Insights into leadership - Emotional intelligence

Sandra Wayland

May 1, 2008

Given the fast pace of modern business, it's often easy for many leaders to forget that successful organizations – no matter their size – rely on individuals who bring to work not only diverse knowledge and experience, but also complex, harder to identify emotional needs.

While some might choose to ignore this, the smart leader invests time to go beyond pay grades and compensation plans to explore what employees really need to perform their best.

Sensing and tapping into the hopes, fears and anxieties of your employees can be tricky work and is easily avoided, though exploring these dimensions can develop more trust, greater teamwork and extraordinary results. In turn, individuals who recognize that their leader is seeking to understand them on a deeper level are more likely to remain loyal through tougher times or deliver under pressure.

The term "emotional intelligence" has been in common use since the early 1990s. I noticed it being practiced in business about a decade ago. Since then, through a natural progression, it's become an essential part of my leadership style.

During my own journey, I've noticed that the higher up the proverbial ladder a person goes, the more invested in the company a person becomes. Therefore, it's especially important to understand the whole person and help people achieve work/life balance to order for them to achieve job satisfaction and help further the company's goals.

Many traditional leadership paradigms are established with the "command and control" mindset. While such a view might be successful during crisis situations, the respect and efficiency earned in the short term often withers over time. The result is that you start to create a passive-aggressive cycle where employees respond well within a set of specific circumstances, but lack the courage and flexibility to adapt as environments change.

Following are suggestions to help your organization develop this much-needed emotional intelligence:

Begin with the interview. The ideal approach is to prepare a question for your prospective employees that focus on the "bigger picture" of their life. Outside the business environment, what types of goals do they want to pursue? What hobbies occupy their down time?
Schedule informal meetings. Make time to step out of the daily bustle and deadlines to gain insight on what an employee is thinking. Grab a cup of coffee with them or walk to lunch. Focus on open-ended questions and find out if they are satisfied with where the organization is going. Be prepared to listen and accept criticism.
Listen closely, respond quickly. Explore issues with employees and realize that they might be masking deeper concerns when they focus on minor setbacks or problems.

The emotionally intelligent leader recognizes employees are always interested in more than a paycheck. They want to be part of the organization's success. They want to contribute to a shared vision regarding the direction of the company. To leverage these deeper goals, it is critical that leaders listen, ask questions, and, in some cases, share their own hopes, fears and anxieties as a means to generate a common bond.

Sandra Wayland is COO of Correctional Medical Associates