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Do you have influence over your emotions?

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Do you know you have influence over your emotions?

Today we are talking about Emotional Regulation and how to use it so you can be resilient.

Positive Psychology defines emotional regulation as: 

“[T]he process by which individuals influence which emotions they have, when they have them, and how they experience and express their feelings. Emotional regulation can be automatic or controlled, conscious or unconscious, and may have effects at one or more points in the emotion producing process.” (Gross, 1998, p. 275).

A key component of emotional regulation is your self-awareness as you are feeling an emotion. When you practice being curious about what you are feeling – or being a witness to what you are feeling – you can Pause – Process – Proceed.

For Resilient Leaders, emotional regulation is the ability to pause, notice your feelings, and the process in a constructive way, and then proceed to choose a healthy and productive response that aligns with your values. This is what I discuss in my coaching sessions on emotional regulation. Here is an example for additional clarification.

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Cognitive Agility

What is cognitive agility?

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I am sharing the skills that make up resiliency so you know when you are being a resilient leader. Awareness is key, so you can do it again. We are building our awareness and vocabulary around resiliency.

Last month I shared a graph from BU Labs. The five skills that are making a difference today include: cognitive agility, emotional regulation, self-compassion, optimism, and self-efficacy.

Today we are talking about cognitive agility.

If you or you know of someone that would like to tap into their resiliency, please forward them this email. Email me (janemckeanbcs@gmail.com) or text me (202) 491-5487 to set up a free 30-minute consultation.

A 2018 study by Jared Ross defined cognitive agility as the capacity of an individual to easily move back and forth between openness and focus. Improving cognitive agility has the potential to increase emotional intelligence by increasing an individual’s ability to move between highly focused states to levels of broad, outward awareness, which enables dynamic decision-making and enhances personal communication skills.

I like to tell my clients cognitive agility is shifting your perspective from seeing the forest to seeing the trees. I see the big picture, and I also see the details. Work is constantly changing. We need leaders to be able to shift their thinking to adapt to new challenges. One thing that is always constant is change. So, what does this look like in real life?

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