At the end of the day it's really easy to be a great leader when things are going well. The real test, whether or not you believe in being an emotionally intelligent leader, is when things go wrong.

As buoyancy is not contrary to other characteristics of leadership, including decisiveness, accountability and performance standards, I don't ever think it can be self-defeating.

I believe that the establishment of a real ambition, a powerfully galvanizing and exciting vision of what a group is setting out to create, is vitally important.

First, define your credo- the belief system of the organization. Secondly, define your real ambition, or where do you want to go as a collective community.

The phrases and language used everyday in an organization can in fact affect the way your team makes decisions and conducts themselves.

Inevitably in my career of 35 years, I was in one turnaround circumstance after another, and I was personally put in positions of significant responsibility but without complete authority over everyone that needed to be mobilized.

You can't mobilize people and connect with them authentically when they can't see the true you.