In a post-pandemic world, businesses need to adapt to the new normal. Your leadership team are at the heart of this, and their emotional intelligence toolkit is essential to help your business and employees adapt to any change quickly.
Compassion and understanding, this is something we need in crate loads today, especially throughout our organisations. In this post-pandemic world, people feel the lack of stability, fear of losing loved ones from illness, fear of losing their careers, fear of not being to get back to a new rhythm, and normal. People are experiencing things differently, and as leaders, it can be bloody difficult.
We know what needs to happen for the business; the pressure to deliver is a more massive load than average. That pressure can mean we are more prescriptive and direct when giving team members and colleagues instructions, less emotionally connected, and more about getting the job done. Here’s the rub, that kind of interaction in today’s post-pandemic world, can lead team members to feel disregarded, unseen and misunderstood.
When we hit crises points, we can become more direct and less connected.
We have to meet the business needs, hit the numbers, keep the company afloat, maintain productivity – and then there are all these new emotions flying around the workplace, upheaval and upset.
Leadership teams need a tool kit that will serve them to the highest level – The Emotional Intelligence tool kit blended with analytic. Leaders need to be adaptable and empathetic to employees’ wellbeing whilst maintaining their own wellbeing and hitting the ground, running in an ever more competitive environment achieving the business objectives.
As leaders, we need the skills of balancing the analytic with emotional intelligence. Team members and employees are stressed and struggling; they need the balance of both our skills sets.
We must tend to employees’ needs; we need to be mission-driven when keeping the company on track and vital we care for ourselves.
This skillset requires two parts of the brain – analytic network (AN), or technically the task-positive network; and the empathic network (EN), also known as the default-mode network.
To be the most empowered leaders, we need to use both parts of our brain.
We need to be able to understand employees and colleagues.
We need to take time to take into account their emotional state without burning ourselves out.
We need to be able to get to the heart of their specific challenges.
We need to think ourselves, with a ten-steps-back perspective, get clear on our reactions.
We need to equip ourselves to manage what they are experiencing, feeling and seeing.
And we need to keep the company moving too, delivering to the objectives.
There has never been a more challenging time for a leader.
The most stand-out leaders need to switch between the analytical and the emotional in nanoseconds.
The most influential leaders are the ones that practise these skills, making it easier and easier to do. Being able to cycle between these two talents highly depends on your self-awareness, conscious competence and commitment to building this neural skill.
Achieving the balance is not easy unless you have The Emotional Intelligence Tool Kit
- Build your self-awareness. What is your go-to style of management in moments of pressure? Do you need to adapt and change that to ensure you get the best out of the team around you?
- Learn a way to tap into your less dominant neural management style. Especially as flexibility and toggling between analytical and emotionally intelligent is the winning skill set here.
- Learn to balance both skills sets. Your job to be empowering as a leader is do your work on yourself. You are becoming more aware of when you are leaning too much into one style or another, becoming less effective for your team and yourself. You have to practice balancing these two styles. Both are vital, so the more you can transition between the two, the more effective you will be.
This isn’t about solving individual problems or giving advice. This is about you being clear and intentional as leaders, providing the best for your teams, the company and most importantly – you.
Now is the time to be stepping up your support network and skillset, building your EQ tool kit and analytic management bag. Book a conversation today HERE to find out more about our emotional intelligence leadership development programme that serves up results time and time again.
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As leaders, we can continuously be battling with the analytical and emotional part of our jobs. One is not more important than the other. Being too strong in either without the skills to toggle seamlessly between the two can be detrimental, both emotionally and physically to you. That then trickles down to the people you are responsible for.
Our leadership development programme creates space for you and your leadership teams to develop the skills and strategies to build stronger and more empowered workforces and business. Jump in today with a conversation HERE to see how we can help you create the next level leadership team supporting your company to be unstoppable