EQ MEETS THE CHRISTMAS CAROL

Edith Furhmann  understands emotional intelligence. From the end of October through the Christmas season for the last 10 years, Edith has stepped outside her role as the Alberta Freehold Mineral Tax Analyst in the Finance department for ConocoPhillips and into the role of Choir Director. Almost for as long as Edith has been employed with C/P (or Gulf back in those days), Edith sang for the Gulf Canada choir. But in 1995 there was a huge downsizing and many of the choir members left, including the choir director. Not to be daunted by the challenge, Edith didn’t want to see the choir dissolve completely. So, like any leader, she saw an opportunity to take the initiative to lead the choir’s seven remaining members. And 10 years later, she not only continues to facilitate amazing work as the choir director, but she has increased the size of the choir to over 50 members, and this includes singers from outside ConocoPhillips.

Intrapersonal Competence

If Dr. Revan Bar-On could meet Edith, he would likely identify her Intra-personal competence as being the strength of her leadership style. Edith has positive self-regard – an awareness of her strengths as a singer, which also includes her acceptance of her limitations. Edith is the first to say that she does not have formal musical training, and as a result, she encourages “input from the membership, whether it’s a recommendation for a new song, or suggestions on how the execution of a song or phrase may be enhanced – it’s a team effort”. Second, she combined her assertiveness skills with independence in stepping forward into a role that she had not done before. Her energy and enthusiasm come through loud and strong because she is tapping into her potential and achieving what she wants from life.  

General Mood

Tied to Self-Actualization, is something Dr. Bar-On refers to as General Mood. This has 2 components: Optimism and Happiness. I think we can all understand what happiness is, but optimism is what makes successful leaders really stand out – the ability to see that things will get better in the face of adversity and maintaining a level of energy that feeds others. Edith’s vision to not only continue but also to grow the choir was nourished by her optimism and 10 year later, the choir has an extensive repertoire of Christmas songs.

How can you develop this part of your EQ? 

I’m not suggesting that you become a Choir Director, but this story about Edith’s leadership speaks to the importance of Intrapersonal competence. I encourage you to get connected with what you are passionate about, what your values are and what contributes to your self regard and let that feed your leadership style.

THE CHOIR PERFORMS

If you are interested in seeing Edith Furhman and the Christmas Choir perform, and you happen to be in Gulf Canada Square (main lobby) on these dates, I know you will be fortunate to see a great performance. The Choir performs in the mornings from 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. everyday from December 12 to December 16. On Monday, December 12 and Wednesday December 14, the Choir performs at noon. Bring a bag lunch and enjoy the carols of the season! I’d love to see you there and maybe introduce you to Edith. And congratulations to ConocoPhillips for supporting such an awesome choir director!

If you want more detailed information on having an EQ assessment, and what you can do to continue to develop your EQ, contact me for more information. If you want to join the choir, let me know and I’ll connect you with Edith!

 AN EXECUTIVE’S PERSPECTIVE ON ADVANCEMENT

It was a pleasure to have Steve Laut attend the Leading From Within Wine & Cheese Reception as our guest speaker on November 17^th. Steve spoke to us about a very solid perspective of 4 principles to focus on in order to facilitate your career advancement:

• Work Smart – this is more than time management according to Steve. It’s about finding balance in your life – doing the right amount of work in your job to get the answers. Steve advises to ask yourself: “why am I doing this?” and know how every aspect of what you do in your role impacts the overall company. Working smart also includes being proactive, thinking ahead, and looking around the corner.
• Work Hard – this is not a contradiction to the first principle. Work hard at communication, listening to employees, setting goals and then making things happen.
• Work With Integrity – Here Steve talked about treating people fairly, and owning the good as well as the bad.
• Work Together – creating an environment where as a leader you are there to help employees and the company achieve success.

These 4 points really don’t do justice to the informative session we had with Steve. He invited questions and comments, and so our presentation was really a dialogue. I’d like to thank Steve for taking time out of his busy schedule to attend this function and provide such a powerful model for us to use. And yes, I already have some great ideas of who to ask to speak at our next Leading From Within Wine & Cheese Reception next Spring!

Bella 2006 – Wednesday March 22, 2005 at 6:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Calgary. It’s a pleasure again to sponsor this event and this year, because heart disease is the leading killer among women, the proceeds will go towards heart health  - research, education and technology. I spoke with Debbie Corah at the Health Trust and she tells me that if you request your tickets before February 17, 2006 you only pay $100.00 per ticket! After that, it’s 125.00. I hope to see you there supporting this important health issue for women. 

Alberta 2006 HR Conference – Jennifer White of White & Colleagues and myself have teamed up to present at the Annual HRIA conference in April, 2006. We’re combining two important concepts for organizations: wellness and emotional intelligence. The focus is on what general managers and human resource practitioners can do to create emotionally intelligence cultures where employees thrive. I’ll have more details coming in the Q1 2006 newsletter.

Leading From Within Wine & Cheese Reception – April, 2006 – Speaker TBC

THANKS FOR A GREAT 2005!

As this year comes to a close, I know that I wouldn’t have had such a positive year without some strong support, and I’d like to take an opportunity to thank:

Calgary Chamber of Commerce – Livia Kolbe

Pitsel & Associates – Dr. Pat Pitsel

Friday Professional Group – Leslie Davies

Insight Communication – Janet Willson

RnR Wellness - The Spa - Elisabeth Fayt

Worth-While Webs – Kim Worth