MSLD 641 Module 9 - Becoming a Resonant Leader: A letter to myself

Becoming a Resonant Leader

A Letter to Myself

          Dear me,

            I hope by now you understood what being resonant means, and that slowly you can start putting in practice all the learning outcomes of the past eight weeks. Do not lose track of “our” vision, which, ultimately, is to live the world a better place. Bellow follows “our” learning agenda to ensure we positively impacting on people’s lives as we cross paths with them. What I want for “our” future is to be able to help people develop themselves, cognitively and emotionally, in their personal, social, and professional scope. Do not forget to achieve our milestones following the action steps in this letter, even if it is necessary to adapt them along the way. Be alert, be attuned, and be connected to yourself (or should I say ourselves?) and with the world around you! Since we are one, I will speak to you in the first person.

Professional Learning Goal

            My professional learning goal is to develop and implement leadership programs for organizations (including non-profit). This goal requires a lot of financial support, therefore most of the milestones will involve saving money and looking for funds to make it possible. The first milestone will be getting an MBTI® (Myers & Briggs Type Indicator) certification. The action steps to achieve it involves include the certification in my budget within the next six months and register for it.
            The second milestone is getting an executive coaching certification. It will require saving money for that within the next year, and to analyze which coach institute (certification) will better fit my needs. When these two action steps are completed, I will then register for it.
            The third milestone, to be achieved in the longer-term, is to complete an Executive Strategy course. The greatest challenge is the financial requirement, as this course is way beyond my budget. If I manage to get the funds to do so, then the action step would be to register for this course.

            A fourth milestone is to have a strong network. This milestone is to be achieved throughout the process of change, and not being the last one, in this particular order. The action steps involve using a professional social media account (LinkedIn for instance) to start with. I have created the account on the past week, which was the first action step. Further, I consider doing an internship in organizations that provides this type of service or working in projects alongside experienced professionals.

Community/ Social Learning Goal

            Open a charity for neglected teens and elders in Brazil is my community goal. To start with, I need to have a network to support me in the process. The steps to achieve this milestone is to connect with people currently working in projects and charities and to have supportive relationships as governmental and local corporations. Initially, this step would be taken virtually, as I currently live in another country. Then I plan to get personally in touch with the networks, in my trips to Brazil, and when returning permanently to the country, build a strong supporting network to make it happen.

            Another milestone is to learn the laws, regulations, and policies to have a charity or organize non-profit projects, in the country and the city I plan to have my initiative. An action step is to start researching it online (empirically and practically with experienced people). The first milestone is a supporting step for this one, as being in touch with people already in this field, could work as guidance and mentorship.
            The milestone is to have a deeper understanding of the situation (inventory of charities and people in need). For that, one action step would be getting in the field in existing initiatives. Once again, broadening my network is a helpful first step for this one. Getting in touch with government departments to collect data is another action step. This milestone will be possible, mainly, when I return to Brazil, for good.

Personal/ Family Learning Goal

            This goal is a continuous process and probably an endless goal. My personal objective is to build a mental and emotionally healthy family, by contributing to my knowledge. The first milestone is to be a mother. It goes without saying that one action step is to get pregnant, which does not depend only on me. I have stopped birth control one year ago, to allow my body to function naturally. The next step is to be able to live with my husband, as we are in a long-distance marriage. This step was supposed to be taken already but is delayed due to the pandemic. By mid-July, I, along with my husband, will reevaluate how this step will be taken since it involves other variables now. Independent, this step is expected to be completed by August.
            Another milestone is to have a more balanced life. One action step is finding a routine and build up a daily agenda, including physical, mental, and spiritual activities, which will all contribute to my emotional state. I have been working on this step already, but I am planning to improve by tomorrow, with the end of my master’s degree classes. I believe balance to be crucial to achieving my personal goal.
            A third milestone is to read books and articles about marriage, motherhood, and parenting. The first action step to start research on it. The first book I want to read is “How to Talk so Kids will Listen & Listen so Kids will Talk” by Faber and Mazlish. I and my husband usually read the same book about marriage, at the same time. The last one we have read is the popular “The Five languages of Love” by Gary Chapman. We plan to continue on this action step continuously.

Supporting Relationship

            There are key people to help me to achieve my learning goals. They play a different role in different goals, either holding me accountable, helping me to see another perspective and deeper points of view, and assisting me in seeing my blind spots. One person that I chose to assist me emotionally, and who is an intrinsic part of my life is my husband. He is always cheering for my dreams to come true, so this relationship is crucial to help in achieving my goals. My father is another key person, as he is a typical critical thinker and always encouraged me to think through. My best friend is a huge supporting relationship, as she helps me with resources of whatever subject I mentioned I am interest on. She also has a strong scientific network, since she is a scientist herself, being employed at Cornell University and working on her post-doctorate degree.

            More neutral relationships are three colleagues I have in my organization, which I bond with for their strive for personal development. With them, I can share ideas and short-term achievements to celebrate small wins and get ideas. My current operational manager is another relationship I can count with, as she often coaches me and pushes me to develop myself.
      
            Dear me. The most important relationship is ours! Without it, no goal will be achieved. Let us keep our bond strong, let us keep aware and stick to the positive picture of our future. Together we can make it happen!!!

MSLD 641 Module 8 - Personal Balance Sheet

Personal Balance Sheet

            People who truly intend to change needs to see all aspects of their life, with an accurate sense of themselves. Biology, life experience, and the situation at hand form one’s unique characteristics, while we constantly evolve and adapt throughout life (McKee, Boyatzis, & Johnston, 2008). Discovering our real selves is a crucial step towards intentional change. Identifying who we truly are, enables us to find the gaps necessary to be filled in order to achieve who we want to be (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). To enhance my self-awareness, I evaluated my assets and liabilities, found through self-reflection and dialogue with an intimate circle of people in my life.

Assets

            My distinctive strengths. Based on my perspective, my strengths are critical thinking and organization skills. My critical thinking is related to problem-solving. When time is available, I usually go around the circle through most (or all) of the elements of reasoning before I make a decision (Nosich, 2012). For instance, once I needed to deal with a security situation on board, and any decision would cause a type of disruption, either involving the cost to the company or lay off (in the short run). I did not have too long to think of it, but I thought about all the possible security consequences in the long run, not only for my team, department, or my company but for the aviation industry. I engaged with my direct report involved in the situation and got her input. We discussed and in minutes I decided to go for the broader decision, although it would cause a short-term disruption and probably a high cost to the company. I considered priorities I should not compromise for financial consequences.

            My organization skills are related to look for ways to facilitate the process of task completion. I tend to see what can be done to improve processes and procedures and enhance the quality of service. For instance, I have been grounded due to a medical issue and worked in a department which helped with internal customers. I noticed a pattern and repetitive requests from different people. I decided on my own to design a sheet in order to collect data, so I could suggest to my manager a FAQ in the company portal, workshops to be hosted, or an increase of staff on popular departments. While still collecting data, my manager noticed my initiative while close to my table and was surprised by it. What I developed became a standard in the department, and some of my suggestions were followed through.

            Based on what others see on me, I often get 360° feedback on my organization skills (for the same reason mentioned above) and for my balanced approach in leadership. When getting upward feedback, direct reports usually mention I guide without a parenting style, I am kind and relaxed but not soft and hands-off, I am hands-on without micromanaging and when needed I know how to stand up and be decisive. This feedback about balance I also get in my personal life, through my family, friends, and relatives.

            My potential strength. Initiative is a strength that I could apply more broadly. Often when I see an opportunity to help someone in my personal and professional circle, I stop whatever I am doing to look for ways to make it happen. When it comes to my own aspirations or liabilities, the same rule does not apply, I postpone possible initiatives and steps that could assist in making my dreams coming true.

            My enduring dispositions (effective and I do not want to change). A habit I do not want to change that usually helps me, is my analytical thinking process, which is intrinsically related to my critical thinking, mentioned as my distinctive strength. I also would like to keep my practicability and ability to see the big picture, without compromising my priorities. Compassion is a trait I often witness rooted in my behaviors, which helps me to be successful, personally, and professionally speaking.

 Liabilities

            Weaknesses I want to do better. Time management is a potential strength, as I do apply in some situations, but I believe it is my greatest weakness. When I have a deadline, and I know I will be the only one impacted by the quality of work, I tend to postpone the task. For instance, in my studies, I leave assignments to be completed on the due date, although I start earlier. It is something so simple to solve, as it just involves self-discipline, but I usually fail in improve in this aspect of my life.

            Mind-wandering is another weakness (Jha, 2017). Even when listening to others, my mind is already rushing to past experiences related to it, linkable subjects, conclusion, and if is the case, possible solutions. It quite often plays in my or my team’s favor, but sometimes it takes form me the opportunity to connect to people or see the rots of an issue or situation.

            Weaknesses I want to change. A weakness I want to change is my “over-speaking”. I would like to learn how to listen more, and while speaking, being more straightforward. When giving direction I usually do not have an issue, but when telling a story, explaining my thoughts or trying to influence people, I usually speak more than necessary, and quite often I get distracted from the main point. This is led, I believe, by my over-thinking characteristic, which takes me back to my mind wandering.

            My enduring dispositions that get on my way (but I do not want to change). Paradoxically, my analytical thinking process is an asset and a liability. While effective, my analytical operational system turns the process of decision making (personal and professionally) inefficient. I fall into analysis-paralysis for a while, which in critical situations, it can drastically change the consequences. Although it is an enduring disposition that often gets on my way, I do not want to change, since it often leads me to positive outcomes.

References

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

Jha, A. (2017). How to tame your wandering mind. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/amishi_jha_how_to_tame_your_wandering_mind

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R., & Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a resonant leader. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to think things through: A guide to critical thinking across the curriculum (4th ed). Boston, MA: Pearson

MSLD 641 Module 7 - Appreciating Your "Real Self"

Appreciating Your "Real Self"

           

            Having an accurate perception of our real selves and the world around us is crucial to a balanced life. People who manage to use the life’s laboratory to keep themselves awake, aware and continuous learning tend to be resilient and strong in the face of internal and external stress because they attend to personal renewal as a way of life (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005; McKee, Boyatzis & Johnston, 2008; Jha, 2017). When one wait for issues to become problems, the effort, energy and time to recover (when possible) are greater, and everything happening around in the meantime is wasted, since our focus is often entirely directed to recovery mode. If one is tuned and does not wait for harsher life wake-up calls, renewal, not recovery, becomes the norm. While in renewal mode, one is able to broaden perspectives, with the lenses not fixated in self broken pieces, but in past and future whole-self, while humbly aware of the present. With broader views and openness, life goes on, challenges are turned into opportunities, raw opportunities do not pass unnoticed, and one lives life instead of simply surviving. But why even smart people do not use life’s laboratory?

            Drowned in the common busy adult life, it is easy to miss the subtle wake-up calls. A way to dribble this challenge is regular mindfulness practices that enable a balanced view of our whole selves, along with self-reflection. This involves an analysis of our body, mind, spirit, and emotion, not only in the present moment but with a positive view of our future ideal selves (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005; McKee, Boyatzis & Johnston, 2008; Creswell, 2017). Going through some real and ideal self exercises, along with balance seeking and mindfulness intentional chance reflections I did not find any surprises in my outputs.

            I believe I have not found surprises because I am constantly self-reflecting, often more than I wish, and rarely able to control. I self-reflect at any idle time, and since I live alone and there is nothing much about work I can do on my days off, I spend long hours on my own, in which I spend a major part of it just thinking, talking to myself, mentally living possible future moments (positive and negative), going back in time and processing what could have been different that was under my control, so on and so forth. Mind-wandering, in my view, is my biggest weakness and my greatest strength. When alone, I struggle to be in the present moment, but since I go back and forth, I am tuned with myself. When with others, I give my quality time, mentally traveling just to enrich the conversation (which sometimes affects how I appear to be interested). Although there were no surprises about myself, I figured some interesting points through the exercises and reflection.

            First, by writing down on the Medicine Wheel, I had a clearer picture of the gap between my real and ideal self, along with a practical and simple way to minimize the gap aiming more resonance (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005; McKee, Boyatzis & Johnston, 2008; Boyatzis, 2006). Secondly, reflecting on necessary mindful changes, I figured about thoughts and habits I need to eliminate in order to let resonance flow and enable continuous renewal. Last, but not least, I found two (out of four) limiting beliefs that I have not thought of as such before. I am constricting myself with theses believes, as an argument to remain in the comfort zone. But was is awareness without action?

            Tuning with my subtle wake-up calls cleared the path for me to see farther and further. From now I will stop using these two “new-found” limiting beliefs, to remove two more barriers to my ideal self. Along with this action, I plan to work on my ten development areas found in the Medicine Wheel, two by two, as an achievable learning agenda with small wins to have a compound effect (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005; Hardy, 2010). Most importantly, I will practice monthly body, mind, spirit, and emotional “check-ups” to keep tuned, using the Medicine Wheel as a model.

References

Boyatzis, R. E. (2006). An overview of intentional change from a complexity perspective. Journal of Management Development 25(7), 607-623. doi: 10.1108/02621710610678445

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

Creswell, J. D. (2017). Mindfulness interventions. Annual Review of Psychology, 68(1), 491-516. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-042716-051139

Jha, A. (2017). How to your wandering mind. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/amishi_jha_how_to_tame_your_wandering_mind

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R., & Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a resonant leader. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

Hardy, D. (2010). The compound effect: Jumpstart your income, your life, your success. New York, NY: Vanguard Press

MSLD 641 Module 5 - Intentional Change Theory at the Team Level

Intentional Change Theory (ICT) at the Team Level

            Group development and transformation take place based on multi-fractal interaction; intentionality; and positive emotion, as follow (Akrivou, Boyatzis & McLeod, 2006):

1. Intentionality and shared ideals are the drivers of change and group transformation.
2. Positive emotion becomes critical for intentional group development, alternating activation of positive and negative emotional attractors (PEA and NEA), with PEA being the emotional anchor and NEA seen as functional to change.
3. Iterations must be grounded in positive emotion, enhancing the group’s conscious awareness, or mindfulness, the salience, as well as the coherence of its ideal.

To analyze the content of ICT in teams, Olympic US Women’s Soccer team and United States’ men’s basketball will be used as illustration.

            The US women’s soccer team has been an international force since the FIFA Women’s World Cup began in 1991 (The Washington Post, 2019). According to Klenke (2011), contact sport is not, socially speaking, a women’s strength. Women, to get to show their value in soccer and a to get chance to be in the spotlight, needed to strongly fight for it. This is the first reason, I believe, women soccer in the US succeeded in the past years. They had a positive vision of their shared ideal self, as a group, which was a driver for change and transformation. Their desire for equality in the field is a driver to this day (Spiggle, 2020). However, the team was aware of the reality and the challenges up ahead. They did not neglect the NEA. Negativity had its functionality purpose on the team, pushing them to their ideal, which was still grounded in the PEA. (Akrivou, Boyatzis & McLeod, 2006). Moran (2015) and Burke (2019) highlight the team’s perseverance, resilience, tuned to opportunity, humbleness, and hope as leadership lessons from US Women’s Soccer team, which goes in liaise wit Akrivou, Boyatzis and McLeod (2006) components of ICT in a team level.

            Another point important to make is that transformation at the group level can be catalyzed and facilitated by (1) formal or informal positive emotional leadership in the group, and (2) interaction on other fractions of the complex systems (Akrivou, Boyatzis & McLeod, 2006). This team has been influenced by former players, active players, coaches, as stated by Lisi (2010), apart from communities with the same beliefs and ideals, brands linked with the public tendencies, media, government support, so forth. All these factors contributed to the US Women’s soccer team performance along all these years, being considered a quite young group (independent of individualities), comparing with the US Men’s Basketball team.

            The latter has created high hopes, due to its media attention and previous performances. For the purpose of this paper, let me just consider the Olympics. Until the year 2000, the US Men’s Basketball team has won 11 Olympics, out of 14 (USAB, 2016). Chang (2016) lists the US point differential to show the team’s performance independent of winning. In 2000 the team won a gold medal, but its differential was in decline. 2004 was the worst year for the team, taking home a bronze medal (low profile for the “Dream Team”) and with the worst point differential in history. Grounding the analysis in ICT, the main reasons I believe the US Men’s Basketball Team did poorly in 2000 and 2004 were (Maisonet, 2017):

1. The disconnect/ dissonance between leaders and players and leaders with leaders.
2. The lack of union (shared ideal self) of the entire team.
3. The gap between the experiences between coaches and players.
4. The large gap between reality (real self) and vision (ideal self).
5. The lack of a learning agenda with time to experiment, as players were not used to playing together.
6. The negative tone/ approach from leaders to get results by threatening “motivators”

             Desired, sustainable change within the team occurs through the cyclical iteration of the group (Akrivou, Boyatzis & McLeod, 2006). While the US Women Soccer team intentionally self-developed, based on sustainability aiming the long run and having a higher purpose than just scores, the Us Men’s Basketball team was like boiling frogs, not seeing the warning signs, comfortable in their past and their illusion of the future, maintaining its status lacking awareness in the present. While all five components of ICT and prescription of group development, listed by the authors, were present in the former team, the same components were absent in the latter. 

References

Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & McLeod, P. L. (2006). The evolving group: towards a prescriptive theory of intentional group development. Journal of Management Development 25(7), 689-706. doi: 10.1108/02621710610678490

Burke, K. (2019). 5 Lessons on leadership from the U.S. women's soccer team's second world cup Win. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/katie-burke/5-lessons-on-leadership-from-us-womens-soccer-teams-second-world-cup-win.html

Chang, A. (2016). One simple reason the USA men's basketball team is struggling. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/rio-olympics-explainers/2016/8/19/12524532/team-usa-basketball-struggle

Klenke, K. (2011). Women in leadership: Contextual dynamics and boundaries. Midlothian, VA: Emerald Publishing

Lisi, C. (2010). The U.S. Women’s Soccer team an American success story. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.

Maisonet, E. (2017). The Miseducation of the 2004 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team. Retrieved from https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2731575-the-miseducation-of-the-2004-us-mens-olympic-basketball-team

Moran, G. (2015). 6 leadership lessons from the U.S. women’s soccer team. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/3048231/6-leadership-lessons-from-the-us-womens-soccer-team

Spiggle. T. (2020). U.S. women’s soccer suffers setback in fight for equal pay.

Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomspiggle/2020/05/12/us-womens-soccer-suffers-setback-in-fight-for-equal-pay/#25d4cdc06107

USAB (2016). Men's Olympic games all-time results & standings. Retrieved from https://www.usab.com/history/national-team-mens/mens-olympic-games-all-time-results-standings.aspx

The Washington Post. (2019). The USWNT’s World Cup history: Eight tournaments, four titles. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/sports/soccer/usa-women-world-cup-history/

MSLD 641 Module 4 - Tipping Points of Emotional Intelligence

Tipping Points of Emotional Intelligence

           How emotions impact one's professional life is often underestimated. Emotional intelligence (EI) accounts for 85 to 90 percent of the difference between outstanding and average leaders (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). Cognitive intelligence might be crucial in the workforce, specifically those related to specialized areas in which expertise is the foundation of the business. What if often neglected in how emotional intelligence impacts people in leadership positions. 

           To have a deeper understanding of EI in leadership it is necessary to look at it through the lens of competencies. Emotional intelligently speaking, competencies are the underlying characteristics of the person that led to or caused effective or superior performance (Boyatzis, 1982). It is defined as different sets of behavior organized around an underlying construct called the intent (Boyatzis, 2009). Cognitive and emotional intelligence competencies influence performance, however, 93% of the competencies predicting performance are from the emotional intelligence clusters (Boyatzis, 2006).

           Competencies have been shown to differentiate outstanding managers and leaders from their not so effective counterparts. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify which competencies are necessary for outstanding performance and to analyze the tipping point of these competencies, which is to examine how much of the competency is sufficient for outstanding performance (Boyatzis, 2006). Boyatzis (2011), in research about tipping point and its influence on leadership performance, listed the following EI competencies for analysis: initiative, planning, achievement orientation, self-confidence, taking a risky stand, self-control, adaptability, conscientiousness, values learning, oral presentations, networking, leadership, coaching, empathy, influence, facilitates learning, and distinguishes the firm’s reputation and resources. 

           There are instances where I have experienced a tipping point at my current organization. Using Boyatzis's (2011) list as a reference, follow below the competencies in my examples, which are among the competencies which have shown a significant impact in the financial performance, based in the mentioned research. For the purpose of this reflection, I will mention how positive or negative emotional attractors (PEA and NEA) played a role in them.

Valuing Learning 

           There was not one specific situation, but a continuous process of learning. It is not common in my department for employees, at any rank, to voluntarily look for self-development and learning, as it does not have a direct impact on promotions. Despite this tendency, I registered for my master’s degree, attended all the workshops available for my department, all webinars related to leadership (which involves my rank), and registered for e-learnings (including LinkedIn learning, which has a partnership with my organization).

           The result of that is my close relationship with my manager to discuss the topics I learn, our exchange of knowledge, and what I believe was one point of influence on her recommending me for a promotion opened a few months ago, which had a tight competition. In the current situation of expected lay-offs, my manager contacted me and informed me if performance criteria would be taken place for the layoffs, I should not concern, as apart of duty performance, my off duty competencies would count in my favor. 

           In regards to the PEA, I believe that my social skills and my relationship with my manager as an outcome of my ongoing learning, and my engagement with her in a positive way, focused on a positive outcome of the future, is what influenced me to experience a tipping point on valuing learning. There is nothing I would have done differently, apart from developing a journal of all my learning outcomes and sharing regularly with my manager.

Influencing and Distinguishing the Firm’s Reputation and Resources 

           A few months ago, I experience a suspect theft on board, where a customer crossed to a different cabin and took the premium perfumes from the business class cabin, which on that day, I was in charge. My onboard manager was the first one to notice and delegated me to solve the issue, although I was not in charge of the customer’s cabin. After a long process of decision making between me and the manager, security procedures to follow, and challenging communication I had with the customer, the theft was confirmed, and the perfumes returned.

           Then it was time to decide what to do with that information. I asked for a meeting in the cockpit, with the pilots, the manager, and the other supervisor, so we could, in collaboration, find the best outcome. We called the network control officer, who gave three alternatives. Thinking about the company’s reputation and resources, I influenced my peers to decide on calling security on arrivals, to meet the airplane and deal with the customers (thief and complier). My thinking was in the long term, and the consequences of letting the situation go with no further actions towards the customers. With this action, I believe I passed a message to those customers (and perhaps to their counterparts) that taking items from different cabins, designated to remain onboard is not acceptable.

In regard to the company reputation, I believe with this decision a message was passed of how my organization takes security measures seriously, independent of the explicit consequences, the monetary value involved, and the short-term negative impact of strict decisions. In the influence competency, I involved all parts, listened to opinions, discussed possible impacts of the decision, and using this collaboration as a resource, I critically though and together, me and the onboard leadership team, reached a decision, which was ultimately passed to me to decide, as I was the one directly involved with the incident.

           Regarding the attractors, I believe NEA played a role when communicating with customers. I believe a created a defensive posture by imposing assumptions based on the information I had at hand (which was not known for the customers yet). I tried to be open and give the chance to resolve it with no further consequences, but after I noticed resistance and lies, I pushed perhaps harder than I should get the confirmation of the theft. It took a toll on the communication flow, as it turned from solving a simple situation, into a threat of accusation, to finally, get the outcome I wanted. Because of this defensiveness, the entire process took three hours. On the other hand, with my peers, I believe the PEA played a role, through engagement and genuine care about other’s opinion.

           Learning about competencies increases my awareness of EI. As it is a broad subject, it becomes hard to accurately measure and understand it, but studying it through the competency lens, it becomes clearer why EI has such a significant impact on leadership. Through this reflection and the materials studied, I hope to enhance my self-awareness, sharpen my self-management and social skills, and improve my relationship, now based on a deeper understanding of the topic.

References

Boyatzis, R.E. (1982). The competent manager: a model for effective performance. New York: John Wiley and Sons

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

Boyatzis, R.E. (2006). Using tipping points of emotional intelligence and cognitive competencies to predict financial performance of leaders. Psicothema, 18, 124-131.

Boyatzis, R. E. (2009). Competencies as a behavioral approach to emotional intelligence. Journal of Management Development, 28(9), 749-770

Boyatzis, R.E. (2011). Neuroscience and leadership: the promise of insights. Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved from https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/neuroscience-and-leadership-the-promise-of-insights/

MSLD 641 Module 3 - Emotional Intelligence: Getting Results!

Emotional Intelligence: Getting Results!

           Psychologist David McClelland found that leaders with strengths in emotional intelligence (EI) competencies are more effective than those who lack them. Unlikely cognitive intelligence, it can be learned at any age, over time, with practice, and with a good dose of self-awareness and reframed behaviors. Emotional intelligence covers four domains/dimensions (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005; Big Think, 2017; Daniel Goleman, 2000). Below follow how they apply to me as a human and social being, along with which ones represent my strengths and the ones I need to develop, also including their impact on my performance.

1. Self-awareness

I started practicing self-awareness in 2016 when I registered to major my master’s degree. As I have weekly self-reflection activities as part of my studies, it pushed me to internally analyze myself, reflect upon it, link with real experiences I have had, therefore increasing my awareness about the source of my behaviors. During regular performance reviews in my company, one of the competencies discussed with my manager, based on work experiences, is self-awareness, especially with accurate self-assessment and self-confidence. It is also a competency analyzed for promotion in my current organization, as I have been through in February. I have been taken self-awareness tests to understand traits of my personality, and how I perceive myself, which have been helping me and all my relationships immensely.

I believe self-awareness to be a dimension I strongly need development. I am often self-aware of my emotions, but I often fail at the speed of self-assessment. It impacts me daily, as I supervise teams of up to eight employees, and I work in the front line with customer service. Dealing, engaging, and interacting with people along all my working days requires me to be aware of my motivations and the resources of my attitudes, as it directly influences the effectiveness of my decision-making process, especially in times of intense emotion. 

By increasing self-awareness, I can possibly neutralize my emotional state to make rational and impartial decisions, in emergency onboard situations, for instance. When serious safety, security, or medical situations arises, suppressing emotions becomes crucial. This is not to say that suppressing emotions is something positive, however, there are situations, usually professional ones (especially in aviation), that subduing them is the key to the success of the outcome.

2. Self-management

This is my weakest EI dimension. As mentioned before, I lack speed on self-assessment, and this leads me to fail when controlling my emotions before acting. In emergency situations, when I am at the leading role (especially on incidents with little time to think), for some reason I can shut my emotions, as it does not exist. However, if I do not have control over the situation, then emotion kicks in. I feel like it is a survival mode I am in because based on my background (both regional and family) I am very affectionate, and I am usually driven by emotion. It changed a lot after working for complex organizations and taking leadership roles on all of them, but it is a journey I am in. My goal is to be able to recognize emotions fast enough to control its influence on my reactions in any type of situation.

Self-management itself has a high impact on an adults’ life. I believe this dimension sharpness is what mainly differentiates a person with emotional maturity or not. I recall a time I have been operating a flight, at 37.000 ft altitude, and the pressurization system failed, to eventually losing all artificial pressure from the cabin. To avoid a catastrophe, the pilots needed to perform a rapid descent to 8000 within what felt a minute. From the beginning of the incident to touching down, it took 90 minutes. Throughout this time, several things happened which turned into an emotional roller coaster for me. As initially, I did not know what was happening, simply being asked to sit down immediately, I felt uncertainty. 

When I realized the plane was diving like a bird, I was afraid, as I still did not know what was happening, so I froze. After reaching 8000ft the pilots briefed the crew members about the incident. Gaining knowledge and seeing my team breaking down in fear, I ignored all my emotions. Instruction from the cockpit went on and on, changing constantly until the decision was made to burn fuel and return to origin. This was my highest point because I am good at shutting emotions in stressful environments. 

I delegated tasks, coordinated with other leaders onboard, attended medical cases, reassured panicking passengers, confirmed the cabin was secured, and after landing, completed all tasks on the ground as per SOPs as more time was available and I wanted to minimize the workload for the teams taking over that plane. I dealt with more medical cases upon landing, wrote several reports, stayed in the office assisting my online manager on general reports, all without giving any attention to my “emotional roller coaster”.

Although it does not look like to me after reading this post, my self-management is my weakest point, as its strength is just present in very specific situations. Overall, I try to suppress my emotions or to consider them maturely, but usually, I fail. This is a good example of my inconsistency. During the rapid descent, when it crossed my mind we could be crashing nose down in the ocean, my heart rate was high and I was dizzy (to this day I am not sure if due to hypoxia or intense fear), and after reaching home I could not see the company’s name, pick up the phone to attend the office’s call, neither I could brush off the idea that I could die in a blink of an eye.

3. Social awareness (involving empathy)

Upon reading the capabilities that social awareness covers, I believed it to be my second strongest dimension in EI, although I do not master it (Boyatzis & McKee, 2005). Regarding organizational and service awareness, I mainly on top of my game. I read the current decisions, try to understand, or consider the politics at the organizational level, and I often juggle well with organizational, followers, and clients' needs. 

When it comes to empathy I can sense (feel) when someone is disinterested, aloof, and unsympathetic, but I often fail on breaking the emotional barrier and get to know more, as if I am invading their emotional privacy. With this freezing reaction, I fail to understand perspectives and unfortunately, I show a lack of active interest, although I feel exactly the opposite. The times I decide to break this barrier I am genuinely interested in people’s concern and to understand where their behaviors come from.

At work, because of my “problem-solving” mind, sometimes I interrelate empathy with sympathy, which is another point I fall short. I remember a specific time when I had a four sectors journey, and my team was excellent, apart from one new employee which was completely lost and slow, to a level I have never witnessed before in new staff. I have noticed the team mocking her on her back, and some of the members annoyed with the impact in the workload to those more experienced. I needed to gather my team, when the new staff was not present, and guide them on empathy, asking them to think in all possible reasons that could explain why she was behaving that way. I also committed my self to have a thorough conversation with her, and work by her side, along with the team, so the workload would be shared more evenly and I could guide her in more details and hold her accountable. Having empathy for both sides of the “game” was a challenge for me, but it is a great example that reflects my strength when I decide to truly embrace it and show it.

4. Relationship management (involving social skills)

This is, in my perspective, my strongest dimension in EI. In my daily meetings with my team, I link the plans for the day with the organization values, trying to inspire my team in personal customer service, by placing their names on their seat as I change teams every working day. I leave a sweet treat for them to remind how small touches make impacts on customers' emotions, therefore their long-term memory about their experience. Every briefing I start by talking about leadership, and how, in the deep sense of the word, is a choice my team members can make in every situation, and not simply a hierarchical rank in the company. I also develop new team members, by walking with them around the plane, showing details is not seen in training and common shortfalls in the crew community. 

Relationship management is something that impacts me every single and determines the success of my work. For the past six years as a leader in this company, I have never been called in the office to explain something happened in my flight which I was not aware of. Apart from documenting everything happening onboard, through words and actions, I communicate to my followers they have a safe platform to share with me issues and any ad hoc situation. With a communication flow not being interrupted, it is just a matter of consistency, transparency, and team building. 

My organization is constantly changing service and safety procedures. Every time a major change is implemented I carry a folder with me with printed and laminated copies for quick access for the team, and when I need to implement a change, I gather all members together, ask for opinions a suggestion (if possible), define and present the change and support my team as much as possible on its implementation. I foster collaboration by putting people with more experience close by new joiners in the company, I take over my team member if necessary, and I constantly switch role with my employees so they experience my tasks, while I remind myself how it is being in their position.

Conflict management is my weakest capability, not on the management itself, but in the initiative. As I am a conflict avoider, I let it go so many conflicts to allow the emotions to cool down. This applies to the conflict of my followers towards me and among themselves. Although it is working positively on results so far, I do not believe the meaning to end have been always being fair. I can recall a few situations I let it go too long, then team spirit was broken, or one of the members finished the duty drained by the emotional toll it took. 

An important trait in EI is compassion. Although it logically applies to the social domains, compassion, when present in every dimension, enhances its results. While being critical but compassionate with oneself, his or her awareness, and management strengths. Compassion used to understand the people around and to relate to them is key to boost relationships (Goleman, 2007; Halifax, 2010).

References

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

Big Think. (2017). Daniel Goleman introduces emotional intelligence. Retrieved from Daniel Goleman Introduces Emotional Intelligence | Big Think

Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78-90.

Goleman, D. (2007). Why aren’t we more compassionate? Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_goleman_why_aren_t_we_more_compassionate

Halifax, J. (2010). Compassion and the true meaning of empathy. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/joan_halifax_compassion_and_the_true_meaning_of_empathy

MSLD 641 Module 2 - Am I a Resonant Leader?

Am I a Resonant Leader?

            Most people understand what it takes to be a great leader, technically speaking, but few people understand how to mobilize energy, inspire, motivate and empower other, and to build a resonant culture. Most of what it takes to excel in leadership has to do with vision and relationship with oneself, with others, and for others. Emotional and social intelligence makes the difference and distinguishes a good from a great leader, along with practices of renewal to dribble the sacrifice and power stress (McKee, Boyatzis & Johnston, 2008).

                The biggest surprise I discovered about myself while trying to figure out if I am a resonant leader, is the consistency of each resonance dimension. For instance, I find myself inspirational but not always, and the techniques I use sometimes fall short, as people feel inspired through different channels and tools. When it comes to positive emotional tone, I am overall positive and hear that quite often from my followers and leaders, but I fail sometimes when venting about something I faced as if I need to talk to process and then have a closure in my mind. This approach creates negativity, and although I do it unaware or well-intentioned, I can create a negative tone to my teams.

                I am often connected with others, but rarely I cross the line to really get to know in-depth what is in others’ hearts or minds. I consider my observation skills and situational awareness sharp, but I lack skills to break the barrier and have a more tuned relationship with others in my professional environment, which is not an issue in my personal life. I believe I demonstrate compassion by listening to people (when I decide to cross the line I am not comfortable with) and trying to do whatever is in my control to relieve their pain, but sometimes, with my “problem-solving” mind, I turn into a sympathetic leader instead of an empathetic one (see the difference simplified by RSA, 2013, with an explanation from Brene Brown). The dimension I think I am more consistent with is the tune. Except in stressful one-on-one conversations, in which I struggle with self- awareness, and management, I am quite often tuned with myself, others, and the environment.

            One example I can cite, which I feel I fell short on being inspirational and setting a positive note, happened few months ago, when I was in a room, waiting a new team to arrive for a meeting, and decided to set up the room with motivational quotes, sweet treats, putting people’s name on their seats, standing to receive people and walking around welcoming them. I made small conversations about their country, or greeted them in their native language, when I realized that some people in the room didn’t like it, or ignored. It could be for lack of interest in the job, for some careless attitude commonly present in the workforce in my company, but it made me think that people are driven by different "forces", also that people are skeptical when a leader is too positive, especially in my role. My inconsistency is related to not doing that in every meeting, and just picking random days, as it is a trial initiative.

            Another situation I feel I fell short on not being connected with a follower's heart and mind, happened last year. I could feel something was wrong by his body posture, lack of facial expression and lack of active listening, but instead of sitting down and having a proper conversation to try to understand the source, I just started small conversations to break the ice and to lift the person up. I failed on my goals, since at the end of the day, I was not connected, not tuned, neither compassionate by the follower’s feelings, and my well-intentioned approach did not achieve anything apart for making me a poor skilled leader, afraid of creating a discomfort.

            My examples are mainly related to the relationship management domain of Emotional Intelligence, as shown  by Boyatzis & McKee (2005, p.29). Resonant leaders need to know what inhibits effective individual and team performance, and how to address issues (McKee, Boyatzis & Johnston, 2008). My goal, for the next couple of months, is to develop skills to enhance my ability to lead resonantly.

References

           

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

RSA. (2013). Brene Brown on empathy. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R., & Johnston, F. (2008). Becoming a resonant leader. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

MSLD 641 Module 1 - What is Great Leadership?

What is Great Leadership?

            Dr. Boyatzis (n.d.), while introducing the concept of effective leadership, gave me refreshing news about my awareness of what effective leadership means. Although not being able to put my concept into words, I reflected on his statements and simplistically I agree that a great leader is the one who inspires me, helping me to manage my emotions and convincing me through emotional arguments.

            Choosing a great leader took me back to 18 years ago. By the age of 16 I was chosen to host a symposium organized by my technical school at the time, two days before the event, as the professor hosting it could not attend due to personal issues. My responsibility was to introduce the event in front of the audience, including introducing speaker by speaker and closing it. I was nervous as I have not prepared in advance, neither have written the script (although I was the one who needed to memorize it). The event would have three successful professionals in the field as speakers (which I needed to be in touch with due to my role) and one of them was well known in town. After the symposium was over the well-known speaker approached me offering a trainee opportunity in one of her companies, stating that she liked my posture, confidence and communication skills.

            I worked with this leader for over a year as trainee. I still remember how she inspired me, initially trusting me based on the potential she saw in me, at such a young age, and then by giving a lot of responsibilities beyond the trainee role I was entitled. She made me feel valued with the “you can do it” approach since the beginning and she had the patience to explain all my duties in details or assigning someone to do so. I was part of social gatherings with all employees, including larger ones involving employees from all her companies. She was inspiring with her positive and “can do” attitude, that by the time she entered a room the “energy” changed. She had the knowledge, connections and integrity, combined with humility, hands-on approach and passion for her job and the people working for her. Years later, already working for another company, she called me to work in some random events with her and on our first meeting, after two years not seeing each other, she shared with me how she neglected for so long her health due to her career, and was by then, focus on life balance. Nowadays she continues to succeed on her career, while engaging in sportive events as a participant and saving time for her family, which shows me what a great leader she is, as a leader of others and herself, as a resonant leader should be (Boyatzis, 2005).

            On the other hand, I had a leader whose I have not had any will of meeting again right after our first encounter, which is exactly what I accomplished although she was my manager for two years. There was a change in management structure in my organization and the teams were regrouped and assigned to different managers. Since that day I was asking for an introduction meeting as the nature of my job does not required regular meetings with managers. After six months I managed to book it, and when I got in her office and mentioned with excitement that finally we got the chance to meet, she busted feeling accused with my words and spent around 10 minutes venting about how overwhelmed she was. I listened, confused and feeling sorry at same time, and when we got to the introduction part (the purpose of the meeting) she started testing my knowledge for a promotion she knew I was preparing for, since we had exchanged some emails. I left her room in shock with her defensiveness, negativity, “threatening” approach and unprofessionalism. I avoided her for two years after that, and eventually there was a restructuring again and I lost touch with her.

            As Dr. Boyatzis (n.d.) says, leadership goes beyond one individual (the leader) to the actual relationship between this individual and the follower. A great leader, according to his research, needs to be less controlling and commanding and have a more inspiring and open approach. Data shows that 70% to 80% of people in management position could be removed with no negative effect on overall performance and productivity.

            Based on Boyatzis (2005) findings, effective leaders move and inspire people, while getting results. Great leaders are aware, awake and attuned to themselves, to others and the world around them, facing any negative or positive situation with empathy, compassion, hope, knowledge and consciousness, while still capable to sustain effectiveness. Self-reflecting on my abilities as a leader, I believe my strengths are related to self and social awareness, as well as passion, commitment and genuine concern for people, but I fail in self-management, empathy (often being sympathetic instead) and renewal.

References

Boyatzis, R. (n.d.) Inspiring leadership through emotional intelligence. Case Western Reserve University. Retrieved from https://www.coursera.org/lecture/emotional-intelligence-leadership/watch-what-is-great-leadership-mX5X3

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.