A Leader's Emotional Control

Thanks for taking time to consider this inaugural edition of "A Leader's Image in Action"! I'm hoping this will be a journey we all can take together in improving leadership capabilities across all spectrums and industries. Like I mentioned in my pre issue announcement, we will be utilizing the Success Strategy Leadership Triad developed by me that consists of three key elements. Those elements assert that for leaders to be successful, they must KNOW the part, ACT, the part, and LOOK the part. We begin with delving into the impact of a leader with poor emotional intelligence and the impact this has on an organization. I hope you enjoy the issue and would LOVE your feedback!

THE SITUATION

In the heart of a bustling industrial district stood a manufacturing facility known for its cutting-edge technology and innovative products. Yet, behind the gleaming facade of machinery and assembly lines lay a persistent problem: high turnover.

At the helm of this facility was a manager named Mark. With years of experience in the industry, Mark possessed a keen technical mind but lacked the emotional intelligence needed to lead a diverse team of workers. His interactions were often brusque, his feedback harsh, and his demeanor aloof. Despite his best intentions, Mark failed to connect with his employees on a deeper level. Never engaging the heart of his team.

As a result, turnover rates soared, with skilled workers departing in search of more supportive and nurturing work environments. As well as newly hired workers leaving soon after onboarding due to the negative culture that Mark was at the center of. The constant churn not only disrupted production schedules and quality, but also drained the morale of those left behind, creating a palpable sense of tension and dissatisfaction on the factory floor.

Among the employees affected by Mark's leadership was Emily, a talented engineer with a passion for precision and a thirst for knowledge. Despite her skills, she found herself constantly at odds with Mark's management style. His lack of empathy and understanding made her feel undervalued and unappreciated, driving her to consider seeking opportunities elsewhere.

One day, as Emily sat in her cluttered workstation, contemplating her future, she received an unexpected visit from Maria, a former colleague who had recently transferred out from under Mark to a different part of the company. Over cups of lukewarm coffee, Maria shared her own experiences with Mark and the toll his poor emotional intelligence had taken on her wellbeing and mental health.

THE APPLICATION

All too many times this unfortunate story can be applied to many facilities. Just change the names and it can be the situation that many hard-working people find themselves in on any given day. So, what can we make of this situation?

Let's examine four things.

Mark had a keen technical mind but lacked emotional intelligence.

The four key elements of emotional intelligence are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Mark was obviously weak in some aspect of all of these areas. What does this come from? Why do we see it so often in leadership?

Beginning with the first statement about Mark's keen technical mind. That shows that Mark is no doubt a very talented individual. He has probably had a solid track record of problem solving, troubleshooting, and process capability. With this being the case, guess what happened? Senior leadership took note of Mark's efficient work ethic and ability, and it got him promoted to a leadership position. Now Keenan, what's wrong with that? It shows that hard work pays off! Indeed, it does. The problem comes with Mark being promoted from being a process expert to being a people leader. The abilities to be successful at the former are not necessarily the same abilities to be successful at the latter. This wasn't fair to Mark, or the workforce.

Does this mean that Mark shouldn't be able to be a leader? Not at all. The organization failed Mark as well as themselves by not providing Mark with the tools he would need to be successful leading people. Whether it's mentorship, formal training, or whatever, Mark should have been equipped.

Why do we see this so often in leadership? Well, simply put, it's usually about the bottom line. Often, senior leadership can begin to see things through the lens of capabilities being able to "cross apply". Therefore, it makes promotions easier and more expedient. Development takes time, money, and effort, but it's well worth it if you want to capture folks like Mark and not lose your people at the same time! Also, you may find that Mark is perfectly happy not leading people and there's nothing wrong with that.

Mark never engaged the heart of the team.

Emotional intelligence means realizing that people are made and driven by emotions. Anyone who tells you they can make decisions without any emotional quotient at all is spinning you a yarn. That's means lying for my non-southern professionals. It's how we are wired. All of the information taken in by our brain is flushed through our Limbic system which is the seat of our emotional response BEFORE it gets to our prefrontal cortex which is where rational thought is formed.

So, what does this have to do with Mark?

Mark engaged the 'have to' in his team. The things they must do to keep their job. Command and control leadership often lives in the 'have to' zone. It gets some results, but they are usually short lived and creates a team that does just enough to get by and who are usually looking for greener pastures elsewhere while doing so due to an apparent lack of appreciation.

Mark didn't engage the 'want to'. That's where you engage the heart of your team. How does one do that? I'll give you a double R. Relevance and respect.

Relevance. Helping the team understand the WHY behind what they were doing. The importance, the big picture, why it matters to them. Outside of the fact that "it's their job". That mentality kills me! Taking time to explain process decisions, letting the team contribute to decisions "to the extent possible", and regularly engaging your team creates a sense of ownership in them. That sense of ownership breeds commitment. What leader wouldn't want that? I certainly would. It makes any leader's job easier!

Respect. Remembering that these are people, not machines. Sure, every company must have solid expectations and policies. That is absolutely 100%. What, though, is our attitude as a leader when someone on your team experiences a hardship that takes them away from their job? Emotional intelligence would have us realize that this is a make-or-break moment for our leadership with this person. Handled correctly, we gain a loyal team member who goes above and beyond for us. Handled incorrectly, we create a bitter and distant worker who will leave us as quick as the next job offer.

While we can't break policy, we can show legitimate concern for a person's situation. Remember what they are dealing with and check in to see how they are getting along. Sincere interest goes a long way and engenders loyalty. Remember that there are things, whether we like it or not, that are more important than work to our team members. They will be quick to show you what they prioritize. In most cases, it's not that people don't want to work. They don't want to be disrespected. Respect them.

Mark's soaring turnover rates were disrupting production schedules and quality.

Mark's ignorance and inattention to what was happening was causing people to leave the organization as quickly as they came. This had a tremendous impact on the organizations production capability and goals. Needless to say, they often fell short of production. Even when they would meet production, the product quality was subpar to say the least.

You cannot expect growth and proficiency in quality and production when you are constantly turning over workers. Plain and simple. Why? You never get past basic level training. People are often gone before they get to intermediate or advanced levels. Also, the constant turnover eventually decimates your experienced workers who you rely on as trainers. Therefore, you end up with new people training new people. I bet a lot of readers just had an "aha" moment.

So, with Mark's leadership inadequacies allowed to run rampant, the company overall suffered. We mentioned quality and production but guess what else suffers? SAFETY! The lack of experienced workers that know the ins and outs of your equipment has caused unintentional safety issues. Guess what, it all costs money.

Many leaders fail to address the problems in leadership capability as quickly as they address issues with frontline workers. We know why. It's far less costly and easier to just hire "another body" than to replace a leader. However, when you do all of the math, is it really less costly?

The effect that Mark's leadership had on top talent.

Take Emily's example from our story above. An engineer with a passion for her craft. Dedicated and hungry for knowledge. Mark's lack of empathy and combative style drained Emily and had her ready to leave. How does this effect the company? It robs the company of Emily's top effort and can have the company unfairly label Emily as the problem. "She's negative". "She's not helpful". I love this one because I had a leader say this to me once, "you don't smile enough." What's the real issue? Emily's passion was sucked from her due to overbearing and less than inspiring leadership.

If we are in the market for top talent, which many of us would say we want, we must remember that this comes with stipulations. You cannot hire a peacock and then tie its tail feathers together. You can't engage a GPS and tell IT which direction to go in. You can't hire a top tier professional and dictate their craft to them. If you already knew what to do in that area, then you wouldn't need top talent. Just hire someone that can follow orders and dictate to them. Chances are, you don't know what to do so you hire someone with the knowledge. Get out of their way. Plain and simple. Don't micromanage, don't be combative, support them, and openly show this support. I mean, you don't have to. Just know that when you cause someone with a passion to lose passion for what they once loved, you've lost them for good. Also, organizational reputations are a real thing. Don't allow your company to lose a good reputation by holding on to an inept leader.

THE WRAP-UP

So, in four distinct areas, we've examined this "fictional" Mark and his poor leadership style, and we've found failures all over the place. Mark was failed, the workers were failed, Emily the engineer was failed, and the company overall was failed.

Leadership paints with a broad brush! The emotional intelligence of a leader can cause an immense amount of damage to our organizations if we ignore apparent issues. Replacing one bad leader is much more cost effective than constant turnover and process quality failures due to inexperienced staff. If we want to promote our most technically sound, make sure they are also sound communicators and people leaders. Organizations can do this by establishing good internal leadership development systems for high-performing employees BEFORE they are promoted. The investment is well-worth it.

Emotional intelligence is just a segment of the KNOW THE PART component in the Leadership Triad.

There is so much more to examine. I will try to use this newsletter to breakdown many aspects we need as we refine the image of a leader.

The aim is to benefit as many as possible as we apply the elements of good leadership and see them IN ACTION!

If you would like to work with me (Keenan) through consultation for your organization's leaders, just DM me here on LinkedIn or email him at [email protected].

You can also find me at www.successstrategytraining.com.

See you next time, thank you sincerely for reading, and of course...

BE WELL FELLOW PROFESSIONALS!