Leading With Emotions

In the day to day hustle and bustle the “9 to 5” gig, we’ve learned to check our emotions at the door. I worked for an organization that was strict about keeping business business and personal personal. This translated to don’t bring your personal(authentic self) to business. It was clear that emotions had no place in the business environment.

This is where many organizations begin to see a disconnect with employee engagement. Let’s think about it, If we can’t bring our emotions to work with us, we can’t be authentic. If we can’t be authentic at some point we tire of trying to fit into the organization. Many organizations and individuals don’t take the time to educate on emotional intelligence better known as EI.

Here are some questions to ponder on:

1. What do you know about EI?

2. Have you or do you surpress your emotions while in the workplace?

3. What do you do to regulate your emotions when they are elevated?

These are all questions that are discussed when I met with organizations wanting to bring culture change. Change starts from within, you have to be true to who and what you are. The learn how to be authentic and inclusive to create a sound organizational structure.

Know Your Audience

While on a mission trip in Ghana, Africa I had the opportunity to present on goal setting. This trip was my first mission trip and my excitement was on overload!! I had spent about nine months preparing with the missions team. I knew I was to speak at a youth summit but had not other details. If you know me then you know that not knowing the details really stretched me. Ok if I’m honest it drove me insane! I constantly envisioned in my mind what to expect. I began to map out key speaking points and built upon them. There was nothing I could do besides take it as it came to me.

Fast Foward…..

The day of the youth summit, me and a few other missionaries were assigned to go out to publicize. Little did I know that it entailed us going out to speak at 5 major organizations in Accra, Ghana. Public speaking is one of my favorite things to do. I love to share life experiences and open up others to explore possibilities. In usual circumstances I’m able to articulate quite well and flow with ease. This however was unusual circumstances and let’s just say I wasn’t prepared.

The task given to the group was to tell the audience(mind you we are in Accra, Ghana) about the youth summit. I thought ok that’s simple enough let’s go! I forgot to mention that even though Ghanaians speak English, the native language is Twi. I had been in Accra for about 4 days at this point and spent a lot of time with the host. In all of our time spent together our communication was in English.

The host did a great job of supporting our small group and encouraged us to be our authentic selves! The host was very familiar with each organization so his job was to introduce us to each audience. No biggie, and I felt even better because he was laying down the foundation for us as we prepared to publicize the youth summit. The host had also became familiar with all of the missionaries. He provided guidance about each organization so that we would have some context. The host goes up on stage to introduce our group and I did not comprehend not one word! I could not comprehend because he began to speak in Twi!

This through me way off and my confidence shrunk immediately! I had had no idea what the host was saying and just continued to smile at the crowd. When it was my turn to speak, the crowd began to laugh. I was totally confused, because while at times I swear I’m a comedian this was not one of those times. I looked around and check the room to ensure I wasn’t missing anything. I looked at the host and he smiled and motioned for me to continue. I got through my portion and took my seat.

I later asked the host what happened or what did I miss? He assured me that I had done a great job, it was my accent in English that was amusing to the people. In my mind I presented everything I was supposed to and covered all of the specific points. I communicated efficiently and delivered my message with poise and ease.

However to my audience it was quite different! That’s why it’s important to always do research not just on your topic but on the people that your are delivering to. Researching the culture, language, and people can take you a long way!