How do you foster a climate of emotional intelligence among your team members and colleagues?

It's important for you to exemplify emotional intelligence, as this sets the tone for the team. When you model the desired behaviors, it encourages team members to adopt these practices and develop their own emotional intelligence skills.

You treat them with respect, engage their hearts, work 'with' them, and encourage them to be their best self. Growth is driven from within! It is up to us as leaders to develop this desire, not demand it!

Assessing your own emotional intelligence (EI) is fundamental before assisting others in their development. Utilise self-assessment tools, feedback, or coaching sessions to identify strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, recognise emotional triggers, biases, and blind spots influencing interactions. This self-awareness lays the foundation for enhancing EI, enabling more effective support and guidance for others' development in emotional intelligence.

> Encourage active listening and empathy by creating a safe space for open communication. > Model these behaviors yourself, and provide opportunities for team members to practice them. > Promote self-awareness by encouraging team members to recognize and understand their own emotions. > Offer tools and resources for emotional self-reflection and management. > Establish a culture of open communication where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings without fear of judgment. > Provide constructive feedback and support to help them develop their emotional intelligence

Developing emotional intelligence requires understanding more than emotions. Emotions are often triggered by beliefs formed through subconscious programming. Therefore, solely controlling emotions through suppression or repression can lead to a perpetual reactive state. Neuroscience reveals emotion-related regions of the brain that fire while learning to regulate emotions suggesting that it is our brain we need to train, not our emotions. A climate of emotional intelligence requires each person to be aware of what drives their emotions and be given tools based in applied neuroscience to retrain their brain for emotional regulation. Then, build compassion into the culture where people understand that we all have emotional triggers.

The most effective way I've found to foster EI is radical honesty. The more authentic I am about my failures, flaws, and how I've learned from them, the more likely others are to risk vulnerability and connection. In learning environments, I use storytelling--anecdotal information from my own life to set the tone for vulnerability and inclusivity, then making space for others to engage if they feel comfortable doing so. EI must be trauma-informed; we cannot guarantee emotional safety, we can only model it.

Emotional intelligence is hard to learn. But if you have it, you should model it. Be compassionate, firm, and deliberate. Develop mechanisms that ensure your environment is perceived as fair.

Some great ways to get started when modeling EI behaviors is to write down reminders as you begin to work on these skills. For example, I will write reminders on the top of a page I am taking notes on (during a meeting): Be an active listener Take a moment before responding Understand their point of view

Modelling emotional intelligence (EI) behaviours is instrumental in fostering an EI climate. Demonstrating empathy, respect, and appreciation, active listening, and constructive expression of emotions set a positive example. By managing stress and emotions effectively, you influence others to emulate these behaviours. Through consistent demonstration of EI, you cultivate a culture of empathy, understanding, and mutual respect, enhancing collaboration and overall team effectiveness.

When you promote emotional intelligence learning, you encourage open communication and empathy, which in turn leads to a more cohesive and productive environment.

Fostering a climate of emotional intelligence (EI) involves encouraging EI learning among team members and colleagues. Provide opportunities and resources for learning EI concepts, skills, and strategies. Organise workshops, webinars, or online courses on EI topics. Share relevant books, articles, or podcasts on EI. Establish a learning community or network where individuals can exchange ideas and experiences on EI. By facilitating continuous learning and development in EI, you empower individuals to enhance their emotional intelligence, fostering a more collaborative and empathetic work environment.

Feedback plays a pivotal role in the development of emotional intelligence (EI) by aiding individuals in recognising strengths, areas for improvement, and adjusting behaviours. Offer specific, timely, and constructive EI feedback to team members and colleagues, acknowledging achievements with recognition and praise. Encourage reciprocal feedback by inviting input on your EI and encouraging individuals to seek feedback from others. By fostering an environment of open communication and constructive feedback, you facilitate continuous growth and development of EI skills within your team.

Encourage emotional intelligence practice among your team. Teams with strong emotional intelligence are better equipped to adapt to changes and challenges, and they navigate uncertainty and stress more effectively.

In my organization, teams have the autonomy to encourage employee involvement in emotional intelligence practice activities. Specifically, my team is made up of 34 people who are geographically dispersed in the four states that form the main economic region of Brazil (S?o Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo) and also in the main cities in the interior of of this region. This could be a problem, but we are managing to overcome it. For example, we support emotional intelligence practices with virtual meetings with psychologists, discount packages at gyms, as well as weekly meetings aimed at bringing members together, sharing daily professional life and strengthening team unity.

Teams with high emotional intelligence are generally better at collaborating and managing conflicts. When team members are aware of and sensitive to each other's emotions, they can work together more effectively, leading to improved performance and job satisfaction.

Fostering a climate of emotional intelligence (EI) involves several key steps: Assess your own EI: Before helping others develop EI, assess your own strengths and weaknesses. Set an example by demonstrating empathy, active listening, and constructive expression of emotions. Provide opportunities for team members to learn about EI through workshops, webinars, or online courses, and facilitate discussions and knowledge sharing on EI topics. Offer specific, timely, and constructive feedback on EI performance, and encourage reciprocal feedback among team members. Create a safe and supportive environment for expressing emotions, and participate in EI activities such as role-playing or mindfulness exercises.