No one wants to hear everything that's in your head. They just want you to live up to what comes out of your mouth.
Adam GrantRead
Instead of assuming that emotional intelligence is always useful, we need to think more carefully about where and when it matters.
Interpretation
Emotional intelligence is valuable, but its importance varies by context and situation.
In this quote, Adam Grant emphasizes that while emotional intelligence can be a significant asset in many areas of life, it is not universally applicable in every situation. This calls for a more discerning approach to understanding when emotional intelligence can be beneficial and when it might not be the most relevant factor to consider.
In practice
In a workshop focused on leadership skills, this quote can be shared to provoke discussion about the nuances of emotional intelligence.
No one wants to hear everything that's in your head. They just want you to live up to what comes out of your mouth.
In the eyes of many people, giving doesn't count unless it's completely selfless. In reality, though, giving isn't sustainable when it's completely selfless.
When you procrastinate, you're more likely to let your mind wander. That gives you a better chance of stumbling onto the unusual and spotting unexpected patterns.
We have many identities, and we can't be authentic to them all. The best we can do is be sincere in our efforts to earn the values we claim.
We all have thoughts and feelings that we believe are fundamental to our lives but that are better left unspoken.
You want people who choose to follow because they genuinely believe in ideas, not because they're afraid to be punished if they don't. For startups, there's so much pivoting that's required that if you have a bunch of sheep, you're in bad shape.
Thoughts are fine when you don't confuse them with who you are, and then thoughts are not a problem. Thinking is a wonderful tool to create things in this world. It only becomes problematic and a source of suffering when you confuse thinking with who you are.
There is moderation even in excess.
By and large a good rule for finding out is this: the kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work a) that you need most to do and b) the world most needs to have done. If you really get a kick out of your work, you've presumably met requirement a), but if your work is writing TV deodorant commercials, the chances are you've missed requirement b).
As we grow old, the beauty steals inward.
If the building of a bridge does not enrich the awareness of those who work on it, then the bridge ought not to be built.
Que me voulez-vous?' said he in a growl of which the music was wholly confined to his chest and throat, for he kept his teeth clenched, and seemed registering to himself an inward vow that nothing earthly should wring from him a smile. My answer commenced uncompromisingly: - 'Monsieur,' I said, je veux l'impossible, des choses inouΓ―es.
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