The EQ Movement - Webinar Series
Join The EQ Movement, our live webinar series, to learn valuable EQ skills and insights, discuss current workplace trends, and share best practices with industry experts, thought leaders and experienced learning and development trainers.
When Leadership Gets Hard: How Emotionally Intelligent Leaders Respond in Tough Moments
Hard moments are unavoidable in leadership. The hard conversation you’ve been putting off, the team that’s lost trust, the system that’s burning people out, the decision that has no clean answer. Most leaders respond by going harder, getting faster, or pushing through.
But what if those moments aren’t obstacles to your leadership? What if they’re the whole job?
In this session, TalentSmartEQ’s Maggie Sass, PhD, and Ross Blankenship, PhD will be joined by a panel of leaders from across industries and levels of leadership to share real experiences of friction, and what they’ve learned from navigating it. Together, they’ll draw on insights from the upcoming book, Friction, to explore what emotionally intelligent leadership actually looks like when things get hard.
No matter where you lead or what you lead, friction shows up. This conversation will bring that reality to life — and give you practical ways to respond with intention rather than instinct.
You’ll learn:
- Why leadership is emotional work, and what that actually means in practice
- How friction shows up inside you, between people, and in the systems around you
- What leaders across different contexts have in common when the pressure is on
- Practical EQ strategies for navigating hard moments without going numb, blowing up, or shutting down
If you lead people, teams, or change, this session will give you a new lens on the moments that feel hardest — and the skills to meet them more effectively.
On Demand EQ Webinars
Leading Through Friction: The EQ Skills Great Leaders Need
The Human Side of Mission Success
Why Behavior Change Is So Hard and What Actually Makes New Skills Stick
From Intent to Impact: Aligning Leader Development with What Teams Experience
The Human Skills Stack: Key Findings from the 2026 State of EQ Report
Do Your People Have the Human Skills to Drive Performance in 2026?
From Reflection to Intention: Setting Yourself Up for Success in 2026
Seen, Heard, Valued: How Recognition Fuels Retention and Culture
The Untapped Power of Emotions at Work: Insights from New Leadership Research
More Than the Sum: How EQ Builds High-Trust, High-Performing Teams
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