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This is the final episode in our Leadership quadrant, and the last stop on the 16-episode Road Map to Business Success. Sam and Kate unpack why most values statements fail: they're written as nouns, printed on a wall, and disconnected from how the business actually runs day to day.

They break down organisational health expert Patrick Lencioni's four types of values, core, aspirational, permission-to-play, and accidental, and why only one of these should actually be driving your business. You'll hear how a real value statement works as a decision filter: what the value is, what it looks like in practice, and what you'd walk away from because of it.

Sam and Kate also get honest about the tension between values-led leadership and commercial pressure — what happens when your marketing drifts out of step with your own voice, and why alignment shows up in every decision whether you name it or not.

Mentioned in this episode: the free AI Employee Setup Workbook, and the upcoming Bali Business Retreat — four days of hands-on implementation with Sam and Kate. Early bird pricing ends July 15, limited spots.

Have you got your copy of the AI Employee Setup Workbook yet? It's been getting rave reviews! Go here to get it now: https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/ai-setup-workbook

Connect with Your Hosts:

Kate De Jong, PhD | Inspired Business 🌐 Website: https://katedejong.com/ 📱 Instagram: @katedejong.inspiredbusiness ✉️ Email: kate@katedejong.com

Sam Morris | The O8 🌐 Website: https://www.theo8.com/ 📱 Instagram: @the_o8crew ✉️ Email: sam@theo8.com

Thriving Business Podcast 🌐Website: https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/

JOIN OUR WORKSHOPS

🌐 https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/workshops

COME ON THE 2026 BALI RETREAT

🌐 https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/baliretreat2026

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam

Leading with Impact | The Power of Emotional Intelligence

This episode delves into the critical aspect of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as part of Quadrant Four of the Thriving Business Wheel, focusing on leadership and leading with impact. Building on the previous discussion about self-awareness, this episode explores how understanding and managing emotions – both our own and others' – is fundamental to business success.

Key Discussion Points & Takeaways:

Self-Awareness vs. Emotional Intelligence

While self-awareness is the bedrock, emotional intelligence encompasses self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. A significant disconnect often exists between how individuals perceive themselves and how others perceive them, highlighting the need for external feedback.

Daniel Goleman's EQ Framework

The discussion outlines Goleman's four core components of emotional intelligence.

1. Self-Awareness: Understanding your own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and impact.

2. Self-Management: The ability to manage your emotions and behaviors effectively, especially under pressure. This involves creating space between a trigger and a response, allowing for rational decision-making.

3. Social Awareness: The capacity to understand the emotions, needs, and concerns of other people, demonstrating empathy and sensing group dynamics.

4. Relationship Management: Using your awareness of your own and others' emotions to positively influence, coach, manage conflict, and lead collaboratively.

The Importance of EQ in Leadership

Research consistently shows that leaders with high EQ are more effective, foster stronger workplace cultures, build higher levels of trust, and are often promoted faster. They create environments of psychological safety, which is now a crucial, legally recognized aspect of a healthy workplace.

Developing EQ is a Journey

EQ is not a fixed trait but a skill that can be developed through effort, focus, and a willingness to become uncomfortable and vulnerable.

Challenges and Nuances

• Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset:
  An unwillingness to develop EQ is often linked to a fixed mindset, hindering personal and professional growth.
• Employer Responsibility:
  The evolving legal landscape places a greater onus on employers to ensure psychological safety, presenting challenges for business owners who may not be trained psychologists. The consensus is that while employers have a duty of care, employees also share responsibility for their own mental well-being and development.
• The "Mate" Mentality:
  Confusing being a "mate" with providing genuine leadership and psychological safety can be detrimental, blurring boundaries and hindering necessary feedback. True leadership requires balancing empathy with assertiveness and clear boundaries.
• "Cutting the Noise" vs. Tact:
  While directness can be valuable, delivering it without consideration for the recipient's feelings or context (low EQ) can be damaging, as illustrated by anecdotal examples.

Key Qualities for Developing EQ

The discussion emphasises embracing curiosity, vulnerability, and comfort with uncertainty as crucial drivers for improving EQ, and discusses the upcoming launch of her new book collaboration: The WisDumb Way | A Practical Guide to Developing EQ Through the Power of Paradox

Connect with Your Hosts:

Kate De Jong, PhD | Inspired Business 🌐 Website: https://katedejong.com/ 📱 Instagram: @katedejong.inspiredbusiness ✉️ Email: kate@katedejong.com

Sam Morris | The O8 🌐 Website: https://www.theo8.com/ 📱 Instagram: @the_o8crew ✉️ Email: sam@theo8.com

Thriving Business Podcast 🌐Website: https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/

JOIN OUR WORKSHOPS

🌐 https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/workshops

COME ON THE 2026 BALI RETREAT

🌐 https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/baliretreat2026

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam

Most leaders believe they're self-aware. The research disagrees — dramatically.

In this episode, Kate and Sam dive deep into one of the most underused leadership skills in small business: genuine self-awareness. Not the "I know myself pretty well" kind — but the kind that closes the gap between how you think you show up and how others actually experience you.

They cover:

• The Tasha Eurich research that stops most people cold (the 95% vs 15% stat)
• The difference between internal and external self-awareness — and why you need both
• What a 360-degree LSI assessment revealed about Kate's leadership (and why she cried)
• Why fixed mindset blocks self-awareness before you even get started
• The Enneagram — what it is, why it's confronting, and why that's exactly the point
• Curiosity, vulnerability, and comfort with uncertainty as the three-part path forward
• Psychological safety at work — and why it starts with the leader knowing themselves first

Whether you've never taken a personality assessment or you've done them all, this episode will give you a fresh lens on why self-awareness isn't a one-time exercise — it's a lifelong practice.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Tasha Eurich — researcher and author on self-awareness; her TED Talk is a great starting point
• LSI (Life Styles Inventory) — 360-degree behavioural assessment tool
• The Enneagram — nine-type personality framework; free test available online (Kate recommends getting some support interpreting your result)
• Myers-Briggs — useful particularly for career direction
• BankCode — four-colour personality profile (Blueprint, Action, Nurture, Knowledge); fun in a team setting
• Ted Lasso (Apple TV+) — Sam's recommendation as an unlikely masterclass in curiosity and self-awareness
• Kate's Happiness Key eBook — includes links to the personality tests discussed; reach out to Kate directly for access

Next episode: Emotional Intelligence — Daniel Goleman's four-layer model, starting with self-awareness as the foundation.

Coming up: Leading from your values, a wrap-up episode, and the Bali Business Retreat.

Workshop — 24th June: Details at thrivingbusinesspodcast.com

Connect with Your Hosts:

Kate De Jong, PhD | Inspired Business 🌐 Website: https://katedejong.com/ 📱 Instagram: @katedejong.inspiredbusiness ✉️ Email: kate@katedejong.com

Sam Morris | The O8 🌐 Website: https://www.theo8.com/ 📱 Instagram: @the_o8crew ✉️ Email: sam@theo8.com

Thriving Business Podcast 🌐Website: https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/

JOIN OUR WORKSHOPS

🌐 https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/workshops

COME ON THE 2026 BALI RETREAT

🌐 https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/baliretreat2026