Leaders looking to grow a team experience multiple challenges, but with it comes huge rewards. The benefits of Emotional Intelligence (EI) on your team will allow these leaders to create a positive workplace culture.
Research by Harvard Business Review found that the “three conditions…essential to a group’s effectiveness: trust among members, a sense of group identity, and a sense of group efficacy”.
Through Emotional Intelligence (EI) team members learn the competencies to build trust and strong relationships.
Here it is important to note that Emotional Intelligence for teams goes beyond the individual’s Emotional Intelligence. Team members must not only be internally self-aware of their emotions and behaviours but also build their social and team awareness.
Let’s have a look at the key competencies of EI first before we dive into the benefits.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence can be defined as the ability to understand your emotions. The triggers for your emotions and also how these emotions impact your behaviours and your thoughts. It also helps you to understand emotions in other people, and how it can influence their behaviours and their thoughts.
Furthermore, Emotional Intelligence helps you to motivate yourself and to adapt to changing circumstances. It’s all about managing ourselves, managing others and helping ourselves to adapt to changing circumstances around us.
The RocheMartin Emotional Capital model measures EI based on 10 key competencies. They have been outlined below to show you the different competencies based on inner, outer and other focus.
“Emotional Capital is a concept that outlines the most effective competencies for leaders, individuals and teams:
Inner Focus
- Self-Knowing. Can you recognise how your feelings and emotions impact your opinions, attitudes and judgments?
- Self-Control. Can you control your emotions until you have thought things through?
- Self-Confidence. Can you respect yourself and like the person you see in the mirror?
- Self-Reliance. Can you plan by yourself, make important decisions, and take responsibility for your actions?
Other Focus
- Empathy. Can you recognise, understand and appreciate other people’s feelings?
- Relationship Skills. Can you consistently establish collaborative and mutually-rewarding relationships?
- Straightforwardness. Can you communicate your thoughts and feelings in a straightforward manner?
Outer Focus
- Adaptability. Can you react well to change, adjust your feelings and behaviours, and welcome new ideas?
- Optimism. Can you see opportunities and focus on possibilities where others may only see challenges and roadblocks?
- Self-Actualisation. Can you maintain enthusiastic commitment to long-term goals and remember the big picture?
These are great questions and a self reflection assessment around Emotional Intelligence.
The benefits of Emotional Intelligence
The key is to build Emotional Intelligence together as a team. When teams discover and understand the competencies of EI together, it creates a strong team dynamic and improves the way the individuals communicate and work together.
The Benefits of EI include:
- Higher motivation
- Better collaboration
- Better innovation
- Improved conflict resolution
- Better team performance
- Higher resilience
- Better workplace environment and culture
A great opportunity to invest in EI is to bring your team together for an EI assessment and training. This way you can build on it together. While it is important for each leader to invest in Emotional Intelligence, it is also critical the whole team works together on developing their Emotional Intelligence.
Building Emotional Intelligence for your team
To build Emotional Intelligence as a team, it is best to have a professional who is trained to help with the facilitation of learning and developing Emotional Intelligence.
Here is how I can help you build Emotional Intelligence for your teams:
In my work with leadership teams in an organisation, we start with individual EI assessments and coaching and then come together for a full-day workshop or training series.
We start with a confidential emotional intelligence assessment to take a closer look at the strengths profile across 10 competencies for leadership within Emotional Intelligence.
The assessment is followed by a 1:1 2h coaching session with each individual to discuss their profile and to understand the strengths and areas for development and how the different competencies can best complement each other. The last point is the most fascinating aspect of this work.
Every person has a unique strengths profile. I truly enjoy helping individuals uncover their potential and their unique superpowers.
This approach allows every individual to understand their own EI competencies first, understand their strengths and define their individual strategies for self-improvement.
In an organisational setting, it can be very valuable to finish the Emotional Quotient (EQ) assessment and coaching with a team workshop or training series. During these sessions, I facilitate deep discussions and conversations about each of the 10 leadership competencies. This team activity is a great way for team bonding, strengthening the understanding of EQ and fostering long term leadership development.
During the workshop/training, we bring the team together to build team trust and collective EI competencies. Here is what the workshop looks like:
- The workshop focuses on the application and practice of the strategies for building emotional intelligence and unlocks the key emotional and social skills that drive effective leadership.
- The workshop is run in a very practical format with lots of time for group discussions.
- The teams will learn about the science of EI and how EI can help unlock their unique leadership potential, how they can manage behaviours that are holding them back and learn key strategies to manage their relationships at work.
- The workshop will equip all participants with emotional skills that distinguish outstanding leaders from the average.
If you would like to discuss whether this is a great option for your team, then please get in touch.
Final thoughts
Are you ready to build more Emotional Intelligence within your team? First do some reflection. You can look at the 10 competencies listed above to help you reflect on your own Emotional Intelligence. This will help you identify it within the team as well.
Then it is best to look outside of your team for support to facilitate a workshop or training for your team so they can understand Emotional Intelligence in themselves and in the team. You can contact me if you want to learn more about this!
After you have invested in a workshop or training for your team, build on the momentum. Don’t just forget about it. Continue to use what has been taught to you and your team to continue to build on the Emotional Intelligence of your team.
