Contributed by Dr. Gleb Tsipursky.

Effective leaders know they need to be excellent at emotional intelligence (EI), the skill of knowing and managing our own and others’ emotions. After all, the only things we can control in life are our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and if we can manage those, we can lead our organizations effectively.

And if we know how our minds work, we can become more intentional about our patterns of thinking and emotions. We can evaluate reality more clearly, make better decisions and improve our ability to achieve goals, thus gaining greater agency, the quality of living intentionally.