Whether learning a new skill, belief set, or teaching others, there are behaviors and competencies involved. However, if your brain has entered the reptilian mode, your brain is physically unable to grow anything. Access to memory is limited, and decision-making and innovation are limited as well.
I had the privilege of talking with Dr. Izzy Justice about his book EPowerment: Achieving Empowerment in the E World. Although emotional intelligence (EQ) has been discussed for years and is a powerful concept for leadership development, Dr. Justice has focused on the basics of emotional competency through his new book.
His research shows that the less able you are to assess and regulate emotions, the less likely you are to grow any other competency. For example, you might learn how to create a great scope diagram (and many of you have in our project management workshops), but you don’t ever draw them due to the emotional stress of projects neutralizing your energy and triggering bad decisions, in this case thinking, “there’s NO time for something like THAT!”