Are you ready to harness the power of Positive Intelligence?

Are you someone who spends quite a lot of time in your head?

I certainly do!

It can be time-consuming, draining and sometimes, a downer.

It can also stop us from taking action.

During a recent keynote talk on Challenging Conversations for a global engineering company, one participant revealed that she’d run through all the possible scenarios in her head for how the challenging conversation might turn out badly. Which then became a barrier to initiating the conversation in the first place!

According to the Australian HR Institute 37% of people would consider quitting their job to avoid a difficult conversation.

This is a HUGE number!!!

Projecting into the future, and replaying the past are important when it comes to planning future actions or assessing how you got to where you are now, but spending too much time in thought can get in the way of savouring the present moment. 

It can also cause overwhelm and prevent us from moving forward. 

That’s why I was so excited when someone recently mentioned the concept of PQ to me.

PQ stands for Positive Intelligence.

It’s based on the idea that our minds are capable of producing both positive and negative thoughts, and it is up to us to determine which type of thinking will have the biggest impact on our success. 

An understanding of PQ can help us to become more aware of our thoughts and beliefs, as well as how they influence our behaviour.

Three steps you can follow to cultivate PQ

1. Be mindful of your thoughts: When a negative thought arises, take a moment to consider whether it’s really true or if you can create an alternate viewpoint.

2. Acknowledge your successes: This will help remind you of what’s going right in your life.

3. Practice gratitude: This opens our minds to seeing opportunities and solutions.

You can read more about PQ here: https://www.positiveintelligence.com/news/why-pq-matters-more-than-iq-and-eq/

Do you have habitual patterns of negative thinking that can sabotage your progress? These are our saboteurs and can include the avoider, the pleaser, and the hyper-achiever. 

Take a test to find out which kind of ‘saboteur’ thinking is holding you back www.PositiveIntelligence.com

What’s been going on with me?

Over the last quarter I’ve been to Copenhagen and Seattle to deliver keynotes, I attended a conference in Florida as a delegate, and have also spoken with thousands of audience members virtually.

I’m also pretty excited to be one of Women in Data’s mainstage speakers for their International Women’s Day celebration in London on March 9th. Part of my job will be to stoke up the energy and empathy among their 2000 delegates, helping them to connect and engage. The organisers have worked so hard on this and it’s going to be a fun event!

Do you need a virtual keynote speaker for International Women’s Month?

I still have a few spots left! 

This year’s theme is Embrace Equity, and I’ve created a keynote specifically to go along with this theme. It’s called: ‘Embrace Equity: The power of empathetic communication’ and you can take a look at the learning objectives here.

And, if that doesn’t quite work for you, then I also have a variety of other IWD-themed talks available.

Take a look at the brochure here, and please share with your teams who’ll be selecting IWD speakers at your organisation if you feel there might be an interest!

Communication Corner: Expressing

I recently spoke at a social media company and one of the questions was about how to avoid displaying too much emotion in the workplace when we’re under pressure.

We often try to stifle emotions and can even be regarded as weak if we display an emotional reaction. For example, to being disrespected, or ignored at work, or when something happens that violates our value system.

Expressing emotion isn’t wrong, and this article from Better Up discusses how to express emotions at work.

I particularly like that it mentions that expressing emotions will help others understand you. Also, that it can be beneficial to practice expressing emotions with friends and people we trust to help us improve our precision and control during conversations on emotive topics.

Here’s another article about the power of emotions by Happiful. Some of us can handle an emotional reaction better than others, but given how stressful it can be when we don’t express ourselves, it makes sense to get better at communicating our feelings to others. 

Have a great month!

Best wishes,

Shola

---

Hi, I’m Shola and I help you create a people-first culture. My work sits at the intersection of Inclusion, Communication & Emotional Intelligence.

My keynote talks and workshops help your leaders and employees create high-performing work environments where people feel a sense of belonging and psychological safety. Sessions are high energy, interactive, and every participant walks away with at least one practical framework for connecting and collaborating more effectively.

Sound good to you? Please reach out and let’s discuss your next event! 🙂🎤✨