Emotionally Competent Leadership

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         As a former psychiatric nurse I think its absolutely necessary to connect with your patients so that they feel the trust, therefore building a strong rapport. Once you can do this then you know they can turn to you in time of their darkest hour. That darkest time could be why they’re admitted to the acute inpatient mental health unit. I feel that this correlates to Brene Brown’s webcast on vulnerability. It really resonated with me when she said that there was a theme of courage in her research data (Ted, 2011). Especially when it comes to mental health. Patients who voluntarily admit themselves into to the psych ward are courageous for setting aside stigmas because they know they need the professional help. Brene described compassion, connections, and vulnerability as well (Ted, 2011). Her words really struck me into why I felt that need to connect with my patients in order to build solid rapport. I love how she describes vulnerability as the core of fear and shame, something that I felt was evident in nearly all my patients (Ted, 2011). 


          The Quantum Leadership text describes leader vulnerability as the ability to create workplace environments that encourage safety and healthy dialogue (Albert et al., 2020). Employees will mirror what their leader portrays and if the leader is able to display vulnerable moments, the employees will be willing to open and share as well. Leader vulnerability doesn’t mean incompetence and weakness, I feel its about humility and openness (Albert et al., 2020).

          I found the article on hiring based off emotional intelligence rather interesting. We just went through the hiring process for a second Patient Safety Manager and some of the top scorers on paper, did pretty poorly on the interview. When we discussed the candidates, the people who did poorly on interviews seemed to lack the people skills needed for the job. The article described the need to pinpoint exact examples as a way to demonstrate self-awareness and self-regulation (Thygesen, 2014). That in itself will be something I take away for any future interviews I may have! 

         I really enjoyed listening to Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk on Millennial’s in the Workplace. Being a Millennial myself it was pretty eye opening because it helped me to understand why my peers and I are the way we are. I hate to admit it, but the addiction to the technology and social media is absolutely real. Even before starting this blog post, I wasted an hour of my life scrolling through Facebook and Instagram! I know we grew up with instant gratification that now causes us to want to feel good and satisfied with our jobs. Simon mentions we want to make an impact or else we don’t feel fulfilled. The instant gratification has now caused us to become impatient (Willrath, 2016). I have seen many friends and family members feel lost when it comes to their careers, often leaving one job within a year or two. The other day my cellphone was stuck on the apple logo for nearly 12 hours, and I told my co-worker I felt naked with out it. She is just a few years younger than my mom and replied at how funny I was because she leaves her phone behind all the time, just simply doesn’t bring it around! I told her that even just taking a short bathroom break, I’ll take it with me for no reason. Not to check it, but almost like a security blanket, a just in case something important happens. Moving forward I plan to enhance my communication techniques by leaving my phone behind during meetings. Simon mentioned even just having the phone resting on the table is a sign of addiction (Willrath, 2016)! It was pretty moving to watch the other videos relating back to how addicting our society has become with our phones. We are no longer looking up and its often the first and last thing we see when our day starts/ends (Turk, 2014). I know I don’t want to raise my kids with this addiction, so I’ve got to mimic healthy phone usage! 



  After reading Henry Cloud’s leadership article I would have to agree with his keys to success (Cloud, 2021). In fact, just this past week I told my supervisor that I didn’t think I’d be the best fit for something. I kept my eyes on the bigger picture for what I wanted my career to look like. In the end I think she appreciated my honesty and explanation on how right now it might seem plausible, but in the coming months it didn’t make sense to do all this prep work when we have many changes to come. I would probably add that honesty and humility make a big difference in ones’ success! I do believe that my current boss is highly competent in her EQ. You can tell in how she interacts with us and how she motivates us without pushing us. How she truly cares for us as people versus our productivity. I believe most people in my department want to stay with her and will only leave due to other advancement opportunities but have voiced that she’s the best boss they’ve ever had. She’s taught me that patience and kindness really does get you far. She’s been at our facility for over 25 years and everyone I’ve ever met has only great things to say about her. I hope that this is something I can develop as well. I do feel that my co-workers would say something very similar. I’m always available to help out whether it be work related or personal issue related. I’m patient and kind throughout the interaction and I’m told that is highly valued as their co-worker!

 

Albert, N. M., Pappas, S., Porter-O’Grady, T., & Malloch, K. (2020). Quantum Leadership:

            Creating Sustainable Value in Health Care: Creating Sustainable Value in Health Care.

Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Cloud, H. (2021, March 22). 10 Things Successful People Never Do Again. SUCCESS. https://www.success.com/10-things-successful-people-never-do-again/

Willrath, B. (2016, December 28). Simon Sinek - Millennials in the Workplace [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MC2X-LRbkE&feature=youtu.be

TED. (2011, January 3). The power of vulnerability | Brené Brown [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o&feature=youtu.be

Thygesen, K. (2014, April 21). Why Emotional Intelligence Is More Important To Hiring Than You Think. Fast Company. Retrieved February 1, 2023, from https://www.fastcompany.com/3029306/why-you-should-make-emotional-intelligence-the-cornerstone-of-your-hiring-strategy

Turk, G. (2014, April 25). Look Up | Gary Turk (Official Video) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY&feature=youtu.be



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