Business isn’t personal, they say. In fact, it’s as personal as the handshake that seals every deal. And never more than in family and entrepreneurial businesses, where the impact of leaders’ decisions ripples across the organization and are often felt by every member of that team.
That’s why the community at EFBC centers on emotional intelligence (EI). This is not about being “emotional” but being intelligent about your emotions. For leaders, it can mean the difference between inspiring or deflating people, fostering, or preventing collaboration, gaining, or losing trust. When you bring EI back to your business, it exerts a contagious influence, as people begin to mirror your behavior and adapt the skills and practices of a healthy and profitable team.
Through thoughtfully crafted educational programs, we empower business leaders and the people who surround them with the latest insights, strategies, and tools essential for a successful business. Our focus on continuous learning ensures that our members stay ahead of industry trends, fostering innovation and adaptability. By providing programming complemented by small groups called Forums, EFBC enables business leaders to make educated decisions fueled by multiple perspectives.
Join us—and get intelligent from the inside out.
Upcoming Events
Forum
You listen to problems all day. Who listens to you? You inspire others to greatness. Who inspires you? At EFBC, those people are your Forum mates. As fellow leaders, they’re walking in the same shoes. As fellow Forum members, they’ll walk beside you―even when you take a wrong turn (or three). Every Forum is led by our members, cultivating a sense of equality, ownership and, most important, accountability to each other.
At a certain point in your career, it’s not about who you know. It’s how you know them.
Emotional Intelligence
Research shows leadership success is largely based on Emotional Intelligence (EI), the ability to recognize, regulate and express one’s emotions effectively, understanding others’ emotions as well. That is why EI sits at the center of everything we do at EFBC. Whereas your IQ is basically unchangeable, increasing your EI comes down to continual practice (and just as much patience). Your small group meetings at Forum are your practice field, where practices and protocols encourage you to relate to others in an emotionally intelligent way. As you bring the principles of EI to work and life, responsibilities that once challenged you seem easier: holding difficult conversations, resolving conflicts, negotiating win-wins, breaking bad news—all of these become opportunities to connect.
Strategic Partners
EFBC members pride themselves on sharing experiences, not giving advice as telling a business leader what they “should” do is quite often the best way to get them to do anything but! There are some circumstances, however, when professional advice is needed, and that is where EFBC’s Strategic Partners shine. They are experienced professionals in core business areas – accounting, banking, human resources, insurance, IT, law, marketing and wealth management – that are only a call away to support the EFBC community.
DePaul University
EFBC is proud to be affiliated with DePaul University and the Driehaus College of Business. In 2012, EFBC formed an affiliation with the university, and the two organizations support each other through programming and other educational resources.
