5 Ways to Develop the Emotional Intelligence of Your Workforce

2.  Show empathy towards others

Empathy is not just important for leaders, but for any member of a team.

Empathy is about recognizing and responding to the feelings of others and thinking about how it feels to be in their shoes.

According to a recent article in the HBR it is about reaching a resonance with someone even if you will never see eye-to-eye on some issues. If you reach the “I get you” level, it is enough!

Emotionally intelligent people ask themselves questions such as:

• Do I use the platinum rule, i.e. treat people the way they want to be treated (not the way I would like to be treated)?
• Do I question my gut reactions to people and ideas?
• Do I find it difficult working with people who are not like me?

An empathetic person doesn’t always agree with other people’s ideas.

Sometimes gut reactions are flawed, resulting from unconscious bias.

Showing that you are trying to understand their perspective will help build deeper connections with colleagues. This is particularly helpful when you are dealing with someone who is challenging to work with.

3.  Listen to understand and not to answer

Listening is a valuable competence but often neglected. Even if you don’t agree with your colleague’s point of view it is important to acknowledge what they are saying and say, “I hear you”.

Oprah Winfrey’s amazing success is based on this skill.

She doesn’t have copious lists of interview questions when she talks to people. She actively listens and allows her next question to flow from her interviewee’s response. Easy. Through this simple method, she establishes trust and rapport.

Encourage your employees to develop emotional intelligence by asking themselves these questions:

• How do I come across to the person I’m talking to?
• Do I genuinely follow the dialogue?
• Do I interrupt people?
• Do I listen so I can talk next, or do I listen to understand?

Reflecting on your answer to these questions is even more important when working in international teams.

Language or cultural barriers may cause miscommunication and slow down the communication process further and inflate emotionally unintelligent responses.

4.  See challenges and criticism as a learning opportunity

Encourage employees to look at how they deal with criticism and try to deal with the feedback in a positive way.

This means addressing the emotions they feel on receiving the feedback and focusing on how they might deal with a similar situation in the future.

It may be that the feedback was delivered in a brutal way but still had a core of truth to it.

Emotionally intelligent people have taught themselves to reflect:

• Why has this upset me?
• How did I react?
• What can I do without blaming someone else or finding excuses for why I did it this way?

As you become more emotionally intelligent you will be able to motivate yourself more easily and respond well to a challenge. You will remain motivated to reach goals even if the path isn’t smooth.