WEBVTT 00:03.840 --> 00:07.320 Welcome back. So far in our journey, we've explored the concept 00:07.820 --> 00:11.600 of overwhelm, its various impacts and contributing factors. 00:12.240 --> 00:16.320 So now it's time to turn our attention to trying to overcome 00:16.820 --> 00:20.720 it and trying to navigate the challenges. The tool we're going to use to do 00:21.220 --> 00:23.440 that is emotional intelligence. 00:24.240 --> 00:27.720 Emotional intelligence is often misunderstood or 00:28.220 --> 00:31.520 oversimplified as meaning that you're good with 00:32.020 --> 00:36.060 people. And although social skills are an important aspect 00:36.460 --> 00:39.740 of emotional intelligence, sometimes called 00:40.240 --> 00:43.340 eq, we're going to explore some other facets 00:43.580 --> 00:47.859 of emotional intelligence. Today. We're going to see how it's not 00:48.359 --> 00:52.300 just about those external factors of working with other people, but it's also about 00:52.380 --> 00:54.380 internal factors as well. 00:55.500 --> 00:59.450 One of those internal factors is emotional awareness. 00:59.930 --> 01:03.410 In fact, it's the foundation of emotional 01:03.910 --> 01:07.450 intelligence. Emotional awareness refers to your ability to 01:07.950 --> 01:11.090 recognize and understand your own emotions as well as 01:11.590 --> 01:16.250 the emotions of other people. It builds an emotional vocabulary 01:16.330 --> 01:20.250 that you can use to articulate what's going on inside you and 01:20.330 --> 01:23.770 what might be going on in other people. And with that 01:24.270 --> 01:27.610 emotional vocabulary, we can start to move on to the second 01:28.110 --> 01:31.550 aspect of, of emotional intelligence, which is emotional 01:31.630 --> 01:34.830 management. Once you're aware of your 01:35.330 --> 01:38.270 emotions, the next step is managing them effectively. 01:38.750 --> 01:42.390 Now, this doesn't mean suppressing them and ignoring them, putting them in a 01:42.890 --> 01:46.430 corner, but it actually means understanding and navigating 01:46.930 --> 01:50.910 them in a way that allows you to act and respond constructively 01:51.230 --> 01:55.560 to those emotions. By actively recognizing 01:55.800 --> 01:59.640 how the feelings you're having influence your thoughts and your actions, 01:59.960 --> 02:02.760 you can guide your responses to that. 02:03.400 --> 02:07.320 For instance, if you're feeling overwhelmed by a product or project 02:07.400 --> 02:10.920 deadline, it's not about ignoring and pushing that down, 02:11.080 --> 02:15.040 but it's acknowledging the stress and not letting it paralyze 02:15.540 --> 02:18.800 you. Instead, channeling that energy and that 02:19.300 --> 02:23.320 emotion into focused action and using your cognitive techniques 02:23.820 --> 02:27.000 like breaking the project down and seeking support to enable 02:27.500 --> 02:30.360 you to overcome that challenge. 02:30.840 --> 02:34.320 And emotional management is also about 02:34.820 --> 02:38.160 using physical techniques such as your breathing and your 02:38.660 --> 02:42.440 physical posture to allow you to remain composed 02:43.080 --> 02:47.080 under stress allows you to communicate more effectively, 02:47.690 --> 02:51.290 gain more empathy, and become a more successful 02:51.790 --> 02:54.650 tech leader. And yes, 02:55.150 --> 02:58.610 emotional intelligence is also about understanding other 02:59.110 --> 03:03.010 people. It's about being a people person as well, and understanding 03:03.510 --> 03:06.690 the social dynamics and the emotional undercurrent of a 03:07.190 --> 03:10.890 group setting. This enables you, once you've gained the composure 03:10.970 --> 03:15.450 and face the overwhelm, to, to communicate and collaborate 03:15.950 --> 03:20.050 effectively. All of these 03:20.130 --> 03:24.210 skills mean that highly emotionally intelligent 03:24.290 --> 03:27.610 leaders are better decision makers, 03:28.110 --> 03:32.010 better communicators, and build stronger, more trusting relationships 03:32.510 --> 03:36.530 with people. In the realm of technology, where logic 03:37.030 --> 03:39.730 and data take the center stage. 03:40.530 --> 03:44.370 We need emotional intelligence to balance that out. 03:44.610 --> 03:48.050 We need as leaders to be as much technologists 03:48.290 --> 03:52.450 as people people to enable us to balance these 03:52.770 --> 03:56.210 needs of both technology and decision making and 03:56.289 --> 03:58.130 people and decision making. 03:59.490 --> 04:03.370 Speaking of decision making, it's my belief that emotionally 04:03.870 --> 04:07.230 intelligent leaders are better equipped to make decisions. 04:07.550 --> 04:11.150 They can separate emotions from fact, both in 04:11.650 --> 04:15.110 themselves and in other people, and ensure that both of these 04:15.610 --> 04:19.070 things are dealt with and discussed and taken into account. 04:19.310 --> 04:23.110 We don't just want to make decisions based on logic and 04:23.610 --> 04:26.430 we don't just want to make decisions based on emotions. 04:26.590 --> 04:29.870 We have to make decisions based on both and 04:30.370 --> 04:34.060 understanding the difference between them and is crucial to effective 04:34.560 --> 04:37.820 decision making. In essence, emotional intelligence 04:37.980 --> 04:41.500 encompasses not just emotional awareness and management, 04:41.980 --> 04:46.140 but also empathy and skills to navigate social 04:46.220 --> 04:50.140 situations. It's a fundamental aspect of 04:50.640 --> 04:55.100 mitigating overwhelm for you individually, but also enhancing 04:55.340 --> 04:58.700 your leadership skills. Being able to 04:59.200 --> 05:02.880 navigate and understand your emotional intelligence means that you're going to be 05:03.380 --> 05:07.280 a better leader. Let's dig into that a 05:07.780 --> 05:11.680 little bit. Having understood what EQ emotional intelligence is, 05:11.920 --> 05:14.640 let's focus on why it's not just important, 05:15.040 --> 05:19.200 but indispensable in leadership, especially within 05:19.700 --> 05:22.560 the technology industry. In fact, 05:23.060 --> 05:27.000 EQ is often described as the key differentiator between good 05:27.500 --> 05:30.750 leaders and and greater leaders in high stakes industries such 05:31.250 --> 05:35.110 as technology. A high level of technical expertise 05:35.270 --> 05:39.750 is necessary to be a great technology leader, but not sufficient 05:39.990 --> 05:43.110 to be a great technology leader. People's skills, 05:43.610 --> 05:46.950 often driven by emotional intelligence, are crucial to managing 05:47.450 --> 05:52.070 teams and especially the diverse ones that are becoming thankfully 05:52.150 --> 05:54.220 more and more common with within technology. 05:55.580 --> 05:59.660 Let's go through some of the situations 06:00.160 --> 06:03.780 in tech leadership in which better emotional intelligence can 06:04.280 --> 06:08.060 lead to better outcomes, the first of which is decision making. 06:08.460 --> 06:12.220 We've seen how overwhelm can impair your decision making 06:12.720 --> 06:16.340 capabilities and emotional intelligence skills, such as 06:16.840 --> 06:20.230 the ones we're going to discuss later in this course, can help leaders make 06:20.730 --> 06:22.710 informed, balanced decisions. 06:23.750 --> 06:27.310 Crisis Management EQ is often most 06:27.810 --> 06:31.270 visible in how a leader manages a crisis. The ability to 06:31.770 --> 06:35.350 stay calm and composed, to assess situations 06:35.850 --> 06:40.070 empathetically and to take rational actions is crucial in tech. 06:40.570 --> 06:44.430 Crises can range from product failures to data breaches 06:44.930 --> 06:48.120 to cybersecurity problems. On all of these things enable 06:48.620 --> 06:51.760 us as leaders to practice and 06:52.260 --> 06:54.000 execute on our EQ skills. 06:55.120 --> 06:58.960 Communication Effective communication is more than just conveying 06:59.120 --> 07:02.320 information. It's about connecting with other people, 07:02.559 --> 07:06.560 often emotionally. Having high EQ enables 07:07.060 --> 07:10.880 you to pick up on subtle cues, adapt your messaging and ensure that 07:11.380 --> 07:14.990 there's alignment within the team or understanding what other people want 07:15.490 --> 07:19.310 to get from a situation is often how you communicate best. 07:19.550 --> 07:23.150 And you understand what people want to get from a situation through 07:23.650 --> 07:28.030 your EQ skills. Helping your employees 07:28.270 --> 07:32.310 with their well being has a direct correlation 07:32.810 --> 07:36.590 with your EQ skills. Being able to understand the emotional 07:37.090 --> 07:41.010 climate of your team, the empathy to understand where they 07:41.510 --> 07:45.690 are and understand the emotions they're feeling is a crucial skill for 07:46.190 --> 07:49.330 creating a supportive, empowering work environment. 07:50.770 --> 07:53.650 Conflict Resolution where there are people, 07:53.890 --> 07:57.170 there will be conflict. Having EQ skills such as 07:57.670 --> 08:01.970 social awareness and relationship management are what you need to resolve 08:02.470 --> 08:06.090 conflict amicably. Understanding other people and their points of 08:06.590 --> 08:09.700 view. Understanding yourself and your point of view and 08:10.200 --> 08:14.380 why people got there enables you to foster a cooperative team 08:14.880 --> 08:18.380 environment. Emotional resilience is what we're going to 08:18.880 --> 08:22.340 take a significant amount of time to talk about in this course. This is what 08:22.840 --> 08:26.180 enables you as a leader to bounce back from setbacks. 08:26.680 --> 08:30.180 That's where the word resilience comes from. And given the volatile 08:30.680 --> 08:34.030 nature of the tech world, resilience is not just an asset, 08:34.110 --> 08:37.390 it's a necessity to be a great technology leader. 08:38.270 --> 08:41.430 Lastly, adaptability. In a field that's 08:41.930 --> 08:45.430 constantly evolving, adaptability is key. A leader with high 08:45.930 --> 08:49.630 EQ is better equipped to navigate change, be it technology 08:49.870 --> 08:53.190 shifts or team restructuring. You need to be able 08:53.690 --> 08:57.550 to handle these things without succumbing to overwhelm and being 08:58.050 --> 09:02.200 able to be adaptable. Being able to have the emotional intelligence to understand your 09:02.700 --> 09:05.960 emotions and why you feel them and how to manage them means you can become 09:06.200 --> 09:10.360 more adaptable. Hopefully you've seen from this that EQ 09:10.860 --> 09:14.520 is not a soft skill as it's often called, but it's critical 09:14.680 --> 09:18.640 to being an effective leader. It impacts everything from your ability 09:19.140 --> 09:22.600 to make decisions to handle crises, to helping your 09:23.100 --> 09:26.760 employees with their well being, to helping employees work together 09:26.840 --> 09:30.770 and building team dynamics. All of these things are 09:31.270 --> 09:34.450 needed in technology leadership, and all of these things 09:34.690 --> 09:38.530 are important to building your personal overwhelm 09:38.610 --> 09:39.250 capabilities.