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1 Chapter 1 : 7 Ways to Create Emotionally Intelligent Teams While creating successful teams isn't as simple as mimicking the processes of emotionally intelligent groups of people, what you can do is create the necessary conditions in which team members can develop their emotional intelligence. Those three conditions are: trust among members, a sense of group identity and a sense of group efficacy. Getty Images Emotional intelligence is widely known to be a key component of effective leadership. The ability to be perceptively in tune with yourself and your emotions, as well as having sound situational awareness can be a powerful tool for leading a team. The act of knowing, understanding, and responding to emotions, overcoming stress in the moment, and being aware of how your words and actions affect others, is described as emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence for leadership can consist of these five attributes: As a Navy SEAL veteran, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and leader of one of the fastest growing digital marketing agencies in the country, I have experienced many emotions and become very aware of how those emotions can have a positive or negative effect on my ability to inspire and lead a team. You can learn to be emotionally independent and gain the attributes that allow you to have emotional intelligence by connecting to core emotions, accepting them, and being aware of how they affect your decisions and actions. Being able to relate behaviors and challenges of emotional intelligence on workplace performance is an immense advantage in building an exceptional team. One of the most common factors that leads to retention issues is communication deficiencies that create disengagement and doubt. A leader lacking in emotional intelligence is not able to effectively gauge the needs, wants and expectations of those they lead. Leaders who react from their emotions without filtering them can create mistrust amongst their staff and can seriously jeopardize their working relationships. Reacting with erratic emotions can be detrimental to overall culture, attitudes and positive feelings toward the company and the mission. Good leaders must be self-aware and understand how their verbal and non-verbal communication can affect the team. To help understand the emotional intelligence competencies required for effective leadership, I would recommend determining where you stand on the below elements. Without reflection we cannot truly understand who we are, why we make certain decisions, what we are good at, and where we fall short. In order to reach your maximum potential, you must be confident in who you are, understanding the good with the bad. Those that have a strong understanding of who they are and what they want to work on, can improve themselves on a regular basis. Also known as discipline. This involves controlling or redirecting our disruptive emotions and adapting to change circumstances in order to keep the team moving in a positive direction. Being calm is contagious, as is panic. When you take on a leadership role you can no longer afford to panic when things get stressful. When you stay calm and positive you can think and communicate more clearly with your team. When one has empathy, the capacity to feel compassion is open. The emotion that we feel in response to suffering that motivates a desire to help. The more we can relate to others, the better we will become at understanding what motivates or upsets them. You must have the ability to communicate effectively and properly manage relationships in order to move a team of people in a desired direction. In the SEAL teams you have to do three things flawlessly to be an effective operator and team member: Move, shoot, and communicate. Communication being of the utmost importance. Misunderstandings and lack of communication are usually the basis of problems between most people. Failing to communicate effectively in a workplace leads to frustration, bitterness, and confusion among employees. Effective communication can eliminate obstacles and encourage stronger workplace relationships. When employees know their role within a company and understand how they benefit the overall direction and vision, there is a sense of value and accomplishment. Good communication results in alignment and a shared sense of purpose. Emotional intelligence is a powerful tool critical for exceeding goals, improving critical work relationships, and creating a healthy, productive workplace and organizational culture. Jun 2, More from Inc. Page 1

2 Chapter 2 : The Importance of Emotionally Intelligent Teams Leadership Advantage Newsletter, Vol. IV Number 3. When Daniel Goleman wrote his landmark books on emotional intelligence in the 90's (Emotional Intelligence,, Working with Emotional Intelligence, ), managers in organizations everywhere nodded heads in agreement. But, is it possible to create emotionally intelligent teams? Wolff assert that emotional intelligence underlies the effective processes of successful teams and that such resulting processes cannot be imitated; they must originate from genuine emotional intelligence at the team level. Druskat and Wolff use the following analogy to back-up their point: Those three conditions are: Here are the seven things you can do to foster these three conditions that constitute emotionally intelligent teams: Emotional management - leaders are able to maintain their cool. Effective communication - leaders are able to clearly express their thoughts. Conflict resolution - leaders can effectively handle conflicts and offer a resolution. On top of these EI traits, leaders should also be respected by their team members. That can be accomplished by working on these five traits of business leaders who are respected: Act polite and respectful - leaders treat everyone with common courtesy. Show a willingness to change - leaders learn from their mistakes and failures so that you can grow. Avoid excuses - leaders own up to their own mistakes. Help others - leaders are always willing to lend a helping hand whenever someone needs it. Remember, if you want your team to become more emotionally intelligent, then you must first work on building your own personal EI and becoming a leader that your team can respect and someone they can rally behind. Your employees also have diverse skills, talents, and knowledge that could be beneficial to your overall goals. If you want to make the most of every team member, then start by getting to know them better. Preferably, you should learn to know more about them outside of a project so that you can see what they can bring to the table outside of their traditional job role or title. Hewlett-Packard, according to Druskat and Wolff, likes to have each of their employees work at cross-training. When a team member does make a mistake, offer useful feedback so that the leader shows the person that they are more important than the process of merely being reprimanded. Spark passion First, as a leader, make sure that you hire the right team members. To prevent sagging energy from occurring, you can spark passion by doing the following: Recognizing the accomplishments and hard work of your team members Having a flexible and engaging work environment where teamwork is valued Making sure that your company has a mission that you are working toward so that everyone has a sense of purpose 4. It is not about a team member working all night to meet a deadline; it is about saying thank you for doing so. It is not about an in-depth discussion of ideas; it is about asking a quiet member for his thoughts. It is not about harmony, lack of tension, and all members liking each other; it is about acknowledging when harmony is false, tension is unexpressed, and treating others with respect. Develop creative ways to manage stress Stress can lead to your employees getting burned out, as well as harm their overall health. Because of this, your team should be able to handle situations such as deadlines and grievances with other coworkers in a healthy way. To help keep the stress levels of your employees down, try some of the following tactics: Encourage team members to disconnect from work and take breaks: Give everyone a chance to rejuvenate by giving them some time to focus on activities that can help them relax. The multitasking technique does not work. In fact, it can double the amount of time it takes to complete a task. Encourage employees to focus on one task at a time. Not everyone in the workplace is going to get along. However, addressing any issues before they disrupt the office is a great stress reducer. For example, if a team member has lost a loved one, then you should be compassionate and understand that their mind is elsewhere and ask how you can be supportive of them. Allow team members to have a voice Having excellent communication skills is an absolute must. You can help your team members develop stronger communication skills by having them work on active listening, gaining a better understanding of body language, and giving them a channel to vent their frustrations or concerns. Instead, use it constructively so that your team can solve a problem together and figure out how to way to address the problem. Additionally, you should also give your team the opportunity to share their ideas. And, make sure that you even ask and encourage your quiet team members what they think. Encourage employees to work and play together While there can be disadvantages Page 2

3 to spending every waking moment together, having employees who spend time with each other outside of the workplace can actually be beneficial to the workplace. It makes working together more enjoyable and helps co-workers stay motivated during crunch time. If you hire the right professionals, workplace drama will be minimal. Having employees that enjoy spending time together can help make work that much more enjoyable and lead to their hearts being more into the day-to-day work they are doing for the company. He is founder of online payments company Due. Page 3

4 Chapter 3 : Emotionally Intelligent Leadership â HPS Learning Center The Emotionally Intelligent Manager's Guide To Leading Remote Teams emotionally intelligent boss. With that in mind, here are a few ways managers can continue to be the same thoughtful. The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. Emotional Intelligence in Leadership 1. So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness? Keep a journal â Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness. Slow down â When you experience anger or other strong emotions, slow down to examine why. Remember, no matter what the situation, you can always choose how you react to it. Our article on Managing Your Emotions at Work will help you understand what your emotions are telling you. Self-regulation Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control. Finding This Article Useful? So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate? Know your values â Do you have a clear idea of where you absolutely will not compromise? Do you know what values are most important to you? Spend some time examining your "code of ethics. Hold yourself accountable â If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper and not showing them to anyone! Motivation Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work. How can you improve your motivation? So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way. And make sure that your goal statements are fresh and energizing. For more on this, see our article on Goal Setting Know where you stand â Determine how motivated you are to lead. Our Leadership Motivation Assessment can help you see clearly how motivated you are in your leadership role. If you need to increase your motivation to lead, it directs you to resources that can help. Be hopeful and find something good â Motivated leaders are usually optimistic, no matter what problems they face. Every time you face a challenge, or even a failure, try to find at least one good thing about the situation. It might be something small, like a new contact, or something with long-term effects, like an important lesson learned. Empathy For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it. If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic. How can you improve your empathy? See our article on Perceptual Positions for a useful technique for doing this. Pay attention to body language â Perhaps when you listen to someone, you cross your arms, move your feet back and forth, or bite your lip. This gives you the opportunity to respond appropriately. Respond to feelings â You ask your assistant to work late â again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue for example, give him Monday mornings off. Social Skills Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. So, how can you build social skills? Learn conflict resolution â Leaders must know how to resolve conflicts between their team members, customers, or vendors. Learning conflict resolution skills is vital if you want to succeed. Improve your communication skills â How well do you communicate? Our communication quiz will help you answer this question, and it will give useful feedback on what you can do to improve. Learning how to praise others is a fine art, but well worth the effort. Key Points To be effective, leaders must have a solid understanding of how their emotions and actions affect the people around them. The better a leader relates to and works with others, the more successful he or she will be. Take the time to work on self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Working on these areas will help you excel in the Page 4

5 future! Subscribe to our free newsletter, or join the Mind Tools Club and really supercharge your career! Page 5

6 Chapter 4 : EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE CONSULTANTS - James Marlatt PhD - Coaching & Consulting Leading with Emotional Intelligence Tools and strategies to put you and your team in the top 10 percent. Relly Nadler, M.C.C., is a licensed psychologist, author and Master Certified Coach (MCC. Once we thought that an MBA and wireless technology would secure the future. Reams of data and our work at Collaborative Growth all point to the need to work together in teams and that the strategy for sustained team success is emotional and social intelligence, or ESI, at the team level. The most influential individual in this dynamic is the team leader â and it can be a daunting job at times. These 3 assessments bring a powerful level of data together to support strategic leadership by the team leader. Pre â post measurement of success also will support good data and focused leadership. Leaders need to learn strategies for building their effectiveness in expanding the emotional and social intelligence of their teams. First, individual coaching supported by EQ and LPI reports will give the leader and his or her coach the opportunity to be sure strengths are recognized and used and that weaknesses are addressed. Emotional and social intelligence is built on recognition of core skills that lead to success in meeting the environmental challenges that face a leader in every part of life. The key term is skills as these can be developed. Making sustainable behavioral change takes time, attention and commitment. The pay-off is rich and a coach and good assessment data will be valuable support along the way. Second, coaching individual team members can be a real stretch. If a leader is challenged with self-regard or optimism or empathy, for example, how can he or she effectively coach the team members in developing their own skills? The answer is that the leader must engage in building his or her own capacities and also seek training and coaching or mentoring on how to support staff development. The leader should keep focusing on learning to pass on skills he or she develops. Expanding communication skills will help the leader listen effectively and notice what is truly being requested. Consciously building his or her own skills will help the leader understand specific strategies to pass on. This is a continuous learning opportunity. If treated as a central way to enrich life for the leader and the staff, it can be fun and one of the best motivational strategies possible. Third, have your team gain from solid date on their performance. This means the leader needs to view the team in two ways â paying attention to the individual and to the team as a whole. When the team as a whole experiences that the leader is seeing the team as a discrete operating system â and one that he or she can be proud of â the team will rise to the occasion. We see them fitting together as demonstrated by this table. Page 6

7 Chapter 5 : The Emotionally Intelligent Managerâ s Guide To Leading Remote Teams Emotionally intelligent teams use curiosity to stay focused in their discussions, gather the information they need to make decisions, and understand each others' perspectives. Finally, what they knew to be true about dealing with people had a name and was clearly articulated. For the past decade, important research has been done in organizations to show that feelings and emotions have a direct impact on effectiveness, efficiency and ultimately the bottom line. Most importantly, this concept has great potential for creating positive change. Instead of feeling stuck, people can now take steps to enhance their emotional intelligence and increase their effectiveness in both their work and personal lives. Currently, the concept is often applied to teams. Looking at the emotional intelligence of teams is important because most of the work in organizations today is done by teams. Leaders have a pressing need today to make teams work together better. Modern businesses thrive when using teams to organize the work. Teams have more talent and experience, more diversity of resources, and greater operating flexibility than individual performers. Research in the last decade has proven the superiority of group decision-making over that of even the brightest individual in the group. But the exception to this rule is when the group lacks harmony or the ability to cooperate. Then decision-making quality and speed suffer. The important difference between effective teams and ineffective ones lies in the emotional intelligence of the group. Teams have an emotional intelligence of their own. It is comprised of the emotional intelligence of individual members, plus a collective competency of the group. Everyone contributes to the overall level of emotional intelligence, and the leader has more influence. The good news is that teams can develop greater emotional intelligence and boost their performance. Most research has focused on identifying the tasks and processes that make teams successful. A piano student can learn the music of Bach, but she has to be able to play with heart to be really good. Successful teams can apply the principles of effective task processes, but they must also work together wholeheartedly. Trust among members A sense of group identity A sense of group efficacy To be most effective, the team needs to create emotionally intelligent norms â the attitudes and behaviors that eventually become habits â that support behaviors for building trust, group identity and group efficacy. Group identity is described as a feeling among members that they belong to a unique and worthwhile group. A sense of group efficacy is the belief that the team can perform well and that group members are more effective working together than apart. Group emotional intelligence is not a question of catching emotions as they bubble up and then suppressing them. Admitting to this is the first step in clarifying and finding common ground upon which to move forward. Group emotional intelligence is also about behaving in ways that build relationships both inside and outside the team. In order to strengthen relationships, the group must feel safe to be able to explore, embrace and ultimately to rely on emotions in work. Emotions must be considered for the good of the group. Feelings count, but then there are the tasks at hand and the work that needs to be done. Team leaders must constantly balance harmony with productivity. Feeling good and the bottom line When people feel good, they work better, are more creative, and are more productive. Good feelings are like lubrication for the brain â mental efficiency goes up, memory is sharpened, people can understand directions and make better decisions. Studies have shown this to be especially true when it comes to teams. This is because emotions are contagious. When one or two people are in a good mood, it spreads easily to other members. A leader skilled in creating good feelings can keep cooperation high. There is even research that shows that humor at work can stimulate creativity, open lines of communications and enhance a sense of trust. Playful joking increases the likelihood of concessions during a negotiation. Emotionally intelligent team leaders know how to use humor and playfulness with their teams. Creating good moods in employees may be even more important than previously thought. It is common sense to see that workers who feel upbeat will go the extra mile to please customers and therefore improve the bottom line. New research from a range of industries now reaffirms the link between leadership and climate and to business performance. According to Daniel Goleman in Primal Leadership, how people feel about working at a company can account for 20 to 30 percent of business performance. Part of understanding the emotional reality of a team is uncovering the Page 7

8 particular habits ingrained in a team or organization that can drive behaviors. How is emotional intelligence developed? One of the ways groups can create better self-awareness is through the use of assessments such as the Meyers-Briggs or the DISC. These tools show individuals how they have natural preferences for taking in information, organizing their work, communicating, and making decisions. For example, one of the most common sources of conflict in groups in the workplace is attitude towards rules, regulations and deadlines. The Meyers Briggs Type Indicator can show how team members like to make decisions, whether they like to keep their options open and gather in more information, or whether they like closure and come to decisions more quickly. A greater understanding of these fundamental ways of thinking and behaving can go a long way toward creating greater understanding and acceptance between members. Greater interpersonal understanding can also be created through exercises in perspective formation. Working with a team coach can facilitate greater understanding and build trust through role-playing and other techniques. Just as important as awareness is the ability to regulate emotions. People take their emotional cues from those around them. Something that seems upsetting can seem not so bad, depending on whether colleagues smooth feathers or fan the flames. The ability to regulate group emotions comes from establishing norms for both confrontation and caring. In any group, people will eventually cross lines and confrontation becomes necessary. There must be a means for doing this that is firm yet not demeaning. The team leader sets the tone for this because of the position he or she is in. Caring confrontation is an art that can be learned and taught to both leaders and members. The use of humor can be very effective as a means for bringing errant members back into the group fold. It may take some time and attention, but they are too important to be overlooked. Building self-managing teams One of the first tasks of a team leader is to build greater team awareness. In order to do so, Cary Cherniss, chair of a well-known research group on emotional intelligence, puts forth ground rules for teams. Everyone on the team should take responsibility for: Keeping us on track if we get off Facilitating group input Raising questions about procedures, asking for clarification about where we are going and offering summaries of issues being discussed to make sure we have a shared understanding Using good listening skills to build on the ongoing discussion or to clearly signal that we want to change the subject, and ask if that is okay This is an example of how a leader can create a self-managing team. What is important for the leader, emphasizes Cherniss, is to remind the group of its collaborative norms by making them explicit. Everyone can practice them because they are upfront and repeated at each meeting. Clearly the setting forth of core values and operating norms is important to ensure that a team works smoothly together. But like most things, they must be repeated again and again. When values and norms are clear, teams can go about their work even in the absence of the leader. In self-aware self-managing teams, members hold each other accountable for sticking to norms. It takes a strong emotionally intelligent leader to hold the team to such responsibility. Many teams are not accustomed to proactively handling emotions and habits. And many leaders have difficulty stepping out of the role of director in order to let teams self-direct. However, when the values and norms are clear, and self-management principles are explicit and practiced over time, teams become not only effective, but also self-reinforcing. Being on the team leads to positive emotions that energize and motivate people. Every company faces specific performance challenges for which teams are the most practical and powerful vehicle. The critical challenge for senior managers is how to develop emotionally intelligent teams that can deliver maximum performance. Teams have a unique potential to deliver results, and executives must foster self-managing and emotionally intelligent teams that will be effective. In doing so, top management creates the kind of environment that enables teams as well as individuals to thrive. By using a coach, each person on a team understands and leverages the gifts, skills and strengths they naturally possess. Teams are truly effective when diverse resources and skills are combined to produce results far greater than those that could be produced individually. It is rare that a group naturally finds itself working smoothly. Humans are complex and that complexity is magnified when they try to work together. There are multiple dynamics and complicated perspectives that come into play. Managing the interplay between team members can require the talents of a symphony conductor in order to bring out the best in people. A masterful coaching experience can help facilitate the symphony that is possible when people work together in harmony. These competencies continue to be researched extensively by the Hay Group. These are the core dimensions measured by the Emotional Page 8

9 Competencies Inventory, a degree survey of emotional intelligence. How the emotional competencies show up on a team level is a bit different. These competencies relate both to the individuals and to the group as a whole. Groups have their moods and needs and they act collectively. They often feel collectively, because emotions are contagious. Raising the level of awareness of these core competencies is part of the work of a coach. One technique for raising awareness is to have team members rate the team on a scale of 1 to 10 on each cluster. Then they rate the team on where they should be in order to maximize team effectiveness. They then rate themselves individually, and select one or two behaviors they can commit to improving. They commit publicly to the team, and ask for regular feedback on their progress. Chapter 6 : Emotional Intelligence in Leadership - from calendrierdelascience.com The Emotionally Intelligent Team draws on a wealth of research and is filled with illustrative examples that represent a rich spectrum of teams from business, government, and nonprofits. Using the strategies outlined in this book, teams will be better able to tap into their shared memory and individual capacities, which will maximize their. Chapter 7 : Leading Emotionally Intelligent Teams Emotional intelligence is a powerful tool and I hope to continue to understand how it can contribute to exceeding goals, improving critical work relationships, and create a healthy, productive. Chapter 8 : Why Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Go Hand-in-Hand - When I Work Emotional intelligence is widely known to be a key component of effective leadership. The ability to be perceptively in tune with yourself and your emotions, as well as having sound situational. Chapter 9 : Five Simple Tips For Building A More Emotionally Intelligent Team Emotional intelligence or EI is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they're feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people. Page 9