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Sword-fighting and Emotional Intelligence


In the early years working with Emotional Intelligence we encountered comments like...

“I don’t like to wear my heart on my sleeve,” and “Emotions don’t belong in the workplace,” and “I hope this isn’t going to be too touch feely.”

Clients asked us to change the title of the program from “Leadership through Emotional Intelligence” so as not to scare their people. I suggested “Sword-fighting 101” which they seemed to like better.

Half-joking questions like, “You’re not going to make me cry, are you?” and “Do we have to sing kumbaya?” illustrate the level of discomfort many people have with emotions. What is it about emotions that strikes fear in the hearts of otherwise fearless people?

Just as eyes are the window to the soul, emotions reveal our thoughts.

That can be terrifying because we work so hard to hide, disguise and bury thoughts we perceive as unacceptable. There is a history to this pattern...

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