Blog Posts by Courtney McBath

One of the most important soft skills within the corporate world is conflict resolution. As leaders, it is essential that we consistently find ways to improve our ability to handle conflicts within our organization. We are leading teams of people with different points of view, so conflict is inevitable. Choosing to carefully manage every conflict with emotional intelligence is important. How do we do this?

1. Keep yourself in check: We might not be able to control other people's reactions, but we can control ours. Aim to consistently be the voice of reason and ease, even when you have every right to be a little irritated. Remember that when you're leading, there are consequences to responding to conflict inappropriately.
   
   
2. Seek clarity: In handling misunderstandings either between other team members or involving you and someone else, ask questions. Enter every scenario with a desire to understand and seek clarity about what you are unsure about from both parties. This will ensure that...

You've probably heard me say this a million times….so here it is one more time. Most of our communication is nonverbal. How you say it and what you look like when you say it far outweighs what you said! Smart leaders don't stop by asking, What did I say? They ask the bigger and more pertinent question. What did they hear?

We are all different. Words mean different things. Expressions have different meanings. Even humor can be misunderstood because of environmental and cultural differences. The differences in our backgrounds require leaders to be intentional about nurturing environments and relationships that value clear communication and feedback.

Since leaders, by virtue of their position are primary sources of information and often the first line of communication, our chances of being misunderstood can be higher than anticipated.
We want to be the kind of leader that's empathetic to the pain and feelings of others. Our goal is to communicate from the strengths of emotional...

The work of emotional intelligence doesn't just benefit you but will blossom into a collective effort that will nurture a healthy organization. So how do we get started in this journey of leading your team to thrive emotionally and change the culture of our workplace? Let's start with the foundations of emotional intelligence.

Here are the four basic tenets:

• Self-Awareness: Recognizing our shortcomings is a pivotal part of the leadership journey that sets the tone for a culture of emotional intelligence. When your team sees you accept your mistakes and make efforts to make things better, they will unconsciously begin to adopt the same approach while dealing with other members of the team.
• Social Awareness: Social awareness can be summed up with one word, listening. Be willing to do the hard work of giving people your attention. When you listen, you learn and you are able to make the necessary changes based on what you have noticed. Again, your team will more than likely do what you...

Leadership is a lifetime commitment that will require us to be around people a lot. We will have to nurture diverse kinds of relationships with people who have different backgrounds. However, if there is one thing I am certain we all have in common, it is a desire to feel valued. When we meet people in a professional setting, we can lose sight of who they are because we get so focused on the work that they do.

If we are to nurture the habit of emotional intelligence that is necessary for taking our leadership to the next level, we might have to put some extra effort into getting to know our team and other people we meet beyond the surface. Sometimes, a daily “how are you doing today?” can build the trust and loyalty needed for the relationship.

Other times, it can look like giving them the opportunity for leadership feedback. This might have to be done anonymously to ensure more people participate honestly. Giving people the opportunity to communicate with...

Hope your year is progressing and you are feeling positive. I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to sing America’s national anthem, I was hoping to start a vision talk with you. Vision includes the ability of the leader to articulate the direction and persuade people to follow that direction. The other side of vision is found in my ability to see my own progress, success, failure, and struggles. The truth is that as the leader grows and develops, so does the organization. This week I started my degree at the University of Oxford and I spent very little time recognizing the faults of my team. I could not get passed the daily revelations of my own deficits. Whatever growth or change you want to see in others, begins with you.

As we navigate the often complicated path of emotional intelligence, I want you to begin developing a deeper self-awareness. One of the primary attributes of a leader with high emotional intelligence is self-awareness.

Regular...