Lead your team with a high level of emotional intelligence
As a leader, you are looked to for your response in tough situations. Your reaction sets the tone for how the team will proceed through the situation.
A common barrier to success is that reaction to challenges, which can be managed through emotional intelligence, says JP Pawliw-Fry, co-founder of the Institute for Health and Human Potential.
Emotional intelligence sounds complex, but it is simply not letting your emotions overtake your brain. Susan Drumm, leadership coach at MeritageLeadership.com, defines it as the capability to:
- Recognize your own emotions and those of others.
- Discern between different feelings and label them appropriately.
- Use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.
- Manage emotions to adapt to various environments.
“Emotional intelligence is one of the key ingredients in better business relationships, smoother meetings and higher morale,” she says. “For a long time, it was considered a ‘nice to have,’ well below technical skills. No longer.
As our workspaces become more collaborative, these social skills are more important than ever.”
THE FINAL 8%
People can easily navigate the first 92% of hard-to-have conversations, hard-to-make decisions and hard-to-do tasks, Pawliw-Fry says. But it’s the final 8% of completing one of those three that falls victim to one of two predictable behaviors: avoidance or making a mess of it.
“Our data shows most people are avoiders,” he says. “But if you know your patterns, you can manage around them.”
You face two risks by not completing that final 8%, Pawliw-Fry says. You can lose your reputation with your team, or you can lose your internal reputation within yourself.
“If you manage through that last 8%, you don’t burn up energy in anxiety and you stay in a relationship with those who you are having the tough conversation,” he says.
Our brains make us feel before we think, Pawliw-Fry says. If you can hijack that natural process to stay engaged in a challenge rather than react emotionally, you can chart a course for success.
CHECK YOUR EMOTIONAL GAUGES
To assess yourself, JP Pawliw-Fry, psychologist and author, shares these three ways to know when you are reacting on emotion versus rational decision making.
Watch the 2021 Top Producer Summit session with J.P. Pawliw-Fry.
