Overview: Leadership coaching is the art of triggering leadership growth and maturity. Emotional intelligence and self-awareness constitute the cornerstones of maturity and the ability to see the good in any situation. Executive coaching can help leaders build up the emotional and mental fortitude that allows them to realize there is at least a lesson wrapped in every failure.
It’s said every cloud has a silver lining. What isn’t said nearly as often, however, is that we’re the silver lining in every cloud life may throw at us. This is one of the basic truths that leadership coaching imparts to leaders while building up their maturity.
Mature leaders realize that setbacks are opportunities in disguise. If nothing else, they all carry lessons for the future. Some leaders may find life-altering truths in adversity while discovering strengths they never knew they had.
Unwavering optimism and positive leadership are the hallmarks of mature leaders. Such leaders know how to train their minds for positivity and understand that positive thoughts beget positive results.
Mature leaders are aware that relentless, artificially maintained positivity is as toxic as negativity. True optimism and positivity are the results of leaders managing their emotions and experiences. Emotional intelligence is the key to this ability.
Honesty in Positivity
Genuine positivity is not about ignoring problems or trivializing adversity. It is about contemplating difficult situations with honesty, acknowledging the suffering while looking for bits of positivity amid the struggle.
Conflicting emotions are part of the human experience. Joy and sorrow are not mutually exclusive, but neither are excitement and fear. When we notice the silver lining amid adversity, we expand our awareness and embrace two conflicting experiences.
Emotional intelligence allows mature leaders to process both experiences, being careful not to allow negativity to drown out positivity. The result is a realistic, objective view of the situation and a lack of self-defeating negative self-talk.
Going with the Flow
To see the good in any situation, mature leaders don’t attempt to suppress negative feelings. There is a time and place for everything.
Disappointment and sorrow are natural emotional consequences of failures. Mature people allow such emotions to run their course, but they don’t hang on to them. They refuse to let negative thoughts and self-criticism feed these emotions. Starved of the fuel those of us lacking sufficient self-awareness so generously provide, negative emotions subside in due time.
As negativity runs its course and loses momentum, it leaves room for positivity and hope to emerge.
There Are No Shortcuts to Mindfulness
Self-aware, emotionally intelligent, and mindful people know they can’t afford to gloss over negativity. Negativity is what prepares the ground for positivity. It plants the seeds of the lessons we must learn to grow and evolve.
To appreciate the good, we must take a long sip out of the bitter cup of sorrow. Considering we’re wired for negativity we should find it easy to explore this part of the experience.
Looking for the good and noticing it requires intentionality, commitment, and practice. Positive thinking, like negative thinking, works along neural paths that become more pronounced and well-beaten the more we use them. By practicing positive thinking, we train our minds for it.
As we abandon our negative neural paths, we weaken the grip of the negativity loop on our minds.
The Benefits of Positive Thinking
Positive thinking benefits leaders and employees beyond the positive results it invites.
When we adopt positive thinking, we create the foundations of a more positive life. We experience more pleasure and joy. Positivity improves our health by reducing stress and worry.
Life is a fine mix of joy and sorrow. No matter what we do, we can’t avoid one or the other. What we make of them depends entirely on how we perceive the world around us and our place in it.
Mature leaders are resilient and mentally strong because they know how to deal with negativity and positivity. They understand that life isn’t out to get them, and setbacks are nothing more than steppingstones to future successes. Executive coaching can help endow leaders with the emotional skills they need to manage positivity and negativity.