Have you ever been in a situation where you witnessed a Leader acting in a way which was inconsistent with the values of the team, and despite attempting to assist them and guide them to safer ground, they simply continued to dig a massive hole for themselves? No matter what you said to them, it made no difference? And this does not necessarily have to be a situation in a workplace. Many years ago, I unfortunately witnessed such a situation, which for the Leader in question, was ultimately career defining. We were entertaining corporate customers at a sporting event, and the alcohol was not only in large supply, but also in great demand. As the evening progressed, this particular leader continued to consume copious amounts of alcohol, and as they did, they became louder and louder, said things in front of customers which was out of line, became quite emotional and overly expressive to a number of customers, and by the end of the night, had to be escorted out of the event. Despite our best attempts to stem the flow of alcohol to them, as well as attempting to move them to a different area for some ‘quiet time’, they continued to behave in a very unprofessional and unintelligent way. As a consequence of their behaviour, they lost significant amounts of trust and respect from their team members who attended the event, not to mention the lost respect from the customers who attended. In fact, the customers refused to meet with this leader again following the evening, and submitted letters of complaint to the senior executives. Now this is a rather extreme example, however it highlights the dangers and consequences for a leader who does not demonstrate emotional intelligence. Continue reading →