Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the skill that allows for people to make purposeful decisions with clarity, composure and core values—and is the skill for exceptional time management. A practical question to employ EI is to pause and ask oneself or your colleagues, manager, etc. "Is this a glass ball task or rubber ball task?" Asking this one question will save relationships, time, money—and even a legacy.

A short story from Daniel Scott, Commander 438th Supply Chain Operations Squadron, on the importance to pause and think about glass ball vs. rubber ball assignments, decisions and tasks...

"When I worked at The Pentagon, I was working with an Exec Officer that gave me some really good advice that essentially went as such. When juggling tasks, not all tasks are the same. Some are “glass” balls that, when dropped, will be unrecoverable and have unintended consequences. Some are “rubber” balls that, when dropped, are recoverable—you still don’t want to drop them but not nearly as catastrophic as that “glass” ball task. Furthermore, there is such as a thing as having too many “balls” to juggle, and it’s important to recognize that as well, both as the receiver and giver of the tasks. Bottom line, it’s important to understand which tasks are most important to your boss, your people, and your organization." - Daniel Scott

The reality is that not all tasks are the same, not all customers are the same, not all projects are the same and not all balls in the air at any given moment are the same. When delivering excellence, one size fits one in the moment. We can get into trouble when we carelessly treat glass balls as rubber balls suffering the consequences of quick decisions that shatter relationships and brands. Similarly, we can get into "paralysis by analysis" by treating every rubber ball like a glass ball when the rubber ball will easily bounce back—decisions that need to be made swiftly without much reflection or analyzing to keep things (and us) moving forward. Emotional Intelligence is the skill to adapt between glass balls and rubber balls. Pause, ask and choose wisely!

About Employ Humanity:
Employ Humanity is a leader in upskilling Emotional Intelligence in workplaces and beyond and works with organizations across all industries striving for growth and excellence. Register here for Employ Humanity Leadership Day 2024 at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee.