The feel Once people feel safe enough to simply feel, we can then address the imbalanced ways of thinking and functioning that are prevalent in so many business school cultures. Nicholas Janni explains why the discomfort we feel in opening our hearts is blocking emotional intelligence in the workplace
G iven the current crises and ever relationship to life and to leadership. This in turn heightens energy and connectedness, providing the foundation for higher levels of perception, vision, insight and innovation. However, the reality is that we have normalised chronically imbalanced ways of thinking and functioning. In so many corporate and business school cultures, it has become normal to nd that ‘doing’ eclipses ‘being’, with hyper-rational, analytical thinking relegating feeling, sensing, intuiting and the transpersonal to the outer fringes of life. I believe that the failure to correct this imbalance is severely detrimental not only to individual and organisational performance, but also to our capacity for creating healthy, thriving futures. Challenging cultural beliefs about emotions The way we relate to — or, more often, do not relate to — our emotions is one of the biggest sources of fragmentation and disconnectedness in our culture. Yet, this challenge presents a ripe opportunity for change. By facing it, leaders can cross a prime transformational gateway towards bringing deeper presence and growing instability of our times, there has never been a more important time to recognise what an essential role emotional intelligence plays in good leadership. Emotions are the gateway to our deeper humanity. Connecting more consciously with our feelings allows us a richer, more heartfelt and empathic
22 Business Impact ISSUE 4 2023
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