Compassionate accountability. It’s a life challenge for me—what about you? When I’m under the stress of deadlines or I’ve allowed myself to get too hungry or didn’t get enough sleep the night before—pretty much, things that are in my control—what’s at risk of dropping is more than my energy level.

In today’s fast-moving, ambiguous, and disruptive business environments of mergers and product innovations, it doesn’t take much of a leap for us to feel the challenges associated with living and modeling Emotional Intelligence while at work and in our personal lives.

We just wrapped up our first Training Insights for Seeding Change members where our topic on disruptive diplomacy introduced compassionate accountability and how leading and navigating change in today’s rough and tumble organizations may definitely be a challenge, but one that can and must be something we continuously improve.

I consider compassionate accountability an extension of Emotional Intelligence, or perhaps, a hybrid of a number of different areas often associated with EQ.

[Be sure to download our e-book The Entrepreneurial Leader's Disruptor Handbook and complete David Cory's EQ self-assessment.] 

My compassionate accountability goals and ongoing personal development challenges fall within three areas.

1. Delivering my message with compassion. I may not know what’s going on in someone’s life while at work—what lies behind the scrim, so to speak. How can I be direct with someone while delivering my message with compassion for whatever is going on in their personal lives.

2. As a results-driven person, how do I accomplish goals while being empathic to the needs of team members, something that requires a level of trust between me and my team? If someone is unable to complete a task on time due to a personal crisis or issue, how can I manage it compassionately while still getting the job done?

3. How do I model compassionate accountability and integrate this blend of EQ skills into my leadership style, while also building and extending these skills to team members?

Continuous improvement is the name of the game.

What about you? Are you challenged with applying EQ, in general, and compassionate accountability in particular? What insights and tips can you share with us?