizations. Personally, for me it is a key that opens the door to deeper self-awareness about own Thinking Styles, understanding natural predispositions of coworkers and their role in the project process. “What are you waiting for? The adventure waits”.
Nagranie z webinaru – FRIS style myślenia i działania- klucz do budowania i zarządzania zespołami zwinnym
Zespół to różnorodność stylów myślenia. Zwinne zespoły są interdyscyplinarne, a więc posiadają wszystkie niezbędne kompetencje, które są im potrzebne do wytwarzania i dostarczania innowacyjnych produktów.
Praca w takich zespołach opiera się na samoorganizacji. Ich członkowie sami podejmują decyzje; sami zarządzają i organizują swoje codzienne zadania. Dla wielu organizacji wyzwaniem jest dobra komunikacja pomiędzy członkami zespołu i wysoka efektywność działań. FRIS® w tym pomaga – w prosty i szybki sposób określa potencjał zespołu, rekomenduje aktywności zawodowe oraz udziela wskazówek, jak się lepiej porozumiewać.
Partner:
ProOptima
Emotional Intelligence Interview with Herb Baker
Recent studies and data about managing emotions in today’s changing workplace show that IQ is not enough. Emotions have been ignored in favor of rationality and efficiency. Breakthroughs in brain science have revealed that people are primarily emotional decision-makers.
We have asked Herb Baker, recently retired after working for NASA for 42 years, a member of the Board of Directors of the NASA Alumni League, to talk about EI in the sometimes extreme work conditions at NASA. Herb has answered a few questions he was given below and added on his own personal thoughts.
- How do you see leveraging emotions for business success, especially in leadership and employee management?
- What is the importance of emotional intelligence in your business?
- Why is it important to understand and develop personal emotional intelligence at the workplace?
- What are the best strategies to handle negative emotions in a way that is good for the team?
- Can you provide a personal example of a situation in a workplace when understanding and managing your own and other people’s emotions?
Emotional Intelligence Interview with Olin Oedekoven
To elaborate more on leveraging emotions for business success we have interviewed Mr. Olin O. Oedekoven, Ph.D., the President and CEO of Peregrine Global Services – a business that provides thought-partner solutions to develop values-based leaders and improve the quality of higher education throughout the world.
Dr. Olin O. Oedekoven has over 35 years of leadership experience at all organizational levels from first-line leader through strategic leadership and is a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College. We have posted the same questions to Dr. Olin Oedekoven in research on understanding the importance of emotional intelligence of today’s leadership.
- How do you see leveraging emotions for business success, especially in leadership and employee management?
- What is the importance of emotional intelligence in your business?
- Why is it important to understand and develop personal emotional intelligence at the workplace?
- What are the best strategies to handle negative emotions in a way that is good for the team?
- Can you provide a personal example of a situation in a workplace when understanding and managing your own and other people’s emotions?