Claiming the Power of Choice

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lie our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor E. Frankl

Have you ever been in a situation where you immediately reacted to something – maybe a remark someone made or a question someone asked – and then later regretted that you didn’t count to 10 before responding? If so, you aren’t alone. We can probably all recount scenarios where a “pause” button could have been the catalyst for a better outcome.

Certainly there are times when we need to respond to a stimulus without pausing – imminent danger comes to mind as one, Jeopardy for another.  For the most part, however, it’s in our best interest to make use of “the space” to give us the power of choice. You get to choose how you will respond to a situation, a person, a thought, or an event and then, having made that choice, act.

The key to using that space wisely is self-awareness. Understanding your emotions, not necessarily just where they come from, but how they manifest themselves is essential. Once you have an awareness of how you typically respond to certain triggers and in certain situations, you can select a different response. A response that increases your effectiveness, helps you influence someone in a different way, and/or results in a more positive outcome.

There was a time when emotions were rarely discussed in the workplace. They existed, of course, but were either hidden or viewed in a negative light – a person might be described as “too emotional,” for example. Today, however, organizations are recognizing that emotions are a natural and necessary part of business life – in forming customer relationships, in making decisions, in creating a brand, in building employee loyalty. Now many organizations are adding Emotional Intelligence (EQ) assessments to their people development tools along with the personality and behavior assessments they are already using.  Often these are different models, that don’t necessarily connect emotions (internal) with the behaviors triggered by them (external).  And they may not provide guidance on how to be agile with our emotions so that our behaviors can be leveraged in the space.

At Lumina, our EQ assessment and our behavioral assessment are inherently connected. Through our research and statistics we are finding it very helpful in developing and transforming leaders and individuals to be able to show the connections between core emotions (Lumina Emotion) and how those are reflected in behaviors and personality (Lumina Spark). The Lumina Emotion Portrait uncovers the relationship between your inner feelings, emotions and behaviors. It examines unique patterns of behavior, including how you may tune up or tune down certain behaviors to suit the needs of your environment. It also focuses on how you can overplay your strengths and highlights potential blockers to interpersonal effectiveness.

Lumina Emotion offers users the “power of the space” by providing them with emotional and behavioral awareness to choose the appropriate response.  Next time, remember to stop, pause and claim the power of choice before making your response. Choose to be more powerful in your interactions with others.

Lead on, 

Rebecca