Leadership is influence. Everything rises and falls on leadership, everything.
As leaders, we experience the full array of human emotions regularly. How we handle our emotions can make or break our leadership.
Own your emotions.
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- Don’t blame your emotions on your circumstances or other people.
- Someone can indeed provoke you and cause a certain emotion, but you choose what you do with that.
Lead your emotions.
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- Either you lead your emotions, or they lead you.
- To lead your emotions is to be present with your feelings; this enables you to guide them and shape them rather than being owned or controlled by them.
- It is vital that you purposely cultivate positive emotions such as joy, gratitude, love, compassion, and contentment.
- Take charge and lead your emotions, rather than be governed by them.
Mature your emotions.
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- Maturing your emotions is the goal of owning and leading your emotions.
- People can’t trust a leader whose emotions are unpredictable or may erupt at any moment.
- Remaining poised when the heat is on is an indication of maturity with your emotions.
- Prayer, wise counsel, and intentional effort, combined with selfless living, are key components that help your emotions mature.
4 Emotions That Take A Leader Out:
- Fear
- Fear paralyzes a leader; it will prevent you from having tough conversations or even being obedient to a prompt of God.
- One of the best antidotes to fear is action; remember God is with you.
- Anger
- Unmanaged anger is a true enemy to even the best of leaders.
- Freedom from anger is within reach, but you can’t beat it by yourself. Talk with a trusted friend or counselor soon.
- Discouragement
- Discouragement is one of the top tactics used by the devil to take spiritual leaders out.
- Discouragement often originates from a lie based on a skewed perspective.
- The enemy wants you to focus on the things that didn’t go right, because all the other things will encourage you, and that will motivate you to keep going.
- Overcoming discouragement can most often be achieved by spending some time with a few positive natured and
- Insecurity
- Left unmanaged, Insecurity can be slowly unraveling to your leadership.
- Insecurity is common amongst leaders and the danger is that it can lead to things like jealousy, envy, competition, people-pleasing, and more.
- One of the best things you can do to overcome insecurity is to own it, talk about it, and be honest about it.
- It’s important to identify what triggers your insecurities.
- The best approach to your insecurities is to remember your identity in Christ.
- Find joy and peace in being yourself; give yourself permission and freedom to be yourself, that’s how people best connect with you and how you lead at your best.