In the virtual space, helping team members become more proficient at Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills, which not only help with getting things done, but it helps people in self-management (managing triggers, and enablers), and in building effective working relationships.
Under the umbrella of EI we can have more than a dozen skill sets – from optimism, to conflict management, to developing others. It can be useful to have the team take stock of where they are at in each of the four domains of Emotional Intelligence. You may want to dedicate time throughout the year to this topic – perhaps addressing each one of the four areas every quarter.
“The research shows that for jobs of all kinds, emotional intelligence is twice as important an ingredient of outstanding performance as ability and technical skill combined. The higher you go in the organization, the more important these qualities are for success. When it comes to leadership, they are almost everything.”
- Daniel Goleman
The four components of Emotional Intelligence are critical for virtual teams. Today we are going to explore the first two – Self Awareness and Social Awareness:
Self-awareness: Knowing ourselves:
Under self-awareness, skills such as self-confidence, and accurate self-awareness exist. You may want to read Primal Leadership by Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee for more on this.
How do we develop these skills in our teams, and ourselves as leaders? As a quarterly activity you may want to undertake an assessment so that the team learns more about themselves and their natural style. Some of us are big picture thinkers while others small picture thinkers. In learning more about ourselves we can understand:
Our enablers – what helps us do our work
Our derailers – things that may get in the way of our work
Our triggers – things that may hit our buttons to either super-charge us to set us back
Our natural styles – where we go to in times of stress or pressure.
Social Awareness
The second I wanted to touch on in this posts is that of social awareness. It’s about being aware of, and knowing the emotions of those around you. Three skills exist in this area and as outlined in Primal Leadership are:
Questions to consider:
What's important about Emotional Intelligence for you and your team?
What learning would you like to do in this area?
What opportunities do you have to build more capacity in your team in these areas?
Have a great Tuesday,
Jennifer
Under the umbrella of EI we can have more than a dozen skill sets – from optimism, to conflict management, to developing others. It can be useful to have the team take stock of where they are at in each of the four domains of Emotional Intelligence. You may want to dedicate time throughout the year to this topic – perhaps addressing each one of the four areas every quarter.
“The research shows that for jobs of all kinds, emotional intelligence is twice as important an ingredient of outstanding performance as ability and technical skill combined. The higher you go in the organization, the more important these qualities are for success. When it comes to leadership, they are almost everything.”
- Daniel Goleman
The four components of Emotional Intelligence are critical for virtual teams. Today we are going to explore the first two – Self Awareness and Social Awareness:
Self-awareness: Knowing ourselves:
Under self-awareness, skills such as self-confidence, and accurate self-awareness exist. You may want to read Primal Leadership by Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee for more on this.
How do we develop these skills in our teams, and ourselves as leaders? As a quarterly activity you may want to undertake an assessment so that the team learns more about themselves and their natural style. Some of us are big picture thinkers while others small picture thinkers. In learning more about ourselves we can understand:
Our enablers – what helps us do our work
Our derailers – things that may get in the way of our work
Our triggers – things that may hit our buttons to either super-charge us to set us back
Our natural styles – where we go to in times of stress or pressure.
Social Awareness
The second I wanted to touch on in this posts is that of social awareness. It’s about being aware of, and knowing the emotions of those around you. Three skills exist in this area and as outlined in Primal Leadership are:
- Empathy: understanding the other person’s emotions, needs and concerns.
- Organizational Awareness: the ability to understand the politics within an organization and how these affect the people working in them.
- Service: the ability to understand and meet the needs of clients and customers. (page225, Primal Leadership)
Questions to consider:
What's important about Emotional Intelligence for you and your team?
What learning would you like to do in this area?
What opportunities do you have to build more capacity in your team in these areas?
Have a great Tuesday,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations - Conference calls? Webinars? Virtual coaching work? Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326
Looking to enhance your virtual conversations - Conference calls? Webinars? Virtual coaching work? Pick up a copy of my new book, Effective Virtual Conversations, at Amazon.
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