Hampton University
The Marching Force
Pre-Drill Camp 2026 · Leadership Seminars · Day 1

Emotional
Intelligence

"Manage Yourself. Read the Room."
Dr. Thomas L. Jones, Jr.Director of University Bands · Saturday, August 1, 2026
The Hampton University Marching Force
Hampton's Heartbeat
Emotional Intelligence
The Hampton University Marching Force

Icebreaker

Watch how a father manages his own emotions—and his son's—when everything is on the line.
▶
The Pursuit of Happyness — “Basketball and Dreams”
Movieclips
youtu.be/UZb2NOHPA2A
Watch · 2:16
Pre-Drill Camp 2026 · Leadership Seminars
02
The Premise
01
Your musicianship earned you the position. Your emotional intelligence is what makes people want to follow you. Talent fills a chair; composure, awareness, and empathy fill a leader. You will be judged less by what you know than by how you carry yourself—and how you handle your people when it is hard.
Composure is a skill.
Emotional Intelligence
The Hampton University Marching Force

Why It Runs the Room

Emotions are contagious—and yours set the temperature.
  • Your section catches your mood before they catch your instructions—calm spreads, and so does panic.
  • The leader sets the emotional temperature of the block. Set it on purpose, not by accident.
  • Under fatigue and pressure, people remember how you made them feel, not the words you used.
  • Managing yourself first is what earns you the right to lead anyone else.
The through-line: Know Yourself First names who you are—Emotional Intelligence is how you run that person when the pressure is on.
Pre-Drill Camp 2026 · Leadership Seminars
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Emotional Intelligence
The Hampton University Marching Force

The Five Parts of EI

Daniel Goleman's model—built for exactly this work.
1

Self-Awareness

Know what you feel as you feel it.

2

Self-Regulation

Manage the impulse; respond, don't react.

3

Motivation

Drive that outlasts the hard days.

4

Empathy

Read what others feel; read the room.

5

Social Skill

Move people without heat or force.

The first three are about managing you. The last two are about reading and leading them. You cannot do the second half until you own the first.
Sources: Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (1995) and "What Makes a Leader?" (Harvard Business Review, 1998); Salovey and Mayer, "Emotional Intelligence" (1990); Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso, American Psychologist (2008).
Pre-Drill Camp 2026 · Leadership Seminars
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Emotional Intelligence
The Hampton University Marching Force

1 · Self-Awareness

You cannot manage what you cannot name.
  • Catch the emotion in the moment—name it before it starts driving you.
  • Know your triggers: the rep that won't clean, the member who tests you, the moment everyone is exhausted.
  • This is where Know Yourself First pays off—your wiring shows up loudest under stress.
  • Ask a trusted peer how you come across when you're heated—then believe them.
Pre-Drill Camp 2026 · Leadership Seminars
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Emotional Intelligence
The Hampton University Marching Force

2 · Self-Regulation

The pause between feeling and doing is where leaders live.
  • The amygdala hijack: strong emotion fires before thought. A few seconds of pause lets your judgment catch up.
  • Never coach, correct, or text angry. Take the rep back when you are level.
  • Your control gives your section permission to stay controlled.

Name it

Label the feeling—"I'm frustrated," not just "ugh."

Tame it

Breathe, step back, lower your voice before you speak.

Aim it

Channel it into the correction—the problem, never the person.

Pre-Drill Camp 2026 · Leadership Seminars
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Emotional Intelligence
The Hampton University Marching Force

3 · Motivation

Drive that doesn't need applause to keep going.
  • Camp is long and hot. Your energy is the section's thermostat deep into the grind, not just at the start.
  • Lead from purpose, not mood—connect the grind to the goal, out loud and often.
  • Model resilience: lose a rep, reset, and go again without sulking or blaming.
  • Optimism is a discipline, not a personality. Choose it where they can see you.
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Emotional Intelligence
The Hampton University Marching Force

4 · Empathy

Read the room—and the person right in front of you.
  • Watch for the change: the quiet member who goes quieter, the tears behind the sunglasses, the sudden attitude.
  • Ask before you assume. "You good?" is leadership.
  • Empathy is not lowering the standard—it is understanding what a person needs to reach it.
  • Some of your people are carrying things you cannot see. Lead like it's true, because it is.
Pre-Drill Camp 2026 · Leadership Seminars
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Emotional Intelligence
The Hampton University Marching Force

5 · Social Skill

Move people without heat, without force.
  • Influence beats authority—people follow respect a lot further than they follow rank.
  • De-escalate: lower your voice, name the tension, and solve the problem instead of the ego.
  • Deliver the hard message clean—direct, private, and never in front of an audience.
  • Repair fast. A leader who apologizes well keeps the section's trust for years.
Pre-Drill Camp 2026 · Leadership Seminars
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Emotional Intelligence
The Hampton University Marching Force

React or Respond

Same moment on the field. Two very different leaders.

React the hijack

  • Snaps at the whole section for one member's mistake.
  • Makes it personal—"What is wrong with you?"
  • Matches the drama with more drama.
  • Loses the room—and then loses the rep.

Respond the leader

  • Pauses—a beat before the first word.
  • Names the issue, not the person: "That entrance is late—again, from the top."
  • Lowers the temperature so the fix can actually land.
  • Keeps the standard and the relationship.
Pre-Drill Camp 2026 · Leadership Seminars
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Make No Mistake
02
Emotional intelligence is not softness—it is control. It does not lower the bar; it is how you hold the bar without losing yourself or your people. The most emotionally intelligent leader in the room is often the most demanding one, because they can push hard and stay respected. Composure is not the opposite of intensity. It is what makes intensity safe to follow.
EI is strength, not softness.
Your Charge
Master Yourself.
Move the Room.
Manage your own emotions before you manage anyone else's. Read your people, meet them where they are, and lead them to the standard with a steady hand. The section will rise to the temperature you set—so set it high, and set it calm.
Serve First. Lead Always. — Drive the Legacy.
The Hampton University Marching Force
Hampton's Heartbeat