Management and The Power of Emotional Intelligence

High emotional intelligence in your managers can be the difference that makes the difference.

The business case for developing managers with high emotional intelligence is very strong.

In fact, studies are revealing the higher you climb, the more important those skills become.

Did you know that numerous studies show:

• Managers with a high level of emotional intelligence have fewer retention and morale problems.
• Managers with a high level of emotional intelligence are able to defuse tensions and conflict far more quickly and effectively than those managers with lower skills in this area.
• Managers with high emotional intelligence are able to improve creativity, create synergy from teamwork, speed information sharing by way of sophisticated people networks and inspire the best performance from those around them.

Are there some managers who, despite being highly competent in their field of expertise, fail to effectively engage their staff?

Absolutely!

Successfully influencing, persuading, inspiring and engaging others, even in the toughest of circumstances, is not something most of us are taught – and yet, if you think about it, these skills are absolutely vital in any business.

Whatever your business, you need a calibre of manager who can deal with highly challenging situations such as:

• Delivering difficult or unwelcome messages, such as restructuring, redundancies or underperformance.
• Handling tensions or conflict in a team.
• Engaging and motivating people when sales or other targets are down, or competition from others is making staff feel disheartened.

Some of us have a certain level of natural ability to do this.

Are there some managers who just seem to be more naturally able to relate to others, to motivate even in challenging circumstances?

Of course! And for those managers it certainly makes honing these skills a much easier task.

Some managers have a harder time dealing with the “emotionally charged” situations: their responses to situations such as those above might range from being “tough” (which they see as “telling it as it is”) to avoiding getting a real grip on the situation, (perhaps because of a lack of confidence about how to deal with this “minefield”).

What are the consequences for the manager who fails to recognise the importance of these “people skills”?

The truth is, how these situations are handled can make or break a team.

In these circumstances, more than any other, the manager, and how they deal with the situation, can be the difference that makes the difference. Which is why developing these skills is SO important.

We help managers develop emotional intelligence.

Every programme we run, from the short, “booster” sessions to the longer, more structured management training we run, uses techniques and tools which aid the development of emotional intelligence.

Two programmes in particular give specific yet highly practical support for managers who want to develop these skills. To find out more click on the boxes below.