Management
2. Control your emotions. As a manager you can get squeezed in the middle, receiving pressure from top management as well as from your team with their day-to-day personal and business challenges. Mastering EI skills can help you learn how to never take it out on others. It makes you look out of control, jeopardises your business relationships and risks putting you in the 'vulnerable managers' category within the company.
3. Find your empathy. Learn how to put yourself in other people's shoes, including those you may dislike. This skill will transform your relationships at work. If your job requires you to interact with customers it will also help win more clients and keep disgruntled customers who may otherwise be unhappy with your company’s service.
4. Invest in your relationship with your team. Here are some practical tips you can start implementing today which won't cost you much effort or cash:
• Explain to your people how each role matters to the departmental objectives and how these all relate to the company's vision and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). People need to feel a part of something bigger and that their work has real value
• Coach for performance. If you don't know how, learn! Coaching as a tool helps you to empower people, to instill a sense of accountability, and to motivate them to achieve their targets
• Take time out. Go for coffee, bowling, on safari, whatever is suitable for your company’s culture and budget. The simplest things can make a difference to building a coherent team
• Show your appreciation and give credit when it’s due
• Involve your team in the big decision making processes. They will feel that their opinion matters and will be more likely to care about what's good for the long term
• Be a role model. You can't ask your team to stay late if you don't for example. They look up to you and need to see the congruence between what you do and what you ask them to do.
So you want to improve EI in your organisation?
We’ve discussed EI strategies in this article that you can learn through training or coaching. But beware: not all EI courses are created equal. Be careful to select training that goes beyond EI as self-development only.
Hanan Nagi, Founder & CEO of ‘Human Network International (HNI) – Training & Coaching’
Hanan Nagi is an International Trainer, Executive Coach, Personal Development Expert, Writer and Inspirational Speaker. She is the producer and presenter of the first coaching and human development TV show, 'Develop your life', on DMTV.
www.hni.ae