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Emotional Intelligence as a New Leader

By Emilie Shoop (962 words)
Posted in Leadership & Teambuilding on March 10, 2015

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Many studies have been performed showing us that your EQ (Emotional Quotient) is a better predictor for your success in business and life than your IQ.  What we have also found over the years is that you can work to grow your EQ over time.  Your Emotional Intelligence as a new leader gets tested almost immediately.  Continuing to work on improving not only your Emotional Intelligence, but the EI of your team will greatly improve the results of your team.

 

One client of mine had begun to struggle with a recently promoted manager.  In her previous role, she had been a rock star.  It seemed as if there were no challenge she couldn’t handle, no goal she couldn’t meet.  She was ecstatic about her promotion and new role and responsibilities.

 

As she learned her new role as manager, she found out about the goals she had to reach, initiatives she had to run with, and got a better understanding of the workload involved.  At the same time, she was learning to discipline employees, how to reset her team’s expectations, and what to do when things didn’t go as she thought they would.  This all took a toll on her Emotional Intelligence. 

 

In a meeting with her leader, she expressed an interest in leaving the company.  Her leader was shocked and had to dig a little deeper.  He did not see it coming, but after diving in deeper, he could see it had to do with her Emotional Intelligence.

 

After we talked a bit about the situation, we came up with a plan of action.  As you are learning your role, here are some ways to maintain and boost your Emotional Intelligence.  Put them into practice as often as possible, and teach your team as well.

 

4 Ways to Boost Your Emotional Intelligence

 

 Self-Awareness


As a new leader, you are very focused on learning your new role.  The trap I see new leaders falling into is being so focused on being personally successful, that they miss what is going on with the team as a whole.  Leadership success comes from your whole team being successful.  It’s not just you.  Are you paying attention to the moment at hand, or are you always thinking ahead?  Be self-aware.

 

Self-Management


Is your new role an exciting new challenge, or an unbelievable burden?  How you manage each situation teaches your team how to handle similar situations.  When a new project comes your way, if you overreact and stress out, your team will too.  If you take new projects in stride, your team will too. 

 

Social Awareness


How is your team doing?  As a new leader, it is your job to know.  And not just from a lack of people quitting.  Take the time to really get to know and acknowledge the emotions of others.  Listen carefully and see where you can be of a service to them.  Being socially aware makes being a leader much easier.

 

Relationship Management


As you work on the above three, your relationship management will improve as well.  However, even though you are now in charge, you still need a network of peers, mentors, coaches, and so on to help you be better at what you do.  Seek out opportunities to connect with others and really foster those relationships. 

 

The leader I was working with who was ready to quit had lost focus and was feeling the weight of leadership on her shoulders.  Working with her we were able to help her understand what success looked like as a manager in her role.  She worked on having a change of perspective, and saw a boost in the performance of her team.  When she was more focused on the moment at hand, things didn’t seem as daunting and her team was more focused too.  We are still working on the other areas, but just starting with one or two clearly had an impact.

 

Working on the four areas of your Emotional Intelligence as a new leader will help your new team grow as well.   Imagine a more focused, ready to tackle anything, caring, and connected team.  It would be hard for them to fail, right?

 

 

{#/pub/images/EmilieShoop2014.jpg}Written by Emilie Shoop, Creator and Leader of Shoop Training & Consulting A sought after Coach, Mompreneur, Strategist, Mentor, Speaker, Author, Trainer & Business Consultant, Emilie works with people who are ready for that next level of success, and realize how they work with people is KEY.  Her coaching will help you lead, delegate, sell, collaborate, perform, influence, and relate with people to launch your success to the next level. She provides clients, teams and organizations the skills and tools for leadership and professional excellence.

 

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