THE EMOTIONALLY STRONG LEADER

A debut business book offers a blueprint for leadership in the transformed work environments of the 21st century.

In her work, Stern writes about how developing a more authentic and caring atmosphere as a leader will allow more effective communication in the workplace. “This kind of connection and communication,” she writes, “will create an environment of trust and belonging that will spur engagement, spike curiosity, and engender fraternity among team members.” The key ingredient of this type of leadership, she contends, is the concept of emotional intelligence: getting in touch not only with the feelings of your colleagues and employees, but also with your own. The author, a leadership development trainer, notes that for many people, the first stage of the Covid-19 pandemic brought about a transformation in their workplaces. In addition to the “Great Resignation,” remote and hybrid work solutions became common. Stern maintains that the “superpower” of emotions is the crucial element in dealing with such changes in a way that satisfies everybody involved and increases a company’s competitive edge—because happier, emotionally fulfilled workers are better employees. Conceding that emotions have long been viewed as the enemy of an effective, productive workplace, Stern argues that the exact opposite is the case. “Our emotions are full of wisdom when we pay attention to them and look for the meaning inside them,” she writes. “Feelings can provide incredible insights into our internal psyche and the external world around us.” In a series of research-based chapters complete with stories from clients she’s helped, Stern looks at how better emotional intelligence and awareness of employees’ feelings are shown to increase creativity, fellowship, and even profitability.

Stern is advocating against the predominant traditional trends in business thinking, and she clearly knows it. Many of her more conservative-minded readers with business experience will likely raise their eyebrows at her characterization of a good leader as basically a sympathetic guidance counselor—someone who’s always ready to promptly shut up and listen while prioritizing the “needs” of workers over virtually everything else. When the author writes things like “Great leaders show serenity and understanding, distancing themselves from their own emotional reactions” and “We need to create a psychologically safe place for our teams to express themselves,” many old-school readers will consider such thinking ultimately self-defeating, tantamount to letting the inmates run the asylum. They will fear that scores of 21st-century employees, if told that their desires are paramount in the workplace, will overnight become a bottomless pit of needs. But in explicating the various levels and “competencies” of emotional intelligence, Stern is the first to admit the limitations of the approach. As some of the research she cites notes, “Very high levels of EI can convey adverse outcomes, suggesting a dark side to the construct.” Having high emotional intelligence levels isn’t always a strength, which she effectively conveys in accounts drawing on her own personal experiences. Instead, in these pages, there mainly emerges a strong advocacy of great empathy and of seasoning all the benefits of emotional intelligence with reason and real-world perspective. And her central underlying assertion—that employees who feel seen and appreciated are better workers—is largely indisputable. She’s presenting a concrete way to achieve that.

A meaty, thought-provoking approach to empathetic workplace leadership in a changed world.