If you study characters and glean lessons from TV series like me, you might have extracted some important leadership lessons from HBO’s Game of Thrones. Emotional intelligence requires more than retaliation, but sometimes we learn from what not to do and the consequences of impulsive decisions, too.

So, what can we learn about leadership from this series? There are some vital lessons about what it means to be a leader and the importance of emotional intelligence.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

One of the greatest business challenges is knowing when NOT to follow an idea. A mistake many business owners make—even large companies—is trying to do too much at once or having unrealistic expectations of how long projects take or how much they cost.

When was the last time, as a business owner or executive, you could complete an initiative without its share of challenges? And how many projects are over budget or never get finished?

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Whether you consider yourself an entrepreneur or mompreneur, a business owner, or a CEO, there are few things more valuable in business than emotional intelligence.

What might come to mind are emotions and empathy but what many people often don't realize is that emotional intelligence (or EQ) includes scores of competencies: problem-solving, conflict resolution, forecast thinking, resiliency, visionary leadership, prioritizing, and the ability to respond instead of reacting, to name only a few. Find out why emotional intelligence is important.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Leadership requires much more than business smarts. Poor decision-making, breakdowns in communication, knee-jerk reactions to employees, taking credit for another's work or a lack of engagement are a few examples that can be problematic. These behaviors can act as a disease in business and undo even the most prominent companies. And what do these behaviors represent? Low emotional intelligence!

What is becoming more and more corroborated is that a leader's success depends not on a business degree but much more heavily on emotional intelligence: their ability to get along with people, and to [...]

Nothing is more exciting and empowering than working on a project or playing on a dynamic team—until it’s not.

Collaboration and teamwork can be unpredictable—even fragile—and an energetic brainstorming can go completely awry by a subtle putdown. A co-worker makes a critical comment about a blog posted on the company newsletter. Someone makes a disparaging remark about another person's work. Most everyone has experienced something like this, right?Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

The very essence of leadership is to lead oneself effectively, which then influences others in a positive and inspiring way. However, if we lack self-awareness or the ability to understand the results we want, it's hard to lead competently. Unfortunately, many leaders coast, rather than intentionally [...]

Recently I was trying to replace the batteries in my wireless mouse and couldn’t get the cover off—again. I had struggled with this same task previously (trying paper clips, pens, X-ACTO knives, scissors, brute force, etc.), but this time it was different. I stopped trying to fight it and sat back, relaxing the frustration.

“Certainly,” I said to myself, “a massively successful company such as Apple would not make replacing batteries in a mouse for a Mac difficult. Everything Steve Jobs designed was about elegance.” That shifted my focus. If taking this cover off is super easy, what is the [...]

Often we hold back from giving feedback to others, even when it’s important to us and to the health of our relationship. Maybe we’re afraid we’ll hurt their feelings even if it's constructive, or we’re afraid of their reaction. Or maybe we think they’ll feel we’re criticizing them. But if we don’t give others feedback, we may hold on to resentment or anger toward them, which can spill over into later communications and even cause distance in our relationship.

Often I am in Billings conducting team trainings and recently landed at NaRa Restaurant for dinner with friends. You either love sushi or you don’t. I happen to love it, even though I was born and raised in the Midwest. Go figure.

The delicious dinner rounded off a flawless day. It was so much fun watching Dae Shin, the Korean chef, make sushi rolls, while I enjoyed the company of friends I don’t see often enough. The beauty he crafted with relentless precision was so inspiring to observe! It reminded me that when you apply attention to an activity over and over with precision, magic happens.