Understanding emotional intelligence in the Black community
(CBS DETROIT) - Transitioning to an executive role wasn't easy for Cecilia Rutherford.
As the COO of Hamilton Community Health Network, her concern was how she was being perceived by her non-Black colleagues.
"We spend so much time trying to build a career. We forget to build ourselves," Cecilia Rutherford said.
"One of the things going into the C-suite, I was angry. I was angry at showing up, not feeling appreciated. It's a lonely place and especially for African American women, you don't get to look across the boardroom or any room and see people that look like you."
That fight within is called emotional intelligence. It's something that Cathy Mott, a leadership coach, helps people evaluate through a workbook and app, "My Journey Within."
"Emotional intelligence is being able to have an emotion in the moment and name it, validate it, ask yourself, what do I want to do with this emotion?" said Mott, who is CEO of CWC Leadership Development.
"We experience over 400 emotions in a day. Most people can only name four to six. And then taking a moment to explore them is very valuable, but people don't know they can have choices. What do I want to do with this emotion?" Mott said.
The help made all the difference in the world for Rutherford.
"What emotional intelligence has done for me is reintroduced me to me. I am able to walk in emotional intelligence at my workplace. It's OK to be able to deliver and be educated and not be intimidated, and not sure if it's the angry black woman because I didn't have to react to everything," she said. "Emotional intelligence taught me how to respire, how what's really going on. Because it's our emotions that trigger some type of reaction."
