Emotional intelligence doesn’t start with empathy. Or people skills. Or charisma. It starts with self-awareness. Because if you don’t understand your own emotional triggers: – you can’t manage them. – if you can’t manage them, you can’t stay calm. – and without calm, you can’t lead—only react.

You can’t train IQ. You can’t train personality. But you can train emotional intelligence. And it’s the only one of the three that predicts performance.

It’s a power dynamic. The emotionally attuned hold disproportionate influence—because they pick up on what others miss, and adjust faster. Most “natural leaders” are just emotionally literate people in emotionally illiterate teams.

Leaders often overestimate how good they are at being empathetic. Per the 2024 State of Workplace Empathy Report: A Game Plan, “55% of CEOs think they lead [with] empathy at work, but only 28% of employees and 22% of HR share that view.” Source:

“The more energy you spend issuing rules and correcting people’s behaviour, the less space there is for trust and autonomy. Instead focus on values. Yours, your organisations and your coworkers. When values are shared, people can guide themselves…” change-management.co.uk/what-my-two-...

It’s 7.45am. We’re late. And my son is face down in full meltdown mode because he wants chocolate for breakfast. Toast? An insult. Logic? Pointless. And in that moment, I realised something that changed how I lead: 🔗 change-management.co.uk/what-my-two-...

I am half-convinced that Steven Johnson, an extremely experienced historian, can make productive use of NotebookLM, but the article illustrates how using this technology requires a ton of experience working without it. This thread shows how even that experience may not be enough to avoid pitfalls.

Terrible news! You almost certainly think you’re more self aware than you are. But you can change that through reflection and feedback. Source: professional.dce.harvard.edu/blog/how-to-...

You can train emotional intelligence. But you can’t do it in an afternoon workshop with clipart slides. Behaviour change takes repetition, feedback, and discomfort. Most EI training fails because it avoids all three. 👉 Source summary from meta-analyses in healthcare, 2023–24

Meanwhile my dog “caught” a discarded bread role from the compost bin this morning….

Virtual meetings are overly transactional - HBR warns that in virtual settings, empathy must be deliberate—active check‑ins & verbal affirmation matter more than ever. #RemoteWork #EI

BCG found that when people feel safe speaking up, others follow—boosting motivation, innovation, and performance. 👉 The Positive Domino Effect of Psychological Safety

The ways my 2yo made me a better man this year: – Attunement: Co-regulatation. Let others arrive at their own conclusions but hold them as they do. – Wonder: Slow down. Watch them solve their tiny puzzles. – Values: Set boundaries from conviction, not for the sake of control #fathersday #parenting

To all the Dads - Happy Fathers Day! To all the Mums who are the only father their child have - Happy Fathers Day! To all those who are loving a child and who are making a difference to them - thank you!

BCG on retention: with high psychological safety, only 3% of employees plan to quit vs 12% in low-safety teams. Empathy = retention multiplier:

Empathy isn’t just soft—it’s essential. HBR says empathetic leaders who strive to understand, not just feel, foster trust & drive performance. #Leadership #EmotionalIntelligence 👉 Empathy Is a Non‑Negotiable Leadership Skill

What other online platforms are the Makers of the Internet using at the moment? I heard someone talk about circle? If I’m building courses around teaching emotional intelligence whilst also learning about emotional intelligence myself what tools should I be using? #productivity #buildinginpublic

The vast majority of top executives across corporate America believe that companies should maintain—or even expand—initiatives to promote DEI, despite the government’s executive orders designed to compel them to do the opposite, a new survey shows.

Whatever you do, if you want be a better communicator you don’t need more “creative flair”. You need better tools, more structure, and a strategic point of view. Structure and strategy aren’t someone else’s job. 🔗

Humans love to hear they’re right. Humans also train chat bots like Chat GPT. As a result Sycophancy- or the software sucking up to the user- is rife. Even at the expense of truth. #AI www.freethink.com/robots-ai/ai...

Want to be a better communicator? Soft skills get you in the room. But hard structure keeps you there. If you’re a trying to earn strategic credibility, stop skipping the “boring” bits. 🔗

This has been knocking about in my head for the last few days:

Still treating emotional intelligence as optional? 🧠 EI improves performance by 20% 💬 Boosts engagement by 36% 💸 Engaged teams = 21% higher profit (Gallup) That’s not soft. That’s strategic. #LeadershipMatters #EI #PeopleFirst

2021 study found leaders high in emotional intelligence (EI) improved team performance by ~20% and boosted employee engagement by 36%. Engaged teams? They see 21% more profit. Leadership isn’t just about vision. It’s about emotional skill. #EmotionalIntelligence #Leadership

Want better business results? 🔍 A 2023 review of 104 studies found EI leaders consistently: – Perform better – Lead more effective teams – Deliver stronger results EI isn’t “soft skills.” It’s competitive advantage. #WorkplacePsychology #EI #LeadershipDevelopment

I’m here to find collaborators. Co-conspirators. I don’t yet know they will look, but I’m building tools around teaching emotional intelligence, practical tools for the leaders of today. Something that fits with real life, unsanitised. I’m building in public, so if this is your field, connect!

This sums up what I’ve learned recently quite well: “You find time in the cracks between the big stuff - your commute ✅, your lunch break ✅, after your kids go to bed ✅✅. You might have to miss some TV or some sleep, but you can find the time if you look for it” #creative

I’ve been thinking about what will be valuable in a world of post-AI proliferation… Where anything written, any image or video, anything online could be AI. What premium are we going to put on humans and our imperfections.

Worth keeping in mind! #happiness #productivity

London’s AI problem isn’t technological. It’s cultural. Despite the hype, we’re not seeing meaningful human-AI collaboration in most London workplaces. And without a shift in leadership, we won’t. Here's why:

Every year, the World Happiness Report tells the same story: Finland and the Nordics top the list. The US? Down from 10th to 24th. #HappinessReport #Inequality #Wellbeing #Finland #SocialPolicy

Flicking through Show Your Work as I commute into the office - working through building content to promote emotional literacy - Here are some bits that jumped out at me: 1/ “armatures are all any of us are: we don’t live long enough to be anything else” - Charlie Chaplin

You don’t know what you don’t know: When it comes to emotional intelligence, start with self-awareness. Most people think they’re more self-aware than others. Most people also say they’re an above average driver. The Dunning-Kruger effect is real: we’re often more confident than correct!

In the spirit of sharing, fittingly, I’m reading Show Your Work and learning that “good work isn’t created in a vacuum” but rather is the result of connection. That’s what I’m hoping to build here.

I hate the idea of self promotion, I hate networking, I always thought that if I was “good enough” then people would take notice. This account is the antidote to that. It is a personal challenge to Show my Work.

Here we go! I’m starting something new, putting myself out there and creating in public. The ambition here is a content first coaching and teaching business about emotional intelligence in leadership. Watch this space.