12/07/2017

Good Leaders Understand the Value of Emotions

Unaddressed emotional undercurrents can create a great deal of internal tension

Strong. Stalwart. Stoic. Unflappable. The defining characteristics of a leader. Or are they?

I used to think they were. In fact, in my younger days, I thought showing emotion was weak. Grow up watching movies like "Patton, "First Blood," "Die Hard," "Gladiator" and (a classic) "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," and you get conditioned into thinking that real leaders don’t cry and, perhaps, don’t even feel.

But that’s not true, as I learned the hard way when my company went through a two-year near-death experience almost two decades ago. Nobody—not least me—can keep a stiff upper lip that long. I’ve relearned the lesson many times over the years and was reminded of it recently when a significant initiative I had been pursuing for some time came to a sudden and unexpected halt.

Please click here to read the complete article on SmartBrief.