Category: Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence and People Management

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The two-day Life Class on Emotional Intelligence and People Management helped me understand the VUCA world, which means that the world is unpredictable, making it important to be self-aware and regulate ourselves.

Another key learning was understanding how our amygdala hijacks our brain when it senses danger. This highlighted the importance of pausing, taking our time, and then responding. Some strategies for pausing include:

  1. Stepping out of the situation for a few minutes.
  2. Counting from 100 to 1, which allows our brain to think logically.

The qualities that a great leader should have were another important learning. These include having the courage to stand up for the team, being empathetic, but also challenging team members so that they can grow. Being self-aware means knowing what triggers you, which in turn ensures that it does not affect your team members and helps create a safe space for the team.

The SBI framework for feedback, which stands for Situation, Behaviour, and Impact, was also useful to learn about. This helps us give feedback without labelling team members and instead focuses on their actions.

Emotional intelligence

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Session Takeaways : Delayed Gratification & Impulse Control

Personal takeaway: Self-control is not about suppressing emotions; it is about not allowing every emotion to decide our actions.

Delayed gratification: The ability to wait for a better, long-term reward instead of choosing immediate satisfaction.

Impulse control: Understanding that emotions may trigger an immediate reaction, but we always have a moment to pause, think and choose our response.

Managing temptation: The marshmallow experiment showed how children used strategies like distraction, self-talk, looking away, singing and playing to manage their impulses.

Emotional intelligence: Being able to stay calm, listen to different perspectives, understand emotions and respond thoughtfully rather than reacting impulsively.

Leadership & teamwork: Avoiding micromanagement and giving others opportunities to take responsibility helps build trust, confidence and independence.

Handling conflict: Whether it is a missed deadline, disagreement with a colleague or a parent complaint, the goal is to understand first and respond second.

For educators: Beyond academics, we need to help children develop patience, resilience, self-regulation, perseverance and responsible decision-making.

Key reflection: The “marshmallow” is a metaphor for the choices we make every day between what feels good now and what may be more meaningful in the long run.