To achieve Step 0, individuals will need to be able to identify their feelings about something – whether positive or negative.
This is the first step for Leadership and focuses on building empathy as an essential foundation for being able to lead others.
The building blocks of this step are learning:
An emotion is a strong feeling that is caused by something that is happening. There are broadly two different types of emotions:
Lots of different things cause our emotions, and there are lots of them.
Happy:
Excited:
Calm:
Sad:
Angry:
Scared:
An emotional response is how we feel about something that has happened. We often have an emotional response before you we have time to think about what has happened fully – people sometimes call this our ‘gut reaction’ to what has happened.
If you think something is a good thing, you will typically have a positive emotional response.
If something is a bad thing, you will typically have a negative emotional response:
To teach this step:
This step can be effectively reinforced through learning. It might be helpful to have a visual reminder of the different emotions up in the classroom, and learners could be encouraged to stop and reflect on how they are feeling at different times.
The key at this stage is to help learners to recognise and be able to name the emotions that they are feeling in response to different things.
This step is best assessed through discussion with learners and asking them to share how they feel at different points or in reaction to different ideas.
This step is relevant to all individuals at work.
To build this step in the work environment, managers could:
There are plenty of opportunities for building this skill in the workplace:
For those already employed, this step is can be assessed through discussion in regular check-ins or line management meetings.
During the recruitment process, this step could be assessed by:
We work with a wide range of organisations, who use the Skills Builder approach in lots of different settings – from youth clubs, to STEM organisations, to careers and employability providers.
We have a lot of materials available to support you to use the Skills Builder Universal Framework with the individuals you work with, including:
We also do a lot of work with organisations who join the Skills Builder Partnership to build the Universal Framework into their work and impact measurement systems. You can find out a lot more using the links below.
During a day in education, our emotional response to people and things is likely to change and at different times we may at times feel sad, happy or even angry. The way we feel, whether it is positive emotion or a negative one, will have an impact on how we act. It may be very difficult to concentrate on our learning when we are very excited about something and it may be difficult to enjoy time with friends when we are very angry.
How we feel has an impact on how we learn. Some negative and even positive emotions can make it very difficult to concentrate. It is therefore very important to recognise how we feel and to be able to give that feeling a name.
Whether we work on our own, or with others and in an office, a factory or shop, everyone who is working is likely to complete a number of tasks and talk to other people during their day. How we feel will affect how we work and communicate with others. Some emotions may make it difficult to be positive with others. It is important to recognise whether you feel a positive or negative emotion and then to give that emotion a name. To understand the effect we may be having on others, we need to be able to recognise and name how we feel.
Why this skill step matters in wider life
At different times of the day and in particular situations we may feel a more positive or negative emotion. Before going to a party, we may feel very excited. Minutes before we have to get out of the swimming pool, we may feel unhappy or even a little cross. How we feel is likely to affect how we behave. In order to behave well towards others and to achieve the things we want to do,it is important to recognise how we feel. To recognise the positive or negative emotion and be able to name how we feel, is the first step to being able to control our behaviour amongst other people.
To best practise this step of Leadership, apply what you have learnt to a real-life situation. Choose one or more of the activities below, remind yourself of the key points and strategies in the step, and have a go!
As a parent or carer, you might be thinking about how best to support your children to build their essential skills. The good news is that there is lots that you can do that will have a big impact, including:
We’ve developed a whole series of tools and resources to help parents to build these skills, including:
There is also content for older children and young people, including short activities and reflections that they can complete alone, or with you.
