Emotional Intelligence - Benefits for Leaders

By: Byron Stock Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Businesses across a broad spectrum of industries have been helping their employees develop their Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills for more than a decade. People improving their skills have held positions ranging from the executive level to administrative staff. The one factor all these people have in common is "how they feel" or the emotions they experience despite the fact that the challenges and pressures they face at the various organizational levels are quite different. Empowering people by helping them develop EI skills, enables them to become internally self-managed and capable of making their greatest contributions. And the organization itself performs best when its employees work in that zone of peak performance. The examples below explain how development of EI skills can benefit executives, high potential people and managers or supervisors.

Executives:

Executives must make decisions daily that may make or break their companies. They must rely on more people than ever to achieve results they, personally, are held accountable for by the board. They must quickly and flexibly lead system-wide organizational change, while inspiring and energizing their followers. This unremitting, demanding pressure can make the executive feel cautious, anxious, fearful, and even guilty and depressed. "The Street" may hamper the company's ability to meet its goals and stockholder expectations by undervaluing the company if the executive makes a wrong decision, an untimely decision or no decision.

Research has shown that high EI skills are the distinguishing characteristics that separate star performing executives from average ones. Enhancing leaders' EI skills enables them to lead with courage, demonstrate their passion, grow and retain talented leaders, and empathize with people while humanely challenging them to meet demanding business goals. When a leader creates a flexible, resilient, strong organizational culture, he or she attracts talented people, ensuring organizational success and creating a lasting legacy.

High Potential People:

High Potential People take on demanding multiple projects and leadership roles. They may face unforeseen events that can delay or derail critical business initiatives for which they are responsible. Daily they may interact with customers, suppliers and even competitors who can be threatening and irate. Hundreds of emails demand immediate attention. As a result, the person may feel fearful, anxious and overwhelmed. Frustration may set in as they perceive that things are not moving faster and they may worry that their career is suffering. Negative emotions can lead to poor decisions and multi-million dollar flubs. Products flop and marketing campaigns go awry as critical details fall through the cracks. A shallow talent pool can keep the company from developing new products and services, crippling its chances in its industry.

The earlier EI skills are developed and ingrained, the more likely High Potentials and the company are to experience success. When high potential people develop their EI skills to the fullest, the company has a cadre of competent global leaders capable of introducing new products and services, starting new businesses, and leading the integration of new acquisitions.

Managers and Supervisors:

Managers' and Supervisors' behavior and treatment of their people determine turnover and retention. The manager or supervisor interacts on a daily basis with individuals who have distinct wants, needs and expectations. Within their department and other departments, they significantly influence the attitudes, performance and satisfaction of employees. The stress of trying to lead and satisfy so many people's changing needs and expectations can be overwhelming, to say nothing of the demands from upper management. Being both firm and caring at the same time causes many to feel inadequate for the role. Forty percent of turnover is reportedly due to an inadequate relationship between the employee and their direct supervisor. Where trust is lacking, performance suffers.

Enhancing EI skills enables Supervisors and Managers to regulate their emotions and motivate themselves more effectively. This allows them to manage their own emotional turmoil effectively and demonstrate compassion and empathy for their employees. Enhanced EI skills also equip them with the courage to challenge existing thinking and processes to make necessary changes for their people. All employees want a supportive, caring Supervisor or Manager who has their best interests at heart. Knowing this, the employee will be more likely to turndown offers from other companies to work for such a person.

Results:

Examining actual results drives home the value, both to the individual and the organization, of developing EI skills. Participants in EI training programs have reported a range of 20% to 35% increase in personal productivity, 15% to 35% increased teamwork, a 20% to 40% reduction in stress and worry, and similar improvements in management of emotional reactiveness, personal motivation, creativity, work/life balance and more. These increases can translate into positive return on investment for the organization.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: Tailoring the art and science of Emotional Intelligence (EI) to your needs, Byron Stock focuses on results, helping individuals and organizations enhance Emotional Intelligence skills, leadership competencies and core values. Visit www.ByronStock.com to learn about his practical, user-friendly techniques to enhance Emotional Intelligence skills.