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With ONE thing mastered, so many of the other things you do will become unnecessary.
Summer’s here, but so might be the stress of a busy season for your business. Keeping your cool as a leader during times when the stress level and heat has been turned up is critical. But how does a leader do it? What is the one thing that a leader needs to keep their cool, stay on track, and keep up with all the business and team needs? Quite simply, it’s emotional intelligence. However, you’ll want to read this post to find out why that’s the one thing leader’s need more than anything.
EQ Helps in Hiring
When hiring a new employee, a leader needs to know what they’re looking for in the ideal candidate. Knowing what, and being able to determine who, is the best fit for that role, are two different skills. Emotional Intelligence, coined by Daniel Goleman as EQ, helps you quickly spot traits in a candidate that can’t be asked about on an application. The more you know about who you’re interviewing, the more success that ideal candidate is likely to show.
EQ Helps in Firing
A leader able to deliver bad news in a way that doesn’t crush their spirit and reduces exit interview drama will have more time to spend on employees…well…are still employed. A high EQ will help you deliver the bad news in a way they understand and don’t take as personally as they would without these skills.
EQ Helps in Coaching
Leaders tell me all the time they want to know how to be a better coach. They want to see the improvement they seek without having to repeat themselves and by sharing their feedback in a way that is readily actionable. EQ helps you convey your message in a way that sticks and will spark a positive response from that employee.
EQ Helps in Promoting
Similar to when a leader hires a new employee or interviews candidates for the job, leaders who promote others need to know more than their historical work performance. Great performance in one role does not automatically translate into the skills needed to do great things in the next promotion. EQ shows you where employees will naturally excel and in what areas you need to guide them before promotion so that they do really well!
EQ helps in getting them to do their job. Here’s why and how you can apply it to an additional surprise strategy.
Leaders in busy times or even the day to day grind, don’t have time to miss the mark on their communication, coaching, promoting, hiring, and firing. They also don’t have time for a long list of things needed to make these happen well. This one thing of emotional intelligence is a wise place to put your efforts and energy to become that better leader who keeps their cool even when times are filled with high stress. In fact, as Gary Keller says, this is the “one thing you could do such that many other activities will become not needed or necessary.”
I’m Monica Wofford and that’s your Monday Moment. Have a great week, an even better Monday, and of course, stay contagious!
