4 Ways Managers can Fast Track & Supercharge Emotional Intelligence

If we are going to be honest, and I would not have it any other way, emotional intelligence, if not an inherent trait, takes a long time to develop. That is because true emotional intelligence is a product of personal development. Personal development is not a one-time event. It is a life-long endeavor. So, becoming proficient at the following components of emotional intelligence is no easy task: 

• Self-awareness
• Self-regulation
• Motivation
• Empathy
• Social skills 

The reason is, quite simply, the arch nemeses of these components are various types of fear and insecurity. You cannot compartmentalize, manage, or regulate your emotions. You have to unearth the root causes of negative emotions and extract them by the roots. 

It's impossible to be self-aware if you are afraid to peel your own onion? You simply won’t pull back the layers when fear is present.  

Self-motivation is not just a matter of outlining why you want to do something. Even if the why has been established, it won’t matter if you are afraid to cross the road. 

Trying to self-regulate your emotions and responses, when there is insecurity coursing through your veins, is an exercise in futility. It won’t happen because you will always be in a defensive posture. If you overcome the insecurity, there is nothing to regulate! 

If a person is fearful, they usually find it difficult to act selflessly. Therefore, demonstrating empathy is difficult. You can’t fake empathy! You either are empathetic or you are not. Only when you are emotionally centered, mentally tough, and at peace with yourself, will empathy become instinctive.  

Making progress in the first four components is difficult and takes time. Hiring a coach to help a manager overcome fears and insecurities can be tremendously helpful and even expedite the process. While a manager is working on that, though, we can supercharge their emotional intelligence by fast tracking number five – social skills. This is accomplished by mastering the following: 

1.     Two-Dimensional Communication or RFDO Feedback

2.     Human Behavior in the Workplace

3.     Leader/Team Dynamics

4.     Intra-Team Dynamics 

RFDO Feedback - One of the biggest hurdles for managers is delivering feedback. Gallup research found that only 14.5% of managers strongly agree that they are effective at giving feedback. It’s true! Most managers avoid delivering negative feedback to employees because, to them, just the mere thought of having an uncomfortable conversation is more stressful and painful than listening to fingernails slide down a chalkboard for 8 hours. This is, without question, a primary factor for manager failure. You cannot blame managers, though. You see, conventional feedback is fundamentally flawed. It is a one-dimensional, negative, corrective process, which kills morale and destroys performance. It is counterproductive to driving engagement, productivity, and creativity, and it is counterintuitive to coaching methodology.  

For example, the way you are reading this article is all wrong. Moving forward, I would like you to correct that. Can you do that for me? I’ll bet that didn’t make you feel all warm, fuzzy, and productive, did it?  

To fast track the process and make feedback 4 times more effective, a manager, must learn two-dimensional communication or what I call RFDO feedback. This proprietary method rapidly enhances people skills and interpersonal savvy. Moreover, it is the gateway to high-performance team building. 

For instance, if you could scroll back to the beginning of the article, what would you change about the way you are reading it? What could you do to improve your retention and experience? What if you add this to it? I think that is a great strategy! Let’s put that into play. Awesome! 

To utilize RFDO feedback successfully and supercharge emotional intelligence, however, a manager must also master human behavior in the workplace as well as leader/team and intra-team dynamics.  

Human Behavior in the Workplace - Why do employees do what they shouldn’t do, and how can a manager get them to do more than they should? Most managers cannot answer those questions, but they can learn. They need to understand The Law of Reciprocity, The Scale of Productivity, and The Compensation Baseline. 

Leader/Team Dynamics - How a manager interacts with, works with, and treats their people is of crucial importance. It means everything. While a picture may speak 1000 words, the portrait that employees render of a leader whether favorable or unfavorable is usually painted in terms of engagement and spoken in the language of performance. Managers must learn about The Caring Equation – The level of caring that employees show towards their work is equal to or greater than the amount of caring a manager demonstrates towards them. Managers must also understand The Principle of Employee Evaluation & Scrutinization. Employees will watch a manager like a hawk. The manager's behavior is always factored into performance. 

Intra-Team Dynamics – Even if due diligence is done regarding recruiting and hiring team players, there will be team members who won’t play nice in the sandbox. Some will wreck their team member’s sandcastles. Other’s will take credit for the one they did not build. And some will even throw sand in the face of their colleagues. Managers will experience some form of this behavior. Although, it can be checked and, better still, the majority can be averted with skilled management techniques. Managers need to understand how and why conflict occurs. They need to rethink meeting structure and frequency because that is a major source of conflict. Managers must learn to teach collaboration and cooperation because those skills are not naturally occurring behaviors.  

In conclusion, when a manager successfully masters RFDO Feedback, human behavior, leader/team dynamics, and intra-team dynamics, absenteeism and turnover decrease, and gains in sales, service, and/or productivity of 20%, 30% or more are realized.  

Want to supercharge emotional intelligence and fast track the success of your managers? I just completed a new resource – “A Leader's Guide to Creating Superstar Frontline Managers.” For a Free copy, message me here on LinkedIn or email me at [email protected].   

Regards, 

David Roppo

Coach & Consultant

#management #teambuilding #managertraining