	Article Directory		Article Submission Service		Article Marketing Blog		Publishers		Member Log In

Article Directory :: Self-Improvement/Motivation Articles

To launch A Successful Emotional Intelligence Campaign - Manage Yourself First

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 19Dec2009
Word count: 554
Viewed: 282 time(s)

Get Free Content For Your Site

If you are an HR professional, a coach or a trainer who's been tasked to get an emotional intelligence development program off the ground in your company or a client organization, you want to be successful. As you prepare to launch, what things do you need to consider? What questions do you need to ask?

Those are the things Rob had on his mind when he called me. "We are having an executive retreat for 60 of our top leaders and the president has asked me to provide a program about emotional intelligence," he said. "The company has hired a high profile, dynamic speaker to present the keynote and I am on the program just before him. I've got to deliver a great presentation to a resistant audience or fall flat on my face. How can you help me?"

Rob was the Vice President of Human Resources for a large agricultural services company and had been referred to me by a client. I typically get calls like Rob's in late Spring and am sometimes hired to present introductory EQ programs at retreats and conferences. In this case, the president had told Bob, "We need more of that emotional intelligence around here." He asked Rob to make the presentation at the retreat, as part of the management team, and take the lead in bringing emotional intelligence into the company.

Rob was fortunate to get such support and he was already passionately interested in the subject but he felt really challenged. "We have Mensa level talent here, he said, but they have little emotional skill and often ride roughshod over employees, discouraging participation and performance." "And," he went on, "they are really resistant to any of that touchy feely stuff."

After all my years in the emotional intelligence business I'd like to think that the expression "touchy feely" has gone away, but it hasn't. To my judgmental brain it sounds as anachronistic as "those confounded horseless carriages." But I suspend judgment and I listen carefully with mind and heart. I realize those words are a defense to cover up the fear of dealing with emotions - one's own and others.

After really tuning in to his thoughts and feelings, it was obvious that while Rob may be dealing with a very traditional audience, his own unexpressed fears were a greater barrier to a successful presentation. When Rob talked about others resisting "that touchy feely stuff," the unspoken message was," I am afraid to express and discuss emotions with upper management. I fear they will think me weak and reject me.

I helped Rob gather information, organize his talk, and add some experiential exercises tailored to his audience, and his program was a smash hit. He used the information and materials and strategies I gave him to great advantage, but I am clear that the greatest support I gave him was helping him to manage his own emotions.

Instead of projecting his fear onto his audience and thinking of them as resistant, he took ownership of his fear and accepted it as natural instead of trying to deny or avoid it. By using emotionally intelligent self-management he was able to stay present, let his passion come through and be powerful and effective.

When you are ready to launch, you can use the same approach to ensure your success.

Joseph Liberti, founder of EQ At Work is author of Coaching Emotional Intelligence the book that tells you what you need to know, have and do to be a confident, competent and successful emotional intelligence coach or to launch a successful EI training initiative in an organization. Grab a free sample chapter with a bonus audio recording by subscribing to his coach mailing list at http://eqcertification.com

EasyPublish™ this article - publishers click here