How emotionally intelligent leaders build better teams

Everybody knows that Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is a crucial factor for success. Some reasons attributed to this is that leaders with high EQ levels can better relate to people, are good at handling crises, have empathy and are capable of handling client relations more efficiently, all crucial characteristics a boss should possess. In fact, the five main components of emotional intelligence are self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy for others, and social skills.

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If you are a leader, here is how you can leverage your EQ to build better teams.

Team rituals:

Ever noticed that athletes or people with high levels of productivity have a ritual which keeps them going? Tim Ferriss, one of the world’s well-known names in productivity (his podcast The Tim Ferriss Show, has exceeded 100 million downloads) swears by this. He has a habit of journaling for 10-15 minutes every morning, which helps him focus on his thoughts. He writes about things that he is grateful for and about issues that plague him. You could also get your team to start off their day by creating a ritual. It could be as simple as sharing coffee together where everyone could talk about previous day’s progress and create a plan for the day. Or you could take your team out for lunch every week, maybe even fit in a barbell workout or a sequence of pushups. To make it more fun, you could dance to a five-minute song at 4 PM every day.

Create an open culture of feedback:

There is a chance this move could backfire as not many are open to getting feedback, if handled tactfully, this could be the best way to build a great team. A lot of miscommunication takes place when people don’t clarify doubts, and it happens more often than you think. Create a system where all team members can openly give and receive feedback. Make sure this is a transparent process and there is a reasonable mechanism for everyone to air their views. Get the team to understand that feedback is only given with good intentions and there is no reason to see this as maligning anyone.

Embrace the differences to build a great team:

No two people are alike. If you want people around you to be honest and authentic to you, then you should encourage the differences between people. You should be sensitive to cultural, religious and geographical differences. A leader is supposed to set the trend for everyone else in the organization to follow. Use people’s unique talents for different situations. When complex situation arises, find common ground to assuage the situation. Learn to embrace the differences and use it your advantage by bringing people of different abilities together.

As a leader, be accountable like everyone else:

You are not un-equal to your employees just because you are the boss. In fact, you should be much more attuned towards following the rules and adhering to work policies because the team will follow what you do. Employees want their bosses to be as much a part of the team as anyone else. When you are in the wrong, admit it. A simple act of admitting your fault can bring a sea change in your employees’ attitude towards you as they will begin to see you with more respect. Be approachable, they will come to you only if they can relate to who you are as a person. Have no airs about you, remember, there is always someone bigger and better than you.

Be sensitive:

If you find that your employees are not working to the best of their abilities, look forward to the weekends, hate coming to the office, don’t care about creating a great workspace and are sloppy, then you have a problem at hand and the problem is you. As a leader, your sensitivity to people around you should always be at its peak. Remember that everyone has the potential to improve their performance. You should lookout for people in your team to see if they are facing problems at the workplace or at home. You might want to give a few days off to someone who needs time to heal. Be mindful of people’s needs and they will move the earth for you.

Emotionally intelligent leaders have several things that they need to take care of. Their main duty is managing the people in the workplace, keeping them happy and motivated to do their jobs. The above mentioned things could create a meteoric rise in your company’s efficiency.