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The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Self-awareness

If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with humility.

So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness?

Keep a journal. Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation

Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.

This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and commitment to personal accountability.

So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate?

Hold yourself accountable. If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the respect of those around you.

Practice being calm. The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper (and not showing them to anyone!) is better than speaking them aloud to your team. What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to ensure that they're fair!

3. Motivation

Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.

How can you improve your motivation?

Re-examine why you're doing your job. It's easy to forget what you really love about your career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. If you're unhappy in your role and you're struggling to remember why you wanted it, try the Five Whys technique to find the root of the problem. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way. And make sure that your goal statements are fresh and energizing. For more on this, see our article on Goal Setting.

4. Empathy

For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.

If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic.

How can you improve your empathy?

Respond to feelings. You ask your assistant to work late - again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social Skills

Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're experts at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.

Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and make everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behavior.

So, how can you build social skills?

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Emotional Intelligence in Leadership - Learning How to Be More Aware

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Relating to others is vital in today's workplace. Learn how to build your emotional intelligence (EI) with this article.

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8 Essential Qualities that Define Great Leadership

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8 Essential Qualities that Define Great Leadership

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Company leaders are facing a crisis. Nearly one-third of employees don't trust management. In addition to this, employers now have to cater to the needs of the millennial generation. On average, after graduating from college, a millennial will change jobs four times before they are 32. Most of them also don't feel empowered on their current jobs.

It's clear that many leaders are failing to foster a sense of trust and loyalty in their employees. Fortunately, that doesn't have to be the case. Managers who show great leadership qualities can inspire their teams to accomplish amazing things, according to Daniel Wang, the creator of Loopring Protocol and founder of the Loopring Foundation. Loopring is a decentralized automated execution system that trades across the crypto-token exchanges. The platform reduces the cost of trading and shields users from counterparty risk. I've distilled my conversation with Wang to eight of the most essential qualities that make a great leader.
1. Sincere enthusiasm
True enthusiasm for a business, its products, and its mission cannot be faked. Employees can recognize insincere cheerleading from a mile away. However, when leaders are sincerely enthusiastic and passionate, that's contagious. For instance, someone who worked with Elon Musk on the early stages of his SpaceX project said that the true driver behind the success of the project was Musk's enthusiasm for space travel.

Wang says being enthusiastic helps a leader identify existing key problems in his industry. "Any innovation starts from these problems and ends with products and services, with some of the key issues resolved," he said.
2. Integrity
Whether it's giving proper credit for accomplishments, acknowledging mistakes, or putting safety and quality first, great leaders exhibit integrity at all times. They do what's right, even if that isn't the best thing for the current project or even the bottom line.

"When people see evidence that leaders lack integrity, that can be nearly impossible to recover from," Wang said. "Trust lost is difficult to get back."
3. Great communication skills
Leaders must motivate, instruct and discipline the people they are in charge of. They can accomplish none of these things if they aren't very skilled communicators. Not only that, poor communication can lead to poor outcomes. Leaders who fail to develop these skills are often perceived as being weak and mealy-mouthed, according to Wang. It's also important to remember that listening is an integral part of communication.
4. Loyalty
The best leaders understand that true loyalty is reciprocal. Because of this, they express that loyalty in tangible ways that benefit the member of their teams. True loyalty is ensuring that all team members have the training and resources to do their jobs. It's standing up for team members in crisis and conflict.

"Great leaders see themselves as being in a position of service to their team members," Wang said. "Employees who believe leadership is loyal to them are much more likely to show their own loyalty when it matters."
5. Decisiveness
A good leader isn't simply empowered to make decisions due to their position. They are willing to take on the risk of decision making. They make these decisions and take risks knowing that if things don't work out, they'll need to hold themselves accountable first and foremost.

Further, bosses who aren't decisive are often ineffective. Too much effort working on consensus building can have a negative effect. Rather than simply making a decision, many leaders allow debate to continue, and then create a piecemeal decision that satisfies no one.
6. Managerial competence
Too many organizations try to create leaders from people who are simply good at their jobs. To be clear, those who emerge as being very good workers often have important qualities. They are the ones who have a strong understanding of the company's products and services. They understand company goals, processes, and procedures. All of these are important.

On the other hand, being good at one's job doesn't prove that someone possesses the other competencies they need. For example, can they inspire, motivate, mentor and direct? Wang illustrates with major league baseball. While nearly all coaches have backgrounds as major league players, the most winning players aren't necessarily the most successful coaches.
7. Empowerment
A good leader has faith in their ability to train and develop the employees under them. Because of this, they have the willingness to empower those they lead to act autonomously. Wang says this comes from trusting that their team members are fully up to any challenges they face. When employees are empowered, they are more likely to make decisions that are in the best interest of the company and the customer as well. This is true, even if it means allowing workers to go a bit off script.
8. Charisma
Simply put, people are more likely to follow the lead of those they like. The best leaders are well-spoken, approachable and friendly. They show sincere care for others.

"People at all levels of an organization find it easy to relate to them and follow their lead," Wang concluded.

Every one of these qualities is absolutely essential to great leadership. Without them, leaders cannot live up to their full potential. As a result, their employees will never perform as well as they can either. Because of this, organizations must learn the best ways to identify and also to develop these necessary traits in existing and emerging leaders.

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8 Essential Qualities That Define Great Leadership

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Company leaders are facing a crisis. Nearly one-third of employees don't trust management. In addition to this, employers now have to cater to the needs of the millennial generation. On average, after graduating from college, a millennial will change jobs four times before they are 32.

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When most people imagine intelligence, they picture a mathematician solving equations, a novelist writing great works of literature or a philosopher expounding on wise principles.

But brilliance takes many forms, not least of which is the ability to comprehend and manage emotions. Known as emotional intelligence, this trait is often overlooked, yet crucial for success as a business leader.

Here's what having emotional intelligence provides you with:
Acute Awareness
One of the defining features of emotional intelligence is the ability to comprehend the effects of your feelings. This is crucial for making sound, objective decisions when your pride and self-esteem are at stake. All leaders must face situations where their emotions make a decision seem better than it is.

If you previously expressed support for a certain strategy, for example, your pride will be tied up with that strategy, making it harder to recognize if it isn't working. Leaders who have emotional intelligence are more likely to realize when pride and other emotions are influencing their thinking, allowing them to make more rational, impartial choices.
Impact Interpretation
In addition to reigning in your own feelings, emotional intelligence makes it easier to anticipate and respond to others' sentiments. As much as we may want for it to be objective, business is an emotional experience.

Bad news from work can shock or dismay your employees, while good news may make them unreasonably optimistic. Emotional intelligence means you can tell ahead of time how others will react and develop a strategy to keep them grounded.
Mental Health Management
Those with emotional intelligence have an easier time assessing the emotional and psychological state of their employees. This makes it easier to determine if someone is suffering from:

* Anxiety

* Depression

* Grief

* Trauma

* Eating disorders

By recognizing threats to your employees' mental health, you can provide them with the support and professional resources they need to recover. Not only is this good for their health but it promotes a more harmonious, productive workplace.
Cultivated Communication
Leaders with emotional intelligence have an improved ability to gauge others' responses to their words and actions. This makes it easier for you to tell if your employees really understand what you are saying or are confused but unwilling to say so. You can then refine your messages accordingly, developing reliable ways of communicating with everyone who works for you.

Emotional intelligence also makes it easier for you to listen to what other people are saying clearly and without judgment, ensuring that others can always give you the information you need.
Helpful Humor
Never underestimate the value of humor in business. A good joke or clever play on words can cheer up dismayed employees, win over skeptical customers and draw positive attention to your brand. If you have emotional intelligence, it will be easier to tell what people will find funny. You can also determine in which situations humor will be appropriate, finding the proper balance between serious work and lightheartedness.

While intelligence is important, emotional intelligence is a key to success in leadership and in being able to relate to others. When dealing with others, truly try to place yourself in their situation. It will help you choose the best method to solve problems and achieve your goals.

How has emotional intelligence helped you to make sound and informed decisions?

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Why Emotional Intelligence Is Indispensable For Leaders

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When most people imagine intelligence, they picture a mathematician solving equations, a novelist writing great works of literature or a philosopher expounding on wise principles. But brilliance takes many forms, not least of which is the ability to comprehend and manage emotions.

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A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better. - Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur.

Everyone on Samit's team knows that he's "there for them." He checks in with them often to see how they are, and he helps them develop the skills they need to advance their careers, even if this means that they may move on.

Samit also makes an effort to see situations from others' perspectives. He makes decisions with the team's best interests in mind, and ensures that everyone has the resources and knowledge they need to meet their objectives.

As a result of this, his team is one of the most successful in the department, with low staff turnover and high engagement.

Samit is an example of a "servant leader." In this article, we'll explore what servant leadership is, and the advantages it can bring you as a leader. We'll also look at situations where it isn't appropriate.

What Is Servant Leadership?

Robert K. Greenleaf first coined the phrase "servant leadership" in his 1970 essay, " The Servant as a Leader." However, it's an approach that people have used for centuries.

As a servant leader, you're a "servant first" - you focus on the needs of others, especially team members, before you consider your own. You acknowledge other people's perspectives, give them the support they need to meet their work and personal goals, involve them in decisions where appropriate, and build a sense of community within your team. This leads to higher engagement, more trust, and stronger relationships with team members and other stakeholders. It can also lead to increased innovation.

However, servant leadership is problematic in hierarchical, autocratic cultures where managers and leaders are expected to make all the decisions. Here, servant leaders may struggle to earn respect.

Important:

Remember that servant leadership is about focusing on other people's needs - not their feelings. Don't avoid making unpopular decisions or giving team members negative feedback when this is needed.

Also, do not rely on it exclusively - use it alongside styles like Transformational Leadership, where you develop an inspiring vision of the future, motivate people to deliver this, manage its implementation, and build an ever-stronger team.

How to Become a Servant Leader

According to Larry C. Spears, former president of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, these are the 10 most important characteristics of servant leaders:

1. Listening.

2. Empathy.

3. Healing.

4. Awareness.

5. Persuasion.

6. Conceptualization.

7. Foresight.

8. Stewardship.

9. Commitment to the growth of people.

10. Building community.

Once you've decided to prioritize other people's needs over your own in the long term, you can work on developing your skills in each area. Let's look at how you can do this.

1. Listening

2. Empathy

3. Healing

This characteristic relates to the emotional health and "wholeness" of people, and involves supporting them both physically and mentally.

4. Self-Awareness

You can become more self-aware by knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and asking for other people's feedback on them. Also, learn to manage your emotions, so that you consider how your actions and behavior might affect others.

5. Persuasion

There are many tools and models that you can use to be more persuasive, without damaging relationships or taking advantage of others. You should also build your expert power - when people perceive you as an expert, they are more likely to listen to you when you want to persuade or inspire them.

6. Conceptualization

This characteristic relates to your ability to "dream great dreams," so that you look beyond day-to-day realities to the bigger picture.

7. Foresight

Foresight is when you can predict what's likely to happen in the future by learning from past experiences, identifying what's happening now, and understanding the consequences of your decisions.

You can use tools such as SWOT Analysis and PEST Analysis to think about your current situation and environment, while Scenario Analysis helps you understand how the future could play out. Use the ORAPAPA checklist when you make a decision, to learn from experience and make sure that you've considered all the angles.

Also, learn to trust your intuition - if your instinct is telling you that something is wrong, listen to it!

8. Stewardship

Stewardship is about taking responsibility for the actions and performance of your team, and being accountable for the role team members play in your organization.

9. Commitment to the Growth of People

Servant leaders are committed to the personal and professional development of everyone on their teams.

10. Building Community

The last characteristic is to do with building a sense of community within your organization.

You can do this by providing opportunities for people to interact with one another across the company. For instance, you could organize social events such as team lunches and barbecues, design your workspace to encourage people to chat informally away from their desks, and dedicate the first few minutes of meetings to non-work-related conversations.

Encourage people to take responsibility for their work, and remind them how what they do contributes to the success and overall objectives of the organization.

Tip:

See our article on Leadership Styles to explore popular leadership approaches and the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

And see this Expert Interview for a valuable discussion on the misconceptions and realities of servant leadership.

Key Points

You are a servant leader when you focus on the needs of others before you consider your own. It's a longer-term approach to leadership, rather than a technique that you can adopt in specific situations. Therefore, you can use it with other leadership styles such as Transformational Leadership.

You can become a servant leader by working on these 10 characteristics:

1. Listening.

2. Empathy.

3. Healing.

4. Awareness.

5. Persuasion.

6. Conceptualization.

7. Foresight.

8. Stewardship.

9. Commitment to the growth of people.

10. Building community.

Servant leaders are likely to have more engaged employees and enjoy better relationships with team members and other stakeholders than leaders who don't put the interests of others before their own.

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Servant Leadership: Putting Your Team First, and Yourself Second

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A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better. - Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur. Everyone on Samit's team knows that he's "there for them."

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Access the essential membership for Modern Managers

What makes a truly exceptional leader? Chances are we've all encountered them at some point in our careers: those leaders who stand out above the rest. Those who bring out the best in every one of their team members, and who consistently strive for greatness.

Take Molly for example. Everyone respects Molly. She inspires and encourages her team members, while expecting and demonstrating the highest standards. In return, her people are fiercely loyal, and they're highly successful - as individuals, and as a team. In short, Molly is a Transformational Leader.

By contrast, other leaders in the organization report that their people seem disengaged. They experience high staff turnover, and their results are often disappointing. So, what does Molly do that other leaders don't?

To begin with, Molly regularly reminds her team members of the purpose of their work. And she knows that she's a role model for her team, so she acts with integrity in all of her working relationships.

In this article and video, we'll explore what transformational leadership is, and discover what it takes to become a transformational leader.

What Is Transformational Leadership?

Leadership expert James MacGregor Burns introduced the concept of transformational leadership in his 1978 book, "Leadership." He defined transformational leadership as a process where "leaders and their followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation." [1]

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Watch this video to learn the definition of Transformational Leadership. Explore the theory behind this leadership style, and discover the characteristics of transformational leaders.

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Pressure to Graduate Failing Students is Felt Nationwide

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Pressure to Graduate Failing Students is Felt Nationwide

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The headlines made a big splash, and yet they were strangely familiar: Another school system was reporting a higher graduation rate than it deserved.

The most recent scandal-in the District of Columbia-is just the latest example in a growing case file of school systems where investigators have uncovered bogus graduation-rate practices.

Those revelations have unleashed a wave of questions about the pressures and incentives built into U.S. high schools, and fueled nagging doubts that states' rising high school graduation rates-and the country's current all-time-high rate of 84 percent -aren't what they seem.

The newest round of reflections was triggered by an investigation, ordered by the D.C. mayor's office, that found that 34 percent of last year's senior class got diplomas even though they'd missed too much school to earn passing grades, or acquired too many credits through quick, online courses known as credit recovery. Only three months earlier, the school system touted a 20-point rise in its graduation rate over the last six years.

"It's been devastating," said Cathy Reilly, the executive director of the Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals, and Educators, a group that focuses on high school issues in the District of Columbia. "It's made people here feel that our graduation rate gains weren't real."

A National Problem

Such revelations are hardly confined to the nation's capital. In the last few years, a federal audit found that California and Alabama inflated their graduation rates by counting students they shouldn't have counted. News media investigations showed that educators persuaded low-performing students in Atlanta and Orlando, Fla., to transfer to private or alternative schools to eliminate a drag on their home schools' graduation rates.

See Also: The D.C. Public School Attendance Scandal: Where's the Outrage? (Commentary)

The drumbeat of graduation-rate fudging has opened the door to renewed attacks on the pressures imposed on schools by accountability rules, particularly the high stakes that some systems attach to specific metrics. In the District of Columbia, for instance, high school teachers and principals are evaluated in part on how many students pass courses and graduate.

With those kinds of stakes, teachers can feel immense pressure to award passing grades to students who haven't earned them, a dilemma that intensifies in schools with high rates of chronic absenteeism and academically struggling students.

In a survey of 616 District of Columbia teachers conducted after the scandal broke, 47 percent said they'd felt pressured or coerced into giving grades that didn't accurately reflect what students had learned. Among high school teachers, that number rose to 60 percent. More than 2 in 10 said that their student grades or attendance data had been changed by someone else after teachers submitted them.

Scott Goldstein oversaw the survey as the founder of EmpowerEd, a year-old coalition of D.C. teachers that works to strengthen teacher leadership. To him, the results cry out for a new conversation about the "moral dilemmas" embedded in accountability systems that rely heavily on just a few metrics, like graduation rates.

"If you pass students [who haven't completed course requirements], you're leading them into a world they're unprepared for. But if you fail them, you're harming their lives in other ways," said Goldstein, a social studies teacher at Roosevelt High School. Teachers' decisions should rest on a professional appraisal of student mastery, not on fear for their own jobs, he said.

In the wake of the scandal, D.C. school leaders have removed graduation and course-passing rates from principals' and teachers' 2017-18 evaluations.

Pressure From the Top

Even in school systems that don't reward or penalize educators for their schools' accountability metrics, teachers can feel immense pressure from administrators on their grading practices.

In postings on social media, Education Week asked high school teachers if they'd ever felt pressure to give passing grades to students who hadn't done the work.

"Never mind high school. I feel that pressure in 3rd grade," said Annie, an elementary school teacher in central Virginia. She asked Education Week not to identify her so she could discuss sensitive issues.

She said her principal has cautioned her not to fail any student or recommend that they repeat a grade because she "doesn't want anyone to feel bad about not succeeding." When she gave a student a D recently, she was summoned to a meeting with the principal, Annie said.

"She was upset. She said, 'Why didn't you work harder to get the student to turn in missing work, or re-do work?' She sees a D as a teacher's failure. But I think it's a disservice to kids to give them grades they haven't earned."

John R. Tibbetts, who teaches economics at Worth County High School in rural Sylvester, Ga., and is the state's 2018 teacher of the year, said his district's policy doesn't include course-failure rates in teachers' evaluations. But his principal recently sent teachers an email conveying word from their superintendent that "failure rates ... will be taken into consideration" in their evaluations anyway.

A Change of Approach

Tibbetts said he would like to replace that "threatening" posture with a more collaborative one.

"If the superintendent is concerned with course-failure or graduation rates, what we really need is for him to have a conversation with teachers about what we need to do to improve, what policies we can implement," he said.

Education advocates who believe accountability can be a force for good worry that graduation-rate scandals could tarnish a tool that's important for shining a light on inequities and applying pressure for school improvement.

They hope, instead, that uncovering problems can spark a rebalancing of the pressures and supports built into accountability systems, and change school practice to respond better to issues like students' poor academic skills and chronic absenteeism.

"We shouldn't stop paying attention to high school grad rates, or not have them in accountability systems," said Michael Cohen, the president of Achieve, which works with states to raise academic expectations.

"The right response to all of this is to double down on efforts to support students, and to support teachers, early and consistently, so they're not pressured to game the system and they can give kids what they need."

Experts who study and track graduation rates acknowledge that in some places, the rates are inflated by cheating or inaccurate reporting. But they contend that those cases account for a tiny share of schools overall. Robert Balfanz, a Johns Hopkins University researcher who studies graduation rates, estimates that those cases account for 2 to 4 percentage points in the national graduation rate.

'Hard-Earned Gains' Are Real

John Bridgeland, the chief executive officer of Civic Enterprises, a think tank that examines graduation rates for the annual "Grad Nation" reports, said his team has visited dozens of schools to find out what they're doing to produce significant gains in their graduation rates.

In a few places, he said, he and his colleagues have had to shave 2 to 4 percentage points off the rates districts were reporting because they were improperly counting some types of students who shouldn't be included, such as those who started home schooling in their junior year of high school.

But with few exceptions, Bridgeland said, his team has found that "the hard work" of better instruction and student support explains higher graduation rates.

"We need to call out the problems when gaming or cheating appears," he said. "But at the same time, taking isolated examples of gaming the system and saying that high school grad rates are not real diminishes and undermines the many schools, districts, and states that have hard-earned gains and clear progress to showcase," he said.

Those who study graduation-rate calculations point out that while they're still imperfect, they've been much more reliable since 2008 when federal regulations began requiring all schools to calculate them the same way-the portion of each freshman class that earns regular diplomas four years later.

Balfanz said that more stringent calculation and reporting requirements "without a doubt" have been responsible for a very real rise in states' graduation rates.

"People don't remember the bad days before 2008, when schools were allowed to measure graduation rates however they wanted," he said. "Kids dropped out, schools would code them as 'whereabouts unknown,' not as a dropout. No one knew, and no one cared. That wasn't a good place. Accountability makes schools pay attention to a key outcome, like graduating our kids from high school."

But even those experts acknowledge that there are still too many hidden variations in the way states report graduation-rate data. To get a more accurate understanding of schools' graduation rates, they've quietly identified about a dozen variations that should be ferreted out and handled in uniform ways.

For example, even though federal rules don't allow states to count summer graduates, or those who earn high school equivalency certificates, some still do. Some schools include summer graduates, or students in juvenile justice facilities. Others include teenagers who "transfer" into home schooling late in high school.

Published in Print: February 28, 2018, as Pressure to Graduate Failing Students Is Felt Nationwide

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D.C.'s Scandal and the Nationwide Problem of Fudging Graduation Numbers

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The revelations about District of Columbia schools have unleashed a wave of questions about the pressures and incentives built into U.S. high schools, and fueled nagging doubts that states' rising high school graduation rates-and the country's all-time-high rate of 84 percent-aren't what they seem.

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This is one of the most amazing books I've read on growth mindset and leadership. It is a must read!

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John Maxwell is my favorite author on leadership.

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Do you remember the day you became a leader?

You might not even recognize that version of yourself. Maybe you shudder when you think about the answer to that question, and you're now trying to think about something else to focus on as fast as you can. I get it!

The day I'm thinking of isn't "the first day I led something." That was back in high school, and I do shudder when I think of that awkward, pimple-faced kid. The day I'm thinking of is the first day I had someone who was being paid for their work who reported to me. I had done their job until that particular day. With my recent promotion (and theirs), I was now their supervisor.

If you've made that shift in your professional life, do you remember what that season was like? I hope it went better for you than it did for me!

I made many mistakes and if I could back with what I know today, I'd inflict less pain on the young man I supervised. What I discovered leading someone else involved was not what I expected.

Leading others involves an incredible amount of adaptation and flexibility, much more than I realized.

I had a phone conversation with the man I oversaw recently. A couple of days after that call, I thought about all I learned from my first role as someone's boss.

Hopefully, these lessons can help you or someone you know make this transition. I hope you can learn from my mistakes.

No One is Great in the Beginning

I can remember being frustrated with my supervisee when he started - how much he didn't know and the gap between his performance and mine. In my head, I was thinking, "I'm better at this than you." A few moments later, though, I remembered, "But I wasn't when I started."

None of us are great in the beginning. If we reconnected to our past, maybe even walked a mile in the shoes of the person we're leading, we'd recognize that everyone has a learning curve and it's our job as leaders to help them navigate it well.

Performing and Managing Require a Different Skill Set

If you've not supervised someone else, there is one piece of wisdom I'd share with you. In the beginning, you're going to be better at doing their job than being the supervisor of their job.

It's crazy when you think about it. What got you the supervisor or manager role is a very different skill set than what will enable you to thrive in leading others. If I could go back to that young man I was leading, I'd tell him, "I'm better at this than you but I still suck as your boss. Please give me grace while I make this transition and I'll do the same for you."

Manage the Outcome, Not the Process

I quickly learned that "done by someone else" is better than "undone but still sitting on my plate." I didn't surrender and delegate well in the very beginning and if I'm honest, I still tend to hold on to the reigns tighter as a leader than I should. I remember that first supervisee apologizing when he did something different than I would have. I wish I had celebrated how his work was freeing me up to do what I only could do.

If you haven't made this shift, I'd encourage you to focus more on the outcome than the process it takes to get there. When we start managing to an outcome, not micro-managing the process, it's more likely we'll get stellar results and respect from our team.

Be as Clear as Possible

In this book, The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni describes the four habits of organizational health this way. "Build a cohesive leadership team, create clarity, over-communicate clarity, and reinforce clarity." Clarity is kind of important, I think!

Much of our frustration in organizational life comes from a lack of clarity. The drama, politics, unmet expectations, and meetings-after-meetings - they often stem back to a lack of clarity. We need to pursue and communicate even greater clarity, so our team knows what is sacred and where they can be flexible.

Offer the Training and Preparation You Never Got

Most of us were under-trained and under-prepared when we got started. We were thrown into the deep end and expected to swim. And there can be some value to this approach when done strategically. However, most of our experience in this area comes because someone else was haphazard, not intentional.

I didn't spend nearly enough time with the young man who took my job. I failed to help him understand how I thought, what drove my philosophy and approach, and how I ultimately became successful.

At the beginning of overseeing someone, we'll feel like we don't have time to help them learn and grow. We'll want to expedite the preparation stage. But if we were in their shoes, we'd want to be trained and invested in, empowered to succeed.

Leadership requires more flexibility and adaptability than we ever imagine. Some of our greatest struggles as leaders come when we're transitioning into new roles and letting go of old ones. We can all do better as we help other people succeed.

One of my leadership mentors, Todd Adkins, is always reminding those around him of an important truth. "A big part of leadership is recognizing that your fruit often grows on other people's trees."

The success of those we lead is our success.

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The Hardest Transition We'll Make: From Self-Leadership to Leading Others

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Do you remember the day you became a leader? You might not even recognize that version of yourself. Maybe you shudder when you think about the answer to that question, and you're now trying to think about something else to focus on as fast as you can. I get it!

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First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy

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"It takes guts to be a first follower. It takes guts. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader... then there's a second follower. Have the guts wh...

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Brighton School of Business and Management

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Applying Leadership Theory in the Classroom

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Applying Leadership Theory in the Classroom

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10 guiding principles for leaders | TED Talks

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It never hurts to have a basic set of guiding principles. Let these insightful talks help shape, redefine and build out your own leadership goals. (Curated in partnership with SAP)

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Five TED Talks to Boost Your Emotional Intelligence

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Five TED Talks to Boost Your Emotional Intelligence

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Emotional intelligence is more than a hot topic or trending hashtag. The term describes an extremely important concept: a person's ability to recognize his or her own and other people's emotions, to understand the powerful effect of these emotions, and to use that information to guide thinking and behavior. This quality greatly enhances your efforts to achieve success--in many areas of life.

So how do you develop emotional intelligence? As with any skill, you must study and practice. Here are 5 TED Talks that will help you increase self-awareness and start targeting areas for improvement.

1. Kelly McGonigal: How to make stress your friend

In this open and honest talk, psychologist Kelly McGonigal admits a fundamental change in her thinking regarding stress. She recounts that for years she taught others what sounds like a completely reasonable theory: Stress makes people sick. But then she shares the research that got her thinking differently: Stress may only be bad for you if you believe that it's bad for you.

McGonigal encourages us to see stress as a positive, and introduces us to the resulting benefits in doing so. She also teaches us how reaching out to others--either when we're under stress or when they are--helps build resilience.

2. Arianna Huffington: How to succeed? Get more sleep

You know Ms. Huffington as the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post, as well as an accomplished author and businesswoman.

In four compelling (and very funny) minutes, Ms. Huffington shares a personal experience that led to a personal discovery. In doing so, she urges us to take a closer look at the benefits of getting enough rest--and gives new meaning to the phrase "sleeping your way to the top".

3. Laura Trice: The power of saying thank you

There are few phrases in the English language that match the power of these two words: thank you.

In a simple (yet profound) three-minute talk, Dr. Laura Trice shares with us the potential of those two words to change relationships, along with the reasons why we don't hear the phrase as often as we should, and why we shouldn't be afraid to ask someone else to say it.

4. Daniel Goleman: Why aren't we more compassionate?

Daniel Goleman is a psychologist and award-winning author who greatly contributed to the popularity of EQ through his 1995 best-selling book Emotional Intelligence.

By brilliantly mixing scientific research and absorbing anecdotes, Goleman delves into the theme question with gusto. In doing so, he inspires us to think about the society we've created, what influences our perspective, and how we can do better. (His concluding story is eye-opening, to say the least.)

5. Mandy Len Catron: Falling in love is the easy part

I almost didn't include this one, but in the end I couldn't resist. It's true, the title might not speak to an audience of entrepreneurs and business owners. But the insights Ms. Catron provide go much further than finding romantic love.

In exploring the differences between falling and staying in love, Ms. Catron teaches important lessons about how we get to know others on a deeper level. Even more importantly, she raises thoughtful questions that each of us would do well to ponder. When we do, we are reminded of what it takes to maintain our most important relationships.

Upon reflection, we realize that developing emotional intelligence may not be easy--but it's definitely worth it.

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5 Brilliant TED Talks That Will Boost Your Emotional Intelligence

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Emotional intelligence is more than a hot topic or trending hashtag. The term describes an extremely important concept: a person's ability to recognize his or her own and other people's emotions, to understand the powerful effect of these emotions, and to use that information to guide thinking and behavior.

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Transformational Leaders

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Transformational Leaders

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Ten years ago, businesses were racing to understand and capitalize on concepts such as data mining, search technology, and virtual collaboration.

Today, digital transformation-which describes how digital technology is fundamentally changing the ways businesses operate and deliver value to customers-rules the roost and is disrupting companies everywhere, from their operating models to their infrastructures.

But that's only part of the equation. "Digital transformation is actually a human transformation," said Brian Solis, principal analyst at consulting and research company Altimeter. "We've learned that people have mistakenly overemphasized the role of technology in change. What this comes down to is leadership."

With that in mind, we spoke with nine executives and thought leaders about what makes good leaders great, the habits that inform success, and specific skills they must hone to realize this transformation.

1. Be Empathetic
Truly great digital transformation leaders understand how human dynamics-fear, politics, ego, sabotage, and safety-play into people's feelings about change. They don't assume their teams see the world their way. Rather, they see how others might perceive things, then "bridges between how they see it and what you're trying to do," Solis said.

"It's not about getting people to follow you. It's empowering people to lead their own initiatives and collaborate with you and others," he told CMO.com. "It's about unification of a bigger movement of getting people to bring about change because they want to-not because they have to."

Amid all that change, when products and processes are shifting, leaders are tasked with ensuring that they weave humanity into every touch point, said Leesa Wytock, senior director of experience at brand strategy and design firm Siegel+Gale. That's difficult to do without empathy.

"Empathy is what allows you to get the best work out of your team, it's what makes you a good partner to work with, and it's what makes your digital transformations successful," she told CMO.com. "A lot of user experience work deals with behavioral science and empathy. You need to put yourself in the user's shoes to get a product or process right."

2. Step Outside Your Box
According to Jeffrey Brandt, CIO at national law firm Jackson Kelly, seeking out connections, experiences, and information outside of your particular industry can help light on what other businesses are doing in their digital transformations.

"It's important to look at other industries and what's impacting and challenging them, how they're solving problems or implementing different techniques and workflows, and how all that may be applicable to what I'm doing," he said. "Sometimes you discover an approach to something that you never would have thought about."

Kathy Schneider, CMO at IT infrastructure company Sungard Availability Services, finds outside connections and opportunities at roundtable events.

"The dialogue and discussions are always immensely useful, and there's a great amount of peer learning," she said. "Talking with executives from other companies gives you perspective about what's working for them and what isn't, and how you might apply that where you are."

Equally important is finding these experiences and opportunities for your team, Wytock added. Siegel+Gale, for example, brings culture hackers or thought leaders into the office for Ted-Talk-style discussions.

"Bringing in outside influences helps shake people out of their day-to-day and inspires them," she said. "It's been great for everyone and has even resulted in new product ideas."

3. Hone Your Communication Skills
Communicating effectively-that is, knowing what to articulate, how, and in what context-is key to leading effectively, said Dominic Siano, digital marketing and transformation consultant at business and technology services company Cognizant. This means consciously reducing digital and technical jargon when you're presenting to business stakeholders or with customers.

"In all of your communications, you want your audience-whoever it may be-to feel like they're on your level and that they can participate in that conversation," he said. "Learning to convey complicated messages simply takes time and practice but pays dividends. Other leaders and employees will find you more approachable, easier to talk to, and fully understood, which is key in leading a digital transformation."

Another tip: Watch the room when others present or pitch ideas, Sungard Availability Services' Schneider said. Look for techniques that are well-received, and note which ones fall flat.

"Communication, especially during a digital transformation, is so, so important," she said. "It requires buy-in from executives and teams from across the organization, and knowing how to finesse your style and frame the argument for why you're doing this and why it's important is key to your success."

4. Ask 'Why?'
At the core of every transformation should be an "insatiable" curiosity-"whether it's about a new technology, the results you're seeing, or understanding what people are struggling with," according to Chris Hall, VP and GM of customer experience at Adobe (CMO.com's parent company).

"As leaders, we're presented with a lot of information about the 'what' when we really need to understand the 'why?'" she said. "For example, being told we fell short of our goal is not enough. We need to understand why did we miss? Are other markets experiencing something similar? What are the factors that are impacting it? If the answer is, "That's the way we've always done it,' then ... you need to challenge the norm."

Transformation, she added, can be "big and messy," accompanied by plenty of fatigue. "The faster you can arrive at a hypothesis and test for the 'why,' the more you can focus on the thing that really matters," she said. "Curiosity and focus are two things that differentiate most leaders. These need to be pervasive. Anchoring around curiosity and focus will get you beyond the 'what' to understand the 'why.'''

5. Tune Out The Noise
A digital detox might seem like a counterintuitive move for digital transformation leaders, but doing so has helped Jeff Pundyk, chief strategy officer at Techonomy, find more time to focus on strategy, innovation, and big-picture thinking.

"I cut my social media to a bare minimum and removed Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter from my phone. For me, these are all very low-value, high-time applications that, over the past 12 months, have sucked up an enormous amount of time and energy," he told CMO.com.

That's not to say social media doesn't have value; understanding these technologies is important for any successful digital leader, he said. It's important, however, to acknowledge and act when they-and other time-sucks-become too consuming.

"You have to be disciplined," he said. "Not only does it take up time when you're using it, but it takes up headspace when you're not. In the moments when you could be thinking big thoughts, you're on social media. Those are missed opportunities."

6. Develop Emotional Intelligence
While it may be a trendy buzz-phrase in business today, emotional intelligence-the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others-sets leaders apart, said Michael Heiser, IT director for the Wyndham Hotel Group.

The term was coined in 1990 in a research paper by two psychology professors, and later put in business context by Rutgers University psychologist Daniel Goleman: "The most effective leaders are all alike in one crucial way: They all have a high degree in what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. It's not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They do matter, but ... they are the entry-level requirements for executive positions," he wrote.

Heiser, who started his career as an engineer, said that honing his emotional intelligence has helped him develop and fortify his relationships with his engineers.

"They don't respect leaders who can't understand the technology that they're dealing with," he told CMO.com. "You need to know the right things and the wrong things to say in certain situations. You need that emotional intelligence to be a competent leader."

Empathy, mentioned earlier, also plays a role. Digital leaders need to identify with others' feelings-while also understanding their own-and use that information as a guide when making business decisions.

7. Think Like A Futurist
Because the future is anything but certain, digital transformation leaders need to stop ruminating about what may or may not happen as an absolute, said Jacob Morgan, author of " The Future of Work."

"When it comes to digital transformation, business leaders need to remember to think in terms of different scenarios and time horizons instead of thinking in terms of one outcome during one time period," he told CMO.com.

Focusing on the "transformation" piece of digital transformation and what businesses should do to prepare limits thinking, Morgan added. Instead, digital transformation leaders need to think about what they can do to build the future of work they want to see.

"This ... allows digital transformation leaders to go from being passive participants to being active creators," he said. "Everything we do is about choice. It's a chess match where each move we make can lead down a different path."

Keeping that in mind will ensure that business leaders are prepared for any uncertainty that comes their way, Morgan added. "We no longer work for factories," he said. "We work for laboratories, and those who can run the most experiments the most often will win."

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The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Transformation Leaders

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Taking a business on its digital transformation journey requires great leaders. We spoke with nine executives and thought leaders about what makes good leaders great, the habits that inform success, and specific skills they must hone to realize this transformation.

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Carol Dweck: The power of believing that you can improve

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Carol Dweck researches "growth mindset" - the idea that we can grow our brain's capacity to learn and to solve problems. In this talk, she describes two ways to think about a problem that's slightly too hard for you to solve. Are you not smart enough to solve it ...

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Linda Cliatt-Wayman: How to fix a broken school? Lead fearlessly, love hard

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On Linda Cliatt-Wayman's first day as principal at a failing high school in North Philadelphia, she was determined to lay down the law. But she soon realized the job was more complex than she thought. With palpable passion, she shares the three principles that helped her turn around three schools labeled "low-performing and persistently dangerous."