PD Pathways

Creating Emotionally Intelligent Norms 

Emotions have made their way into the workplace, and lately, people are experiencing more of them! No one can simply flip a switch and turn off their loneliness, stress, or anxiety once they start their work day. It is a myth that mixing emotions into the workplace has a negative effect on the culture or productivity. In fact, Liz Fossien, co-author of the Wall Street Journal best-seller, No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work, states “in the moments when our colleagues drop their glossy professional presentation, we are much more likely to believe what they are telling us. We feel connected to the people around us. We try harder. Perform better. And we are just generally kinder. So it’s about time we learn how to embrace emotion at work.”

During this time of world-wide despair, and lack of social connection, people are needing to embrace emotions more and more. So, how do leaders of an organization create norms that allow employees to respectfully express their emotions in the workplace? The key is – leaders need to go first. They need to step out their comfort zone and be the first to admit their vulnerabilities, and open the conversation to a deeper conversation beyond the agenda for the meeting. 

If leaders can unveil their own humanness, employees will feel more comfortable and connected to their superior, as well as their work. It can be as simple as removing your virtual background to show your messy office, allowing furry friends to join meetings, or having 5 minutes to get up and stretch during long meetings (who cares if you’re wearing sweat pants below your blouse and blazer!).  Even starting the meeting off with a simple “How is everyone feeling?”, can open the opportunity for an intimate conversation beyond the usual “how was your weekend?”, water-cooler chatter that was going on before. 

By taking the corporate pressure off even slightly, it helps build a more empathetic workplace culture. When leaders show that they genuinely care about their employees, and move from employing to empowering their organization, the future of work suddenly won’t be so scary.

Lights, Cameras, Action 

Empowering and engaging employees has become a new obstacle for leaders, but it’s time to stop using it as a crutch to a poorly engaged workforce. It’s time to move into the stage of acceptance, and learn how to truly engage with the virtual workforce. Now that leaders are being exposed to their employees’ home-life through virtual work, the intimacy of the conversations has actually increased. Leaders just need to pay attention and communicate with intention. 

First of all, cameras need to be on. By making it standard to have your camera on the entire meeting, with no judgement, people will start to feel more comfortable with presenting, engaging, and communicating virtually. With cameras on, people will be able to pick up in their peers’ emotional cues. Creating a norm of putting people out of their comfort zones can help break the uncomfortable barriers that come with virtual meetings. 

Further, by having cameras on, it is inviting their peers into their home! This provides a chance for leaders to connect with employees and inquire more about the employee as a not only someone who works with them, but as a person with a life outside of work. It is as simple as focusing on the employee as a human. Maybe, one of the employees has a guitar in the background, and a peer shares the same interest. Now, those two employees are connected not only on a project they are working on together at work, but a personal commonality.

Know Your Audience 

When leaders become more emotionally invested in their workplace, it allows them to become more aware of the individual and collective struggles their employees are going through.  Leaders need to use their EI skills to adapt to all the changes that are coming to the workplace. There are four key components of emotional intelligence that leaders need to instill into their workplace culture.

1. Empathy

By empowering employees to be more empathetic, it will create a culture of understanding. All different levels on the corporate ladder are facing different challenges. Some people cannot grasp the technological expectations. Others may have to home-school their children. Maybe one of your employees lost a family member to COVID-19. By constantly checking in with each other, people develop a level of patience and kindness for their peers. When empathy is reciprocated throughout the organization, people will not hesitate to pick up the slack for a colleague having a bad day, because they know it will be paid back in the future. Empathy is the main component to knowing the audience of the workplace, and putting each other’s wellness as a top priority. 

2. Social Responsibility

Being socially responsible means caring about others and contributing to the community in which they live, the organization in which they work, or the people which they lead.  In essence, it means giving back.  Leaders cannot individually take care of an entire organization. That is why instilling social responsibility, and helping others, into the culture of an organization is essential. Right now, people are looking for support beyond general workplace tasks. Leaders need to create a safe place for employees to connect, and support each other and eventually a chain reaction of kindness will flow through on all organizational levels. A key element of personal social responsibility is endeavouring to have a positive impact on others and the environment. By recognizing that our every action and utterance impacts those around us, we become more conscious of our words and actions and therefore are more likely to act in a socially responsible way.

3. Optimism

People are well aware of the negativity going on in the world, they do not want to hear about it in the workplace. Everyday people are subconsciously doom scrolling on social media – and being exposed to endless negative online news.   It is vital to navigate through these conversations with positivity. For example, ask questions about their day, weekend, family, upcoming celebrations, etc. Leaders need to show their employees that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and this too shall pass. By supporting the needs of the organization, universally or individually, it helps bring positivity into the workplace and makes working a happy escape. Optimistic people tend to expect good things to happen and anticipate the best positive outcomes in any situation. So, as dim as the news may appear, be the leader that trusts that things will turn out well.

4. Flexibility & Stress Management

Everyone handles their stress differently, and leaders need to acknowledge that everyone is adjusting in their own ways. Adapting to peoples’ individual needs is essential. It is important to understand the subtle cues employees are giving off when they are stressed and also appreciate their boundaries. Offering a helping hand or resources to help employees get through these difficult times can exponentially help employees feel more valued at work. Two-way communication is essential in making sure the stress of the organization doesn’t affect the productivity of work, and people are getting the individual support they need to keep stress down, and stay engaged at work. 

Investing in Your Emotions 

When leaders invest in their own emotional intelligence journey, it helps them to create a safe place for their employees to express, communicate, and feel their emotions without judgement. Emotional intelligence can be learned, developed and enhanced. It’s time to open the door to emotionally intelligent leaders, and foster a culture of acceptance, empathy, and care. The future of work is in the hands of leaders to show their true selves behind their corporate mask that has been on for far too long.

Carolyn Stern, a professor with the School of Business at Capilano University, pioneered the integration of Emotional Intelligence into Capilano’s curriculum. An Emotional Intelligence and leadership development expert, Carolyn combines real-world experience as both a business leader with more than two decades as a trainer and educator. Her company, EI Experience, provides leadership development and emotional intelligence training for all management levels and businesses of all sizes and scope. Since launching EI Experience in 2017, Carolyn has helped more than 20,000 business leaders leverage their emotional intelligence skills to connect with their diverse workforce and develop high-performing teams. She is also the author of The Emotionally Strong Leader: An Inside-Out Journey to Transformational Leadership

Elevate your leadership skills with Carolyn and gain a deeper understanding on how your emotions impact your workplace behaviours at our upcoming Executive Program on Leading with Emotional Intelligence on Oct 13,14,18 & 19, 2022.

Employee retention continues to remain a challenge for Canadian employers and according to Gallup, 70% of a team’s engagement is highly influenced by managers. As an effective leader, it is important to create and foster a culture of resilience, instill trust in your team through purposeful connections, and learn how to get a buy in from your employees to empower them as you work towards a common goal.     

Resilience – facing the tough times together and coming out stronger

Without resilient leadership it will be impossible to have healthy and happy employees who are engaged, can overcome challenges, and work through problems with sustained energy. As a leader, do you have the ability to persevere through crisis and uncertainties and also provide the guidance and energy to lead your team to adapt and bounce back? It is important to learn the components, strategies and tools that leaders need to become examples of resilience and in turn, build resilient teams.

Emotional Intelligence – your people and connections are key

Emotional intelligence is sometimes also referred to as emotional quotient or EQ. It is a measurement of how well you are able to understand your own emotions and the emotions of those around you. Possessing emotional intelligence is key in building meaningful relationships in your career, instilling trusts to those around you.  Some individuals may naturally have higher emotional intelligence, but all leaders can learn, practice, and implement tools and strategies to achieve a more people-focused approach to your leadership style.

Negotiation – getting that important buy-in

Arguably the one skill leaders must master is the ability to get others to agree with them. In any undertaking of significance, whether personal or professional, knowing how to get adversaries to accept your point of view while seeing themselves as winners is crucial to your success and the prosperity of the enterprise you lead. Improve your negotiations skills and obtain greater comfort and confidence in getting others to agree with you.