Tune up your EQ

How To Successfully Start A One Day Conference With Empathy

February 18th, 2008 by Galba Bright

What is the most successful meeting that you’ve ever attended?

What is the most successful meeting that you’ve ever led?

What factor led to the success?

This month’s BrightIdeas presentation was sparked by Dr. Ellen Weber’s question:

“If you were to open a day long conference Galba, to help leaders use their brains in new ways - how would you open with empathy?”

Here’s my answer.

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I wonder how it makes you feel? Leave a comment in the comment box below, or email me, using the contact form.

Download The Presentation In pdf format

Leave you comment in the comment box below, or email me using the contact form

Whose Meeting Is It Anyway?

Leading marketing and business strategy writer, The posture of a communicator> Seth Godin recently said:

“If you attend my presentation and you’re bored, that’s my failure. If you are a student in my class and you don’t learn what I’m teaching, I’ve let you down.”

Read his thoughts on The posture of a communicator.

More Resources

To enjoy successfully create emotionally intelligent meetings, read these articles

5 Emotionally Intelligent Retreat Tips

13 More Tips For An Emotionally Intelligent Retreat

9 Commandments For An Emotionally Intelligent Facilitator

3 Fears That Cripple Retreats

I publish a free BrightIdeas presentation in the third week of every month. It’s part of the full feed that you can subscribe to here To subscribe to the exclusive BrightIdeas Presentation feed click here

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License

This work is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Posted in Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Emotional Intelligence, Blog, Influencing Others, Managing Yourself |

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8 Responses to “How To Successfully Start A One Day Conference With Empathy”

1. Al at 7P Says:
   February 19th, 2008 at 10:16 pm

   Hi Galba - I like how you started by engaging the audience. Always a best way to start a big gathering.

   On a side note - I recently came across a TED Talks video by Daniel Goleman, author of “Emotional Intelligence.” You might have come across it already, but I found it to be very enlightening.

   Al at 7P’s last blog post..A Primer on Getting Things Done

2. Al at 7P Says:
   February 19th, 2008 at 10:19 pm

   …by the way Galba, I forgot to mention that your blog was the first to come to mind when I was watching the TED Talk video. Thanks to this blog, I felt like a seasoned EQ person when listening to it!

   Al at 7P’s last blog post..A Primer on Getting Things Done

3. Jo Says:
   February 20th, 2008 at 9:22 am

   Hi Galba

   Do you anticipate the first checklist being done out loud, or done privately?

   I can imagine doing it out loud in a group that has hi trust and the privilege of being a manager who says, I am in such a foul mood, let someone else chair for a while! Or the converse, I’m high as a kite - you chair and I’ll take notes!

   For groups that have a history of distrust?

   I really like the approach and I think it is good heuristic though for some groups, the very essence of their team dynamic is that they never agree on anything, and Argyris-style, it is taboo to mention the emperor’s lack of clothing.

   I’d be interested in your comments. I’ll think about the exercise while I am at the gym!

   Cheers

   Jo’s last blog post..ReadWriteWeb has come alive . . .

4. Jo Says:
   February 20th, 2008 at 10:40 am

   Hi Galba, I found the exercise quite hard to do.

   I think I will do it the other way around. I’ll use the heuristic, particularly where I might have been coy, and see how it goes!

   Best,
   Jo

   Jo’s last blog post..ReadWriteWeb has come alive . . .

5. Galba Bright Says:
   February 20th, 2008 at 9:30 pm

   Hello Jo:

   Thank you for your questions. Let me break down my response.

   Step 1. When I do this exercise, I start by checking my own scores privately.

   Step 2. I then tell everyone present that I don’t prescribe any medicine for others that I don’t take myself.

   Step 3. I show the same check in visual that is the slide deck on this post.

   Step 4. I usually ask people to make a mental note of their score, rather require them to announce it explicitly.

   Step 5. During the event, I periodically ask participants to check their scores again.

   Step 6. I usually ask people to publicly give their check out score.

   With groups who I have worked with before, or who are committed to doing in depth work. I will go into this exercise in greater depth, with the expectation that greater insight, openness and trust will emerge.

   I believe that a high performing team will do this kind of “team maintenance” automatically. They will be attuned to each others’ moods and feelings and make the necessary adjustments. The check in is an intermediate step on the road to conscious management of individual and team emotions.

   With the examples that you cite, when the leader recognises how she feels, she has choices as to what to do next. This could include delegating her role to someone else, taking a moment to get back on track etc. Those choices are likely to be more effective when there is a level of openness within the team about how they feel. I hope this is helpful, let me know and tell me more about any challenges that you encounter. The discusion can help us all to become more effective.

   I adapted this approach from a book by Robert K. Cooper, called “Executive EQ”

6. Galba Bright Says:
   February 20th, 2008 at 9:46 pm

   Hello Al:

   Thanks for your comments. I did see the Daniel Goleman presentation. I can remember the stories that he told
   Thanks for the reminder. Daniel Goleman has a key role as the populariser of the concept. You might be interested to know that he his PhD topic was about the impact of meditation on emotional states.

   Invariably, Emotional Presentations are about helping people to become more effective, so a good level of engagement is a strong requirement.

   Al, your comments about the blog are an encouragement to me. I wonder if you’d try using this approach in an upcoming meeting that you’re responsible for. As I seek to progresss, I encourage you to continue to give your feedback and suggestions.

7. Jo Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 1:23 am

   Thanks for the elaboration, Galba.

   Mmm, I think I was miscommunicating a little. On the second post, I was referring to the homework you set. I like the elaboration though. That’s helpful.

   This will be too long for a comment. Let me scamper back to my blog and comment from there.

   Jo’s last blog post..ReadWriteWeb has come alive . . .

8. Galba Bright Says:
   February 26th, 2008 at 12:10 pm

   Hello Jo:

   I look forward to your further thoughts. Whilst I can offer homework, I can’t impose detention

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