Social and Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace

The Forward Thinking Podcast, Powered by FCCS

Emotional intelligence (EQ) has been identified by 85% of employers as even more valuable than IQ, but it is often seen as something that you either have or don’t have. New science shows that it is possible to increase emotional intelligence with training and practice, which can benefit relationships both in and outside of the workplace.

In this episode of The Forward Thinking podcast, host Stephanie Barton, VP of Marketing and Communications at FCCS is joined by Maureen Breeze, Certified Executive Coach from the Institute for Social and Emotional Intelligence. Maureen will be speaking at the upcoming FCCS 2023 Director Leadership Conference and has joined the podcast today to discuss the importance of emotional agility. She highlights the need for leaders to increase their social and emotional intelligence in the workplace and offers tactics to improve EQ skills in ways that drive results effectively.

Episode Insights Include:

The importance of emotional agility

• Our ability to connect with others through emotional intelligence is not a stagnant skill, it can be refined and improved over time.

• The ability to read emotions and manage our own emotions is more important than ever before.

• Emotional agility requires understanding who you are working with and how you can show up as your best self on the team.

• Emotional agility is reflected in the confidence level of each team player.

Emotional intelligence in leaders

• Leaders set the tone for the team and need to set the emotional temperature in every room they are working in.

• EQ leaders can either bring the temperature down if emotions are running hot or increase energy when more excitement is needed.

• The level of control demonstrated by leaders will be mirrored in the team.

• There is an opportunity for people to make conscious choices about how they want to show up and the impact they want to have.

• Leaders want to drive results but also need to consider who they want to be in the process.

Key factors and skills that affect emotional intelligence

• Factors include personal emotional regulation, awareness of conflict, and psychological safety.

• Skills that can help develop emotional awareness include reflection time, leaning into strong listening skills, and identifying and acknowledging what you are seeing.

• Enhancing these factors and skills will help navigate healthy conflict.

The science behind emotional regulation

• Humans are wired to be triggered in heightened or emotional situations.

• A heightened physiological state can hijack our thinking, but we have the power to get our thinking back online.

• Consider deep breathing, taking a pause, or stepping away to help create a distance that will allow the nervous system to realign.

• When receiving critical feedback, employ key phrases that will create a pause such as “I need a minute to process this”.

The correlation between burnout and emotional intelligence

• Burnout is caused by many factors including our relationship with technology.

• Increased context shifting demands increased brain activity.

• Our relationships have changed since the pandemic and require a new level of connection.

• The blend-burn demands that we address a multitude of requests for our attention simultaneously.

• Energy management is essential for managing burnout.

Resilience and emotional intelligence

• Any situation that requires a bounceback after change or disruption requires resilience.

• Maureen shares three of her five factors that build resilience.

• Anchor yourself in a sense of purpose.

• Make meaning in a difficult situation.

• Identify the why that you can hold onto.

• Talk about an experience so that you can begin to make sense of it.

• Optimism is the belief that with effort we can impact the outcome.

Emotional intelligence in the boardroom

• Leaders need to be intentional about both the outcome and the relationship generation that they are seeking.

• Board members need additional courage to ask the tough questions that can expand thinking.

• Consider the frequency of interactions between board members when setting relationship expectations.

This podcast is powered by FCCS.

Resources

Learn more about the FCCS 2023 Director Leadership Conference- https://www.fccsconsulting.com/conferences/director-leadership

Connect with Maureen - Maureen Breeze

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