- EI as a Foundational Skill: Understand why emotional intelligence is critical to effective leadership and can't be overshadowed by intellect alone.
- The Pulse Check: Use self-reflection questions like "Am I truly listening to understand?" to assess and improve your immediate leadership responses.
- Empathy First: Learn why validating your team’s emotions before jumping to a solution shows you value them as people, not just as professionals.
- The Power of Active Listening: Discover how summarizing what you hear can create a profound shift in trust and ensure you truly understand the issue at hand.
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Welcome to your Morning Boost, your daily leadership advice to help you lead your school community, brought to you by AWB Education and sponsored by Grundmeyer Leader Services. We're together. We are transforming education, one leader at a time. Now here's your host, Adam Bush. Welcome to your Morning Boost, and very happy Friday to all of you out there. This is our daily note of inspiration and actionable advice, designed specifically for you, our school leaders. We have to take a moment to acknowledge that it's almost September. Holy cow, this year is just flying by. And this is also a good time for a friendly reminder that if you're not already receiving the Grunmuyer Leader Services Fitting five newsletter, you can reach out to us here at AWB to get that sent to you. It's a wonderful newsletter with a lot of great topics in it that we put out every single month, So if you're not already getting that, I would strongly suggest it. Today we're talking about the Emotional intell diligence reset. Emotional intelligence or EI is a foundational leadership skill, and today we're going to give ourselves a quick check in on our own FI. So how can we truly lead with empathy and self awareness. We will go over a few pulse check questions and then end with a simple, actionable tip that you can practice today. True leadership requires more than just knowing what to do. It requires knowing how to connect and respond with empathy. It's easy to get caught up in the daily grind and let our emotional intelligence slip, so let's do a quick pulse check. Ask yourself these questions when a staff member comes to me with a problem. Am I truly listening to understand? Or am I just waiting for my turn to respond? And am I leading with empathy first? Or am I jumping straight to a solution? These questions force us to pause and reflect on our immediate reactions, which is a key part of self awareness. It's easy to get defensive or feel overwhelmed, but leading with empathy first shows our team we value them as people, not just as cogs in a machine. This doesn't mean we have to agree with every emotion, but it does mean we acknowledge and validy As Daniel Goleman, the author of Emotional Intelligence, notes, if your emotional abilities aren't in hand, if you don't have self awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can't have empathy and effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very fought. So for today, let's pick one specific skill to practice active listening in your next conversation with staff member. Focus on this. When they are speaking, don't interrupt. Instead, listen for the emotion behind their words. When they finish, summarize what you heard them say before offering any feedback or a solution. For example, so what I hear you saying is that you're feeling frustrated with the new curriculum because it doesn't give you enough flexibility to meet the needs of all of your students. Is that right? This simple act validates their feelings and ensures you truly understand the issue. This consistent practice of active listening can create a profound shift in the trust and respect within your school community really quickly. A quick reminder that we have a new episode of Control Shift Lead with myself and Jim Witchmand. It'll be airing on the first just like it does every month. You can find CSL wherever you find your podcast. Just search for Control Shift Lead. But otherwise have a wonderful Friday. I hope it's been an amazing week and I hope you have an even better weekend ahead of you. Thank you for listening, everybody. We will talk with you again next week. You have been listening to your Morning Boost by AWB Education in partnership with Grunmeier Leader Services. You can find out more about our services by clicking on the links in the description. Remember, you are doing this vital job that only a few can do. So until next time, thank you for your service to your community.