Blog from Manjari Dimri, Co-Director and Discipline Lead, MD Program; Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences
When I began the GWALA program, I expected to refine tangible leadership skills such as conflict management strategies, decision-making frameworks, and communication tools. And I did. What I did not anticipate, however, was how profoundly the program would challenge me to look inward. Of all the topics we explored, emotional intelligence stayed with me the most.
This insight became the foundation of my project, situated within the Medical Education Leadership (MEL) Scholarly Concentration, where I sought to intentionally integrate emotional intelligence into training medical students. In conversations with MEL program directors, there was clear agreement that emotional intelligence is an essential, yet often underdeveloped, competency for future physicians. The project aims to cultivate self-awareness, emotional regulation, and empathetic engagement as part of medical education. By creating space for reflection and dialogue, the project embeds emotional awareness into existing learning environments through facilitated small-group discussions, where students are encouraged to recognize how emotions such as uncertainty, stress, and empathy shape their thinking, communication, and clinical decision-making.
What I have learned through this process is both simple and profound: awareness precedes action. The ability to pause, name an emotion, and consider its influence can fundamentally change how we lead, teach, and connect. I have learned that emotional insight does not detract from rigor, rather sharpens it and allows for thoughtful decisions and meaningful interactions. This is precisely what I hope to transfer to my students not as an abstract concept, but as a daily practice. If they can learn, early in their training, to recognize their internal responses, to remain curious in moments of discomfort, and to approach others with empathy, they will carry these habits into every patient encounter, team interaction, and leadership role they assume.
As a medical educator and scientist, I am trained to value logic, precision, and evidence, and for years, I have approached leadership in much the same way: define the problem, analyze variables, and implement an efficient, rational and structured solution. GWALA gently, but persistently, pushed me to recognize that leadership is not just analytical. It is deeply human. Emotional intelligence taught me to slow down and pay attention to tone, pauses, hesitations, and unspoken tensions, shifting my leadership style, making my responses more thoughtful and strengthening my presence. In my role as an educator, this shift has been transformative. Perhaps the most powerful lesson for me is that emotional intelligence is not a “soft” add-on to leadership. It is a foundational leadership practice or discipline that requires self-regulation, reflection, humility, and continuous growth. Thru GWALA, I have gained skills not only on emotional intelligence, but also conflict management, effective communication, and confidence in leadership.
Graduating from GWALA feels less like an end point and more like beginning a new way of leading, one that integrates analytical strength with emotional insight. As my journey continues, I carry forward a commitment to integrate clarity, empathy, and deliberate strategy into all my roles, approach every challenge as an opportunity to foster growth, collaboration, and positive impact shaping how I lead, teach, and inspire others.