Focused attention is increasingly rare and many people are struggling. The most effective leaders find strategies to get out of their heads, limit automatic reactions, and stay alert to what is actually happening in the environment. Check out these 3 small, but powerful practices for re-focusing.

Triggers are emotional habits, usually unconscious and automatic reactions. The Enneagram can be an invaluable tool to understand what is motivating our behavior and our triggers. Although all of us can be emotionally reactive, common triggers are experienced by each of the nine Enneagram types.

As we become more self-aware and truly see the motivation behind our ingrained patterns of behavior, we open the door to choice. Choosing more effective ways of engaging with others leads to more success and more fulfillment. Learn three ways to gain self-awareness in this post.

Catching yourself when you are beating yourself up is a powerful time-saving technique. Not only will this technique keep you productive, it will boost your optimism and forward momentum – even when challenges show up! Learn three ways how in this post.

A lot of us aren’t very aware of how we actually feel or why we react the way we do in charged situations. Better understanding your emotions allows you to manage emotions instead of being controlled by them.  Learn four ways to unhook yourself.

One of the lowest-scoring leadership skills on the EQ-i assessment of emotional intelligence is empathy.  At its core, empathy is understanding the perspectives of others, which is very useful for business leaders.  Empathy is looking at a situation from another person’s viewpoint.  It does not take away from achieving results; empathy helps leaders achieve results.

Too much of a “bias for action” can lead to a fair amount of clean-up work later.  In fact, low impulse control can derail otherwise successful career. The good news is impulse control is a muscle every leader can strengthen. 

How do I lead my team through frustrating changes in our department?  Some leaders get people through change really well; others end up with disengaged teams. Here are four best practices to help you give your people what they need so your team can deliver results.

The Enneagram personality system explains the motivation behind a lot of unconscious behaviors. Here are a few common challenges you may face when starting down the path:

Leaders sometimes tell me stories of their “challenging” colleagues and ask for advice for handling them. Leaders are often surprised when I suggest they start by looking at themselves.  Hoping another person will change is not an effective plan.  Real change starts with us trying a different lens. Here’s why…

Many leaders say they want feedback...at least in theory! Candid feedback shows people aspects of their potential and influence that they may not see otherwise. However, when the time comes for 360 feedback, these same leaders often push back with reasons why now is definitely not the right time to get feedback.

A lot of us are not that aware of how we actually feel or why we react the way we do in many situations. Emotional self-awareness, the ability to understand what we are feeling and why we are feeling that way, is the foundation of emotional intelligence. The good news is that it’s never too late to learn how to recognize and manage emotions.

Focused attention is rare in a world of increasing distractions and multi-tasking.  People often run on autopilot.  They constantly rush to the next meeting and attention is pulled in multiple directions.  This is both stressful and risky for those responsible for making decisions affecting their companies!

Before we stand a chance of influencing other people, we must show we can lead ourselves in a positive direction.  360 feedback, self-assessments, and reflection can be excellent channels to seeing ourselves as we are.  However, we don’t tap into full value of this increased self-awareness until we act. 

Self-awareness leads to better performance, influence, and authenticity. One tool we use to jumpstart self-awareness is a personality system called the Enneagram (ennea is Greek for nine and gram means figure or model).  The Enneagram describes nine different ways people think, feel, and behave and sheds light on what is actually motivating our behavior most of the time.  

A 360 feedback report landing in our email in-boxes or in our hands can trigger our “not-so-rational-and-perhaps-a-bit-emotional” reactions.  These reactions are prompted by whether we believe the feedback to be true, by the relationship with the person giving feedback, and by what we believe about ourselves.

Time after time, I see the more successful managers doing something differently than colleagues.  They have made a habit of regularly checking in and talking with their employees.  These on-going check-ins foster a comfortable forum for communication and feedback.  In practical terms, effective managers hold individual “one-on-one” meetings with each direct report.  “Oh, no!  Not MORE meetings!” is a common reaction to this recommendation.

For many leaders, giving feedback to employees is the only thing harder than getting feedback.  “I don’t want to sound like a jerk” is how one new manager described the awkwardness of providing constructive feedback.  No matter the industry, organization, or level of position, giving feedback often makes leaders uncomfortable.  What happens when people get uncomfortable? Naturally, they procrastinate!

We’ve all had those moments that test our self-awareness. You know the one where someone says something about how they see you – either directly or through 360 feedback – and it just doesn’t match your self-image. “That’s not right – I don’t see myself that way!” We experience a fair amount of denial, but on some level, we fear the feedback might be true.

Some people have managers who readily offer useful feedback and coaching; many do not. People too often tell us that expectations are unclear and that they don’t know how to ask their manager for what they need to develop.