TAG: Music Entrepreneurs

Emotional Intelligence for Today’s Leaders Part II: Self-Management

Once you have developed better self-awareness, there is a second skill in developing personal competence:  self-management.

Self-management is the ability to express the appropriate emotions at the appropriate time. Self-management is about slowing yourself down so that you can check any inappropriate behaviors and formulate the most appropriate response to the challenging situation.

Self-management strategies fall into two categories: actions to take in the moment so that you do not act on your emotions inappropriately and long-term actions that help you to improve your response to emotionally charged situations.

Let’s continue with our example of the email from a collaborator with whom you have been working closely. This individual makes a lot of demands about how a performance is supposed to run and her latest email lays out yet another requirement just when you thought that everything had been agreed upon.

If your first thought in receiving this email is to send back a nasty email or pick up the phone to yell at your collaborator, here are some alternatives that can help to slow you down and manage your emotions more effectively.

Emotional Intelligence for Today’s Leaders Part I: Self-Awareness

Lately, there has been a lot of press about the importance of emotional intelligence for successful entrepreneurs and leaders.

So what is emotional intelligence and why should leaders cultivate this skill?  

Emotional Intelligence (know as “EQ”, as opposed to “IQ”) is the ability to recognize and control your emotions and then pick up on the emotions of those with whom you are interacting in order to influence and work effectively with them. It’s the ability to express the appropriate emotions at the appropriate time.

This psychological model was introduced in 1990 by Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer and popularized by science writer Daniel Goleman in his groundbreaking work, Emotional Intelligence (1995).  Emotional Intelligence has been called ” a revolutionary, paradigm-shattering idea” (Harvard Business Review) since it is strongly correlated with success.

Having high EQ is the way to get buy-in from the people with whom you are dealing and get them to listen, be engaged and inspired to follow your lead. Research has shown that having high EQ is a better indicator of success than having a high IQ.  That is why it is such an important leadership skill  The great thing about EQ is that it is a skill set that you can develop to make you a more effective leader. Let’s take a closer look.

EQ involves four underlying sets of skills, two having to do with your own emotions and two having to do with the emotions of those around you:

Conflict Management for Emotionally Intelligent Musicians: How to Run a Conflict Meeting

In my last post on how to prepare for a conflict meeting, we took a look at how the members of a string quartet could prepare for a brewing ensemble conflict stemming from a perception that one of the members of the quartet was not fully committed to the ensemble and was engaging in behaviors that undermined the rehearsal process, threatened …

Conflict Resolution for Emotionally-Intelligent Musicians: How To Prepare for a Conflict Meeting

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Working successfully with other musicians in an ensemble or another collaborative project involves not only an exquisite blend of musical styles and skills but also a high degree of emotional intelligence to manage the relationships with your fellow musicians. Inevitably, when creative people come together, there will be varying ideas on how to approach the music as well as how …

Quadrant II Time Management for Musicians: Achieve Your Goals by Focusing on What’s Important

The life of professional musicians is complicated! Professionally, musicians engage in a wide variety of activities both for creative stimulation and financial stability: Rehearsals Performances Tours Running concert series and festivals Teaching Collaborations Creating new ensembles and ventures Tending to the business side of being a successful musicians That’s just on the professional side.  They also have families and friends, …

Conflict Management for Musicians and Arts Leaders: 4 Tools to Diffuse Conflict and Build Stronger Relationships

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This week, I had the pleasure and privilege of working with the Fellows of Ensemble ACJW/The Academy, the preeminent teaching artist program and ensemble collective of young top-level musicians, on the fascinating topic of conflict management.   Conflict is inherent in the work of musicians and arts leaders who are passionate and have strong ideas about and high standards of excellence …

Relationship Management for Musicians and Arts Leaders : 3 Strategies for Making an Effective Connection with Others

My last post on developing your emotional intelligence focused on how to build successful relationships by mastering 3 communication skills. Relationship management also means that you know what to say in order to make others feel understood and be seen as a trustworthy person. You can start by mastering 3 strategies for making an effective connection with others: Compliments Showing …

Emotional Intelligence for Musicians and Arts Leaders Part IV: 3 Communication Skills to Help Build Quality Relationships

In the course of your work as a musician or arts leader, you inevitably encounter conflict, challenges and other “slippery” situations.  How do you handle yourself and your relationships with all of the people with whom you deal?  Here is where the fourth emotional intelligence skill comes into play:  relationship management. Relationship management is the ability to create successful bonds …

Emotional Intelligence for Musicians and Arts Leaders Part III: How to Develop Empathy and 5 Other Strategies for Social Awareness

As a musician or arts leader, you have undoubtedly dealt with some “interesting” personalities in the course of your work!  Inevitably in the course of putting together an artistic venture, people put forth strong ideas that might clash with your own. Have you ever stopped to think what might be going on with the other person that would lead him …

Career Planning for Music Entrepreneurs: Tapping Into Vision and Going for Plan A

The past two weeks, I have had a great time working with the future stars of concert music and talking a lot about how to create a successful career as a musician. First, I spent two days with the Fellows at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, located in the picture-perfect hills of Northwest Connecticut on a beautiful estate where the …