Emotional Intelligence: The Key to Productivity

I see some of you rolling your eyes. Emotional Intelligence isn’t about pampering fragile personalities. After all, you don’t get much tougher than the United States Naval Special Operations Community. You know, the guys that can run a marathon with a 100lb pack on their backs and know how to turn an envelope into a machete. These elite warriors are also experts in navigating complex emotional terrains, a skill they consider necessary to success in the many missions.

Why Focus on EQ?

Think of some of the key things successful leaders do: motivate their team, provide feedback, manage stress, resolve conflicts and collaborate with others. All of these functions are going to be enhanced when the leader has the emotional intelligence to recognize and manage emotions. A leader who excels at managing conflict is able to bring a team together, reduce the water cooler complaints and boost motivation, all leading to more productivity.

Now think about the flip side: without critical EQ skills, for instance the inability to recognize or understand emotions leads to workplace conflict. Without emotional awareness and the inability to practice empathy allows bad feelings to go unresolved and worse, fester.

Beyond cases of hurt feelings, research by organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich shows that teams with members who lack emotional intelligence can cut a team’s success in half…yes, 50%! That’s a big number. Eurich’s research also shows the situation leads to increased stress and decreased motivation.

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The Hallmarks of Emotional Intelligence

1. Self Awareness and Self Regulation:
Emotional intelligence starts with self-awareness and self-regulation. If your goal as a leader is team success due to collaboration and positive team dynamics, you must first understand and manage your own emotions. Do you understand your own strengths and weaknesses? Think about how an emotional reaction can impact the ability to make the right decisions, especially in a challenging situation.

According to an article in the Harvard Business School Online Business Insights, there are 3 key ways to promote self awareness and self-regulation of outbursts:

• Pause Before Responding: Even taking a deep breath and pausing for 20 seconds helps settle your emotions.
• Take a Step Back: This could mean leaving the room. Take a walk, drink some water, anything rather than make a snap judgment, send a scathing email, or lash out at your team.
• Recognize Your Emotions: This could be journaling your feelings and what triggered them. It’s a great way to identify patterns and triggers so the next time a similar situation occurs, you’ll be better positioned to handle it in a healthy, positive way.
  

2. Empathy
Now think about how the ability to understand the emotions of others is going to affect communications whether team members, customers and stakeholders. How much better you would be at understanding how others may be making decisions based on their emotions. Leaders who excel at listening and responding with empathy are much better at coaching, planning, and decision-making. 

Empathy will also boost engagement and build trust, leading to higher morale and a more robust company culture.

3. Motivation
As so beautifully illustrated by Ted Lasso, motivation is the ability to inspire yourself and others to action. These leaders care more about organizational goals than monetary ones. They stay optimistic when the wheels are falling off. It all leads to building team confidence.

Researchers John Mayer and Peter Salovey first used the term Emotional Intelligence in 1990. Psychologist Daniel Goleman later was who brought the idea into popular awareness. In fact, he highlighted how important EI is in leadership in the Harvard Business Review saying, “The most effective leaders are all alike in one crucial way: They all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. It’s not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They do matter, but...they are the entry-level requirements for executive positions.”

Looking for an immersive experience in leadership development or to develop leadership skills for a team member? Consider Leadership La Plata this year. Check out www.LeadershipLaPlata.org for more information.

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Forbes article: the Top 5 Leadership Trends that will Drive success in 2024:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2024/01/02/the-top-5-leadership-trends-that-will-drive-success-in-2024/?sh=257091393da0

https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/emotional-intelligence-skills