The international fields of leadership development, talent development, and executive coaching continue to be mired in perplexing and outdated models originated in the 20th Century—and some that have emerged in our evolving 21st Century.
According to Kevin Asbjörnson, MIM, Founder & Managing Director of the Institute of Inspired Leadership, “Our world and global economies are in dire need of a leadership and executive coaching renaissance to address the multidimensional and interconnected realities of the 21st century.”
The key to this renaissance is likely rooted in emotional intelligence (EI); but what exactly is emotional intelligence? According to Multi-Health Systems (MHS), an organization that measures EI and has developed the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i 2.0), emotional intelligence is comprised of a set of emotional and social skills that influence the way we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with challenges, and use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way.
While emotional intelligence isn’t the sole predictor of human performance and development potential, it is proven to be a key indicator in these areas. Similarly, the discipline of Inspired Leadership recognizes the eminent need for a human-centric model of engaging and preparing students, entrepreneurs, business managers and leaders, and individual contributors for our new world of life, career and well-being. This model needs to embrace our delicate co-existence as responsible, accountable, and mutually respectful global citizens and fortify our abilities to work together for the advancement of all.
According to Asbjörnson, one of the misconstrued tenants of the 20th century model of leadership was that the primary expectation of supervisors, managers and leaders was they should always have the right answer and expect others to also have the right answer. We are now evolving into a more realistic expectation of supervisors, managers and leaders to ask the right questions and encourage and empower others to ask the right questions.
Coaching for Performance, Potential & Well-Being™ is emerging as an expanded approach to coaching in the 21st century, which is based upon and leverages the principles and values of positive psychology and Positive Psychology Coaching.
Coaching for Performance, Potential, and Well-Being™ is an integrative approach to coaching, facilitating, and accelerating learning that incorporates both individual and team or workgroup coaching.
“Our personal and professional growth coaching—or holistic coaching—is for everyone in the global workforce, including entrepreneurs. It is not just supervisors, managers and leaders,” says Asbjörnson.
Holistic Coaching takes into consideration the three (3) essential and human dimensions of Personality, Perspective and Perseverance. One of the most essential elements influencing and characterizing our Personality, Perspective and Perseverance is our Emotional Intelligence (EQ).
Our global executive coaches and master facilitators at the Institute of Inspired Leadership™ consistently remind our clients—whether they are students, entrepreneurs, employees, supervisors, managers or leaders—that Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is often more important than IQ, when charting a course to identify, develop and advance in one’s career.
“People with well-developed emotional skills are also more likely to be content and effective in their lives, mastering the habits of the mind that foster their own productivity. People who cannot marshal some control over their emotional life have a higher likelihood of battling internally which sabotages their ability to develop focused work and clear thought,” Asbjörnson adds.
Emotional intelligence is not a static factor — to the contrary, one’s emotional intelligence changes over time and can be developed in targeted areas through the use of tools such as MHS’s EQ-I 2.0®–which measures EQ and how it can impact people in the workplace. Applications of emotional intelligence include: Leadership & Talent Development, Selection, Organizational Development, Executive Coaching, Team Building and Student Development.
Daniel Goleman, American psychologist and author of Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, first brought “emotional intelligence” to a global audience through a book by that name—and his findings from work with hundreds of international companies has proven there are direct ties between emotional intelligence in leadership and measurable business results.
Our own Institute of Inspired Leadership™ acknowledges MHS EQ-i 2.0 to be the international gold standard of Emotional Intelligence Assessments and the clients of our global executive coaches have praised the assessment for its multi-color, easy-interpretable format and personalized insights into the Five (5) Components of Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace and Life.
Kevin Asbjörnson is an advanced practitioner of the MHS EQ-i 2.0 and is recognized by Hogan Assessments, the international gold standard of personality assessments, as an Honoree in the 2025-Top 1% of Global Executive Coaches.
To book a complimentary 15-minute consultation with Kevin Asbjörnson, please email Kevin.Asbjornson@InspireImagineInnovate.com or Engage With Him.
Kevin resides in Denver, Colorado and can be reached at Kevin.Asbjornson@InspireImagineInnovate.com
Mobile Telephone/WhatsApp +1.720.810.1107 or LinkedIn @ www.linkedin.com/in/kevinasbjornson
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