Benefits of Emotional Intelligence For Team Leaders and Teams
For over a decade I've been teaching Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills to people in businesses across a broad range of industries.
The participants have held positions ranging from the executive level to administrative staff.
Despite the fact that the challenges and pressures they face at the various organizational levels are quite different, the one common factor they share is "how they feel" or the emotions they experience.
When people become empowered through enhancing their EI skills, they become more internally self-managed and capable of making their greatest contributions.
And the organization ultimately
benefits when its employees work in that zone of peak performance. Following are
some examples of how EI skill development can benefit team leaders and teams.
Team Leaders and Project Managers
Working with diverse and, sometimes, non-local individuals, Team Leaders and
Project Managers are accountable for setting and maintaining a positive
environment where their team can work together to achieve success on projects of
greater magnitude and importance in shorter and shorter time periods. They must
eliminate roadblocks and internal and external or organizational barriers so
their teams can achieve success. They can experience a great deal of stress
brought on by anxiety, frustration, resentment and suspicion as they work in the
organization's political environment, deciphering the maze of organizational
change. Teams and projects fall behind schedule, and members may leave the team,
causing further delays.
As Team Leaders and Project Managers enhance their EI skills, they become more
capable of maintaining a positive attitude and eliminating impediments to team
success. By improving their own internal motivation and persistence, they
motivate their team to high, sustained levels of performance and achievement.
They successfully accomplish major projects of significant importance on time
and on budget. Critical talented staff are developed and retained.
Teams
More and more the responsibility of major organizational initiatives is
shouldered by Teams. They are under pressure to work smoothly with people they
may never see face-to-face both inside and outside their organization. Deadlines
are tight, resources are scarce, technology is rapidly advancing, and team
members are constantly changing. As things change and the demands increase, it's
easy to feel dejected, overwhelmed and confused. It's normal to feel angry when
a team member doesn't deliver, disgusted when resources are taken away, and
frustrated when you are still expected to meet tight deadlines. Product
introductions are missed and market share can be lost to competitors as team
cohesion and effectiveness break down and progress slows to a creep.
The storming phase of team formation can be dramatically shortened when the team
enhances its EI skills. With enhanced skills, team members can more efficiently
and effectively deal with their own and other member's emotional turmoil, using
this bond as a source for developing team cohesion and trust. Esprit de corps is
developed with a can-do attitude. Major projects of significant importance to
the organization are completed on time and on budget, and the organization gains
a reputation as a great place to work and grow.
A True Story
This true story about two team leaders who had a long history of antagonism and
unwillingness to work together provides evidence of the power of developing EI
skills. Joe and Dan (not their real names) had not supported each other and
their respective teams for 17 years. As a result of EI training, Joe and Dan
learned how to transform their negative emotions toward each other into more
positive emotions and productive behaviors.
After the training, they talked to each other in the hallway and then started
listening and talking to each other on a regular basis. During the second
coaching a couple of weeks after the training, each one of them, independently,
told me that for the first time ever they were inviting the other's staff to
their staff meetings as a means to improve communication and work jointly in
addressing problems occurring in their departments. By promoting team-to-team
coordination, they were able to eliminate the "silo" mentality. They also
created a positive trickle-down effect on everyone in the entire organization
(about 5000 employees). Of significance is the fact that this change happened
within a few days after each had mastered simple EI techniques.
And this example is not unusual. EI training program participants have reported
improvements ranging from 15% to 35% increased teamwork, 20% to 35% increase in
personal productivity, 20% to 40% reduction in worry and stress, and similar
improvements in management of personal motivation, emotional reactiveness,
work/life balance, creativity and more. These improvements represent a positive
return on investment for the organization.
