We had a great time learning from Sheila Neidert this past Thursday as she gave us some knowledge and exercises around Emotional Intelligence. Because our audience were all business owners and leaders, Sheila tailored the session to covering how we can make our work environments more resonant and welcoming for staff and customers, and some tips and tricks for the most important element of emotional intelligence, knowing how to identify and manage your own emotions before you can help others do that as a leader. 

Some of the key takeaways were that feelings are not behaviors and your emotions are simply data – they are meant to be analyzed and THEN you make a choice of how you’re going to allow them to control your decisions or not. Also, as leaders, it is our job to minimize the negative effects our emotions have on others. She also taught us about the buddhist concept of “Compassionate Emptiness” – a helpful act of really listening without judgement and empathizing with those around us. 

A huge thank you to Sheila, for sharing her knowledge and talents with us, and much appreciation to Xcel Energy and the EDA for supporting this series of learning events for our community. 

Each month, our E5 series brings relatable, actionable, skills-building to the entrepreneurs across southeastern Minnesota. Be sure to catch the next one on October 3rd, as we learn how to best work with employees from another generation. Registration for that event can be found here.