subject: Resilience - Emotional Intelligence Of The Tree [print this page] Emotional intelligence has many facesEmotional intelligence has many faces. Sometimes a metaphor captures as aspect of emotional intelligence in a way we can remember. Here is my metaphor of the resilient tree.
I was hiking along a river and noticed several large trees that had no earth underneath them. The river had washed it away. But some wily trees had outsmarted the river. They sent large roots sideways deep into the bank so they could hold on. The trees looked like the letter L, with air beneath them and swirling water below that. And they were big and tall, strong trees. They had withstood the changes of nature, the forcefulness of a river. They were resilient, and that is part of emotional intelligence.
Other trees were not so resilient. They had fallen into the river because their roots were not going in the right sideways direction or strong enough to hang on as the water washed out the ground underneath them.
Which kind of tree are you? Resilient or ready to fall into the river of constant change and turbulence? Of overwhelming workloads and poor relationships? And whatever else undermines you?
Now lets learn from the resilient trees. When they sensed that the river was eroding the ground from beneath them, they sent new roots sideways into the river bank. They noticed a problem and sought firm ground to solve it. Then they grew these new roots bigger and deeper into the bank, sometimes wrapping around boulders for extra stability.
You can do the same. Notice the problems that threaten to overwhelm you. Or what already overwhelms you, such as your workload or a transition. Or the non-supportive people you have to work with. Now search for firm ground or boulders to hang on to.
One type of firm ground is your core values. These are what you can hang on to when the river is washing away the ground from under your feet. Where is your firm bank where your roots go deep?
Do you know your core values clearly so that you can hang on to them in time of trouble? Do they hold you steady like deep roots? Are you firmly held in good times and in bad?
If not, it is time to identify and clarify your core values. What really matters to you?
Helping you to clarify your core values is a key component of individual and group executive coaching.
Copyright 2009, by William R. Murray, President of Eagle Alliance Executive Coaching, LLC. Reprint rights granted to all venues so long as this article and by-line are printed intact with all links made live.
