Nowhere is the importance of Emotional Intelligence more obvious than in team dynamics and team performance. To be clear, team in this sense, is a group of people organized to work together to accomplish a common purpose for which they have shared accountability. Effectively combining the individual talents of team members will result in something greater than individual results – something more innovative, more creative, more timely, more efficient, more cost-efficient, etc. On an intellectual level we know this to be true – i.e. the whole is better than the sum of its parts. But on an emotional level, many people dislike working in teams. The reasons are varied, but they all fall into the domain of Emotional Intelligence, such as possessing high levels of independence, self-regard and assertiveness and low levels of empathy, interpersonal relationships and social responsibility.
Whether you are the leader of a team or a member of a team, your success and the success of the team depends on your level of Emotional Intelligence. Regardless of your role, you must be aware of your emotions, understand how they are impacting others, and manage or control them appropriately for the situation. In addition, effective leaders and team members understand the emotional make-up of others and are able to build rapport with them and move them in desired directions.
As the leader of the team, key contributors to success would be the following Emotional Intelligence elements:
1. Self-Regard: Who is the person that you bring to the role of leader? Do you have a well-developed sense of self-worth and self-esteem? Do you have a good sense of your own strengths and weaknesses without being over confident? Do you willingly admit mistakes or unfamiliarity with situations?
2. Interpersonal Relationship: What is your ability and tendency to give and receive trust and compassion and to establish a mutually satisfactory relationship? Are you open and willing to share information? Are you consistent in words, action and behavior over time? Do you reliably follow-through on agreements? Are you accessible by others? Do you know others on a personal level?
3. Empathy: What is your ability to recognize, understand and appreciate the way others feel? Do you respect the ideas of others even when different from your own? Do you listen to understand? Do you take the feelings of others into consideration before acting? Do others feel safe sharing thoughts and ideas with you?
4. Impulse Control: What is your ability to think before acting? Are you patient and calm even when provoked? Do others feel that they can openly communicate with you because they can predict your behavior or mood?
The EQ-I 2.0® Assessment will provide a personal assessment of these key elements of Emotional Intelligence along with 14 others and will compare your results to a norm group. This will provide an idea of how your approach and behaviors differ from others around you. The complete report will also suggest strategies to consider for strengthening those elements that are key to your personal success.
SSC Coaching is certified to administer and interpret the EQ-I 2.0® Assessment. Contact me to learn more about this powerful tool, either for your personal development or for your organization. For organizations, a full suite of report options are available that are geared toward a business-centric audience.
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