Coaching Success Stories

Mike’s Emotional Intelligence Success Story

At a meeting of the senior leadership team, Mike was asked whether he could add a set of new tasks to the firm’s marketing plan.

As the marketing vice president, Mike “owned” the plan. It was complex already, consisting of many activities, and he didn’t think weighing it down with more made any sense. And since his department was short 2 employees, Mike knew his team would be overloaded.

Leadership Brand & Reputation: Changing Negative Perceptions by Others

Normally, Mike would have “blown his cool,” more than likely expressing his frustration to other members of the leadership team. He’s seen as a naysayer, someone who resists good ideas, at least when he’s focused on what he thinks are higher priorities.

Mike wants to change how others see him, what I call his leadership brand or reputation. He wants to be seen as more collaborative and cooperative. He realizes this meeting would be a perfect time to practice some of the emotional intelligence tactics he learned in our executive coaching sessions.

Emotional Intelligence: Self-Awareness & Self-Management

Mike listens to the request to expand the marketing plan, and takes a deep breath to calm down, and thinks about how to respond. He wants to hear what other leaders have to say, and offer them a way to take on the new activities, but without simply saying, “Yes, I’ll do whatever you want.” If he did that, he and his people would be overwhelmed, resentful, and could not complete other important work.

Practicing New Behaviors To Powerfully Influence Others

Mike said that although these new requests were not included in the original marketing plan, he could make some adjustments if the group decided they were important. Also, he gave them the option of including these activities in a future marketing campaign. The team ultimately agreed to the latter approach, and didn’t change the original plan or give Mike and his team more work.

An Emotional Intelligence Win

He left the meeting showing the group a positive and collaborative response, without feeling overwhelmed or setting his team up to fail.