By Apeksha Kaushik, TimesJobs.com Bureau
Emotional agility doesn't come automatically, it is a by-product of your experience and practice. With changing dynamics and demanding businesses, it becomes important for leaders to have greater poise to minimise the impact of uncertainty.
A workplace can be riddled with negative energies. Self-evaluation, competition and comparison are a few of the many factors that can drive this negative internal process. In order to quell negative thoughts, people are adopting a technique called 'emotional agility'. Simply put, emotional agility is a technique of controlling thought process so the negative thoughts and ideas can be weeded out.
How do leaders acquire emotional agility?
TimesJobs.com spoke to some industry leaders to understand their perspective:
Sanjay Singh, co-founder & chief executive officer, hCentive
Since emotional agility begins with processing thoughts, thought watching is the first step. This gives an idea of the thoughts that are infusing negativity. Bucketing thoughts, feelings and facts can be marked to create separate sections - significant and insignificant. Insignificant weight can be dropped to get a clearer mind. A code of values is an internal response that can be created after employing the above steps. It is the ultimate way to gain emotional agility and is the driving force behind higher productivity, through reduced negative internal responses.
Deepika Pillai, human resource director, Xavient India
Leaders have multiple pressures - deliver results, build effective teams and maintain clients. It is all about doing more with less and with patience and composure. It is always good to not take things personally when they don't comply with your desired way. To quickly form an assumption and judge others is easy. However, as a leader being objective is essential for the organisation's harmony. Seeing the situation through the lens of others helps to see the unseen and resolve problems and build trust in the long way.
Ramaswamy Kavalapara, head HR-APAC, Xchanging
Not everything is about business profits. Companies are about people and their culture. When we are able to understand the environment and people's needs, we are able to convey the company's vision and values in as a story, which each person in the organisation can relate to. This leads to great emotional agility for the leadership as there is greater camaraderie in the organisation. A leader who can manage his/her stress and stay focused enough to motivate his or her team, successfully builds a loyal and happy workforce. It is indeed a business imperative for today's leaders to have a good outlook towards life and work and to be emotionally agile, so as to succeed in the role they are in.
Emotional agility doesn't come automatically, it is a by-product of your experience and practice. With changing dynamics and demanding businesses, it becomes important for leaders to have greater poise to minimise the impact of uncertainty.
A workplace can be riddled with negative energies. Self-evaluation, competition and comparison are a few of the many factors that can drive this negative internal process. In order to quell negative thoughts, people are adopting a technique called 'emotional agility'. Simply put, emotional agility is a technique of controlling thought process so the negative thoughts and ideas can be weeded out.
How do leaders acquire emotional agility?
TimesJobs.com spoke to some industry leaders to understand their perspective:
 |
Sanjay Singh, co-founder & chief executive officer, hCentive
Since emotional agility begins with processing thoughts, thought watching is the first step. This gives an idea of the thoughts that are infusing negativity. Bucketing thoughts, feelings and facts can be marked to create separate sections - significant and insignificant. Insignificant weight can be dropped to get a clearer mind. A code of values is an internal response that can be created after employing the above steps. It is the ultimate way to gain emotional agility and is the driving force behind higher productivity, through reduced negative internal responses.
Deepika Pillai, human resource director, Xavient India
Leaders have multiple pressures - deliver results, build effective teams and maintain clients. It is all about doing more with less and with patience and composure. It is always good to not take things personally when they don't comply with your desired way. To quickly form an assumption and judge others is easy. However, as a leader being objective is essential for the organisation's harmony. Seeing the situation through the lens of others helps to see the unseen and resolve problems and build trust in the long way.
Ramaswamy Kavalapara, head HR-APAC, Xchanging
Not everything is about business profits. Companies are about people and their culture. When we are able to understand the environment and people's needs, we are able to convey the company's vision and values in as a story, which each person in the organisation can relate to. This leads to great emotional agility for the leadership as there is greater camaraderie in the organisation. A leader who can manage his/her stress and stay focused enough to motivate his or her team, successfully builds a loyal and happy workforce. It is indeed a business imperative for today's leaders to have a good outlook towards life and work and to be emotionally agile, so as to succeed in the role they are in.
