In our recent episode of the OVAReact Podcast, we had the chance to have a sit-down and discussion with Dorothy Ooko, who in 2021 was named one of the top 25 most powerful women in C-Suite level impacting businesses by The Knowledge Warehouse. Dorothy is the Head of Communications and Public Affairs for Google Africa, and in the recent episode she talks about her journey and how developing her EQ has played a huge role in the leader she has become.
Being a leader, by all means, is no small feat, It comes with huge responsibility, and responsibility is the ability to respond and this requires you to develop certain traits but one that is often not talked about is emotional quotient (emotional intelligence) which is key to successful leadership, and Dorothy highlights five attributes that will develop one's EQ, thus leading a person to improve on their leadership skills.
IQ is important it opens the door but what keeps you in is the EQ.
Dorothy Ooko
1. Practising Mindfulness
This is not just about breathing but through the processing of learning to be self-aware, taking a moment to be centred within yourself to recognise how you feel at that moment, to what does and doesn’t make you tick.
2. Self Management
This is in essence self-regulation, the ability to know what is going to trigger you and follow it through with the action that will lead you not to react. For instance, making the decision to pause so that you don’t say something you will regret. Practising this is very critical in leadership because you will walk away from situations that will lead you astray and practice bad governance.
3. Motivation
Take the time to find out what motivates you and makes you get up and get out of bed. If there is no excitement then you need to figure out what will excite you because not being motivated means you are doing the wrong thing and are perhaps in the wrong job, which means it’s time to make some changes.
4. Empathy
Being able to feel with other people and recognise what they are going through, and help them with what they need at that time make their life easier. For instance, if it is giving an employee a day off for them to make some adjustments to whatever is happening in their personal life.
5. Compassion
This is linked to empathy but it is about the ability to feel for other people when they are going through something, if it’s joy learning to celebrate their win and it’s sadness working with them to make what’s unjust, just.
Inspire people to bring their best everyday!
Dorothy Ooko
Be fully inspired by listening to the full episode of the #OVAReactPodcast via any of the links below and click subscribe too. You can listen to each new episode LIVE on Capital FM Kenya on Mondays from 10.30 pm.