Boundaries

Over the past several weeks, we have been discussing concepts related to Emotional Intelligence and one of the aspects we have not discussed is the need to step away and take a break. In our work with coalitions and relationships, we constantly connect with people and practice our emotional intelligence skills. While this is a […]

As much as we practice our Emotional Intelligence skills and work diligently to build and maintain strong relationships, there are going to be times when we get it wrong. We may be impatient, annoyed, unkind, disinterested, self-centered, lack compassion or lack self-control. In a recent meeting, I noticed that some of my colleagues seemed overwhelmed

Our coalition work is relationship work. Without people and relationships, we would not have coalitions. While we may be focused on an area of collective interest, our work is all about people. This is why the concepts of Emotional Intelligence are so important. Last Friday, two tornadoes swept through our city. While we may have

Over the past year, I have been slowly reading through Brené Brown’s new book, Atlas of the Heart. In this book, she focuses on labeling, defining and creating a common language around emotions. As we consider applying the concepts of Emotional Intelligence, creating a common language can be particularly helpful in all domains. As we

Have you thought about your energy lately? Or the energy around you? Do you leave meetings feeling completely drained and exhausted or do you leave meetings energized and ready to take action?  Over the past few weeks, we have been discussing emotional intelligence and recognizing more about ourselves and others. One of those areas relates

Since our coalition work is highly dependent upon relationship-building, our ability to interact positively and manage our relationships well is a critical component of coalition building. While overall Emotional intelligence, self awareness and self management and social awareness are important, the concept of relationship management brings it all together. When we know ourselves and others

As a coalition leader, you likely spend most of your time working with others, but are you able to recognize, understand and empathize with them? While we will never fully know the context, story or situation that our coalition members or partners are experiencing, when we practice the Emotional intelligence concept of social awareness, we

Leading coalitions is a lot like caregiving. We check in with our partners, assess how they are participating and engaging, answer questions and find ways to connect them to one another. We may serve as facilitators, mediators and conflict-resolution specialists. While these are important Emotional Intelligence practices, if we are going to do them well,

Coalition building = relationship building. When it comes to relationship-building, we have an ongoing challenge of developing new relationships and sustaining existing ones. While some of us may be more naturally inclined toward relationship-building, we are likely using skills that may not have been “named.” Last week, I participated in a video interview that is

Last week, I led a small group meeting and assumed that the group knew what we were doing and what they were expected to do. I had sent an email inviting them, gave them something to review prior to the meeting and thought that they clearly knew what we were doing. Since several of them