For many of us, we’ve been told through most of our lives that what we have to say is not that important. If we weren’t outright told, we may have felt it in subtle ways that resulted in quieting our voice. Eventually it felt unsafe to voice our thoughts and we ended up squelching who we truly are. Some people stop speaking up all together.

When this shows up in business situations, communication may be stifled and teams might have a harder time working together. Depending on if it is the manager or the employee, different problems can arise such as misunderstandings, resentment, and unaligned missions. If instead, everyone learned to have a higher level of emotional intelligence (EI) and employee voice (EV), employee engagement would increase through sharing thoughts and ideas. Interaction feels easier to navigate and small businesses realize greater productivity, employee satisfaction, loyalty, and time on the job.

The foundation for this book is my study of the relationship between managers’ emotional intelligence, positive and negative affect, and employee voice. I looked at these variables through the lens of leader-member exchange theory. This theory provided key insights to effectively implement emotional intelligence and employee voice in organizations. When I wrote this book, I was thinking of current and future leaders who are considering their approach to leadership and what it means to be an effective leader, manager, or entrepreneur.

Inside, I’ll be sharing how to improve EI in organizations and what steps you can use to create and maintain a high EI company culture. I’ll also be sharing the methods and toolkits I’ve developed such as IMAGES, IMPACT and Momentum Mirror Moments for Change (M3C). When you understand and apply the concepts I share, you’ll be a better manager, business owner, and person. You’ll have employees that want to stay for the long term, are aligned with your company mission and work together better, towards common goals.