One of the biggest challenges facing businesses today isn’t a lack of rational thinking in the boardroom, but rather, how to lead with emotional awareness. Even in the rational world of business and commerce, EQ is as valuable as IQ.
Rational thought took centre stage last week when it was reported that British children are falling behind in the global education stakes. The logic is that without good test results our economy will fall behind.
Though it’s no excuse for poor number skills, to concentrate purely on people’s rational abilities is to ignore the value of emotional and creative thinking in the workplace.
Author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Dr Steven Covey puts it this way:
‘Research shows convincingly that EQ is more important than IQ in almost every role and many times more important in leadership roles. This finding is accentuated as we move from the control philosophy of the industrial age to an empowering release philosophy of the knowledge worker age.’
So how do you release the power of emotional intelligence in your organisation?
image via ourkids.net
Music is one of the ways to open up the emotional and creative sides of our brains. Studies have shown that listening to and performing music can generate new neural connections that help us to have new ideas.
Music is able to work as a bridge between our rational and creative selves. It helps us to connect with our emotional intelligence, and we’ve seen it act as catalyst for innovation and as a key to strong leadership.
When we harness the power of our emotions in our organisations, the results are often empowering and transformative. Worth considering next time you assess the health of your business – is it just the numbers that matter, or is the wellbeing of your business more than stats?