EP 05: Emotional Agility: What is it and the Tragic Consequences Without it

You've heard of resilience. You've probably heard of emotional intelligence. And you might have heard of emotional agility. In today's installment of Work Smart, we dive into the reasons why these are skills that you need to cultivate and the tragic consequences if you don't! Being emotionally agile allows us to regulate our emotions so that we can function at our best during uncomfortable and uncertain situations, and a key element of this is focus – something that isn't easy in these unprecedented times of disruption. We have to either learn to live in this time or move beyond it, which means defining our own normal again and taking ownership of our emotional health and development. This episode begins with a dive into the neuroscience of how our brains process emotions and triggers, before outlining the ways that these continue to live on in our bodies and psyche unless dealt with. We then excavate the causes and consequences of chronic stress and focus on the importance of self-awareness and authenticity (which isn't actually what most people think it is). You'll also hear about the tragic phenomenon of learned helplessness, getting caught in the drama triangle, and how these toxic cycles play out in the workplace! The episode winds to a close by covering the exact skills and characteristics you can cultivate to be emotionally agile, and how to do this so that it sticks. To discover all this, as well as the right questions to ask yourself to raise your emotional intelligence, tune into another insightful session of Work Smart!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Introductory comments about why we need emotional agility.
• Talking a bit about neuroscience: the three parts of the brain and how they work.
• How your emotions continue to live in your body and psyche unless dealt with.
• Commenting on how addiction to scrolling has damaged our ability to listen. 
• The importance of training your brain to slow down and eliminate under and overreactions.
• Busting the myth of 'good' stress, and how stress is like being pregnant.
• How disease, illness, and immune problems are linked to stress. 
• The tragic phenomenon of learned helplessness as a side effect of chronic stress. 
• The characteristic of self-awareness and how it translates into situational awareness.
• How emotions are like the iceberg from the story of the Titanic.
• That authenticity isn't the same as unleashing raw emotions onto others.
• Looking at the underlying reasons for chronic anger, sadness, and blaming others.
• The drama triangle: how to recognize and respond to it. 
• Touching on how to grow confidence and optimistic mindset. 
• How emotional intelligence is about identifying and managing your emotions
• The skills you need for emotional agility.
• Diving into the qualities of assertiveness and balancing it with independence. 
• Hear about the offerings of the Work Smart Club to help you learn and grow as a leader.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Cynthia Howard on LinkedIn

Work Smart Consulting

Work Smart Club Network