Emotional Leadership Chapter Summary

Emotional self-control is defined as recognizing destructive emotions and maintaining control over our impulses while acting upon them. The idea of emotional self-control is important to people in multitude of workplaces, but it is crucial for anyone in a leadership position. Strong emotional leadership is directly related to emotional intelligence. The public looks upon leaders as an example to display an even-tempered manner while facing hardships. This week readings include ideas of diffusing emotional reactivity, using responsive listening, reacting emotionally and showing empathy. The chapters also demonstrate different scenarios of using emotions, understanding emotions and managing emotions. Human beings have a physiological response of fight-or-flight to various stressful

People tend to take comments more seriously when the opinion is from a speaker that strongly impacts them or if the criticism is about a specific interest, insecurity, or shame. When people react emotionally, they become intolerant to other people’s opinions and it could lead to overreactions. Nichols explains that, “Behind every complaint is a request. Listen for the request and then ask if that’s what the person would like.” When a friend or family member is complaining, I would usually listen to their whole story before inputting my thoughts. I try to avoid transforming a conversation into an agreement by asking questions and letting the speaker come to their own conclusion. Nichols gives examples of responsive listening that includes checking the impulse to argue, asking the speakers perspective without defending or disagreeing, and reserving your response until the person is more likely to listen to your viewpoint. Nichols tips are helpful and I will try to apply them in future situations whenever an emotion situation surfaces. Other ways to prevent arguments can include empathy and