I hope you enjoyed last week’s Thought for the Week; “Understanding Misunderstandings” about how to tap into our Emotional Intelligence when there is a misunderstanding so we can move forward in a positive way.
I also write a “Thought for the Week” blog each week – you can read my previous blogs below.
As you know, I work as a Coach and Workshop Leader helping professional people to communicate more effectively and overcome challenges so they can have more impact and success.
What has “Emotional Intelligence” got to do with communication you may ask! And that is a very good question …
You will have been on an at least one communication course at some point (and I lead these sessions too) and these are great … if they form part of a bigger plan.
“The emotional landscape of leadership is untapped and underdeveloped. Typically, leadership energy focuses on the efficiency of managerial operations. There is ample training on becoming productive but very little on integrating our emotional data toward competency within the landscape of commerce.”
-Dr. Rob Murray-
[CEO and co-founder of Transformed Leader, a leadership research, coaching, and consulting company that helps mission-driven organizations and leaders overcome their greatest challenges.]
When Clients ask me to run an in-house programme, I first ask questions to understand what strategy they have in place to support the ongoing development of participants. Because learning communication tools and new tips and techniques are just one part of achieving great communication!
I know this because I have been doing this for a very long time and have seen what a challenge it can be for people to communicate in the most effective way for themselves, especially if they are unaware of what’s getting in the way.
I say “for themselves” because Communication is not a ‘one size fits all!
And that’s where Emotional Intelligence (EQ) comes into it. And that is often the part that people believe they don’t need!
“Courageous engagement with the heart activates change. Feelings grant us the chance to connect meaningfully with our world.
What begins as emotional science leads us inexorably to integration, building emotional capacity and resiliency.”
-Dr. Rob Murray-
The human subconscious mind is more amazing then we could ever imagine and there will be things about your mind that you know, and things that you don’t know or understand.
You will know that science has established that the subconscious mind controls 95% of our life, including every physical movement, the decisions we make and actions we take, our emotions and behaviours.
So, our subconscious mind is always awake and never sleeps when we do because it controls all vital functions in our body, e.g., our heartbeat, blood circulation etc. While we are asleep, our conscious mind becomes dormant while our subconscious mind is active.
Science has also proven that we still hear and process everything in our mind while asleep.
You will have formed daily habits; your morning routine, how you travel around, what and when you eat, sleep, exercise etc. These have become second nature.
It’s the same with how we tend to communicate and our subconscious mind is operating in the background.
But the thing is, how do we know what we need to change when we are locked into these habits we have established?
That’s where EQ comes in. If we want to change the way we communicate, we have to be aware of our habit or tendency and consciously choose to do something differently.
For instance; if apprehension holds us back in the way we communicate, we can acknowledge that (we are human!) and then decide to try something different this time (using our EQ to overcome it and our conscious mind to change that habit).
Because, to be a really good communicator, we have to manage our emotions first before we can put our communication techniques into practice.
And that is where there has to be a stage that happens after we learn something new so we can dovetail it all together, whether that be Coaching or whatever support we have in place. That way, your new habits will become part of your subconscious mind operating in the background!
“To understand something, you must go to the source. In this case, the source is you. The source of the ability to unbury all of your past programming and realign with your true self. To awaken from a single mind, to the soul driving this whole thing on the inside.”
-Erin Dinsmore-
[Producer, Screenwriter, Content Creator, e.g., How to Be a Human Being]
As always, I will leave you with that thought!
If you would like to have a complimentary one-to-one coaching session with me to explore this further, you can book a slot HERE
I will be in touch again with more thoughts and tips on how you, and / or your team can be more effective communicators.
With best wishes,
Korinne
P.S. Check out The Communication Code
#communication #coaching #people #business