Many organizations have a significant commitment to training and staff
development. Often, however, the issue of emotional intelligence training is
not on the radar. Yet, the implications of healthy or unhealthy EQ impact
everything the organization does and affect every relationship and interaction.
In Daniel Goleman’s words, the cost of emotional intelligence illiteracy is
high. It can include unresolved conflicts, lack of cooperation, silos, politics
within the organization, turf wars, competition for power, and a range of dysfunctional and toxic behaviors that can hinder our desired outcomes.
Take a moment and consider the financial cost of toxic behaviors: unresolved conflict, turf wars, lack of alignment, lack of cooperation and organizational silos. EQ deficiencies and immature EQ behaviors can be like an aircraft
carrier anchor dragging behind a 36-foot sailboat. All deficient EQ behaviors
impede, slow down, and cost the organization money. In the case of
not-for-profit enterprises, it costs in terms of Return on Mission.
This is a powerful reason to help leaders grow in their EQ as they set
the pace for the organization and provide ongoing training to raise the staff's
EQ literacy. Here is something to consider. Most behaviors that hold an
organization back from being all it can be are EQ in nature. Grow your EQ, and
you grow yourself, your organization, and your return on mission.
What would you do as a leader to see the following changes in your
business, church, or non-profit?
- Getting everyone on the same page
- Eliminating ego-driven dysfunction for humble leadership
- Moving from competition to cooperation
- Creating an open culture where candid dialogue can take place around any issue
- Building a culture of promises kept and excellent execution of work
- Seeing conflict resolved quickly and cleanly
- Eliminating the politics and turf wars that get in the way of cooperation and a common mission·
- Creating scalable and clear systems for your processes and workflow
- Eliminating
defensiveness and replacing it with a desire for the best solutions possible
throughout the organization
- Growing the EQ maturity of all staff all the time
- Seeing toxic behaviors replaced with healthy ones
- Creating a culture that supports all that you do and eliminates all that holds you back
- Rather than settling for what is, create a commitment to what could and should be
- Moving from emotional illiteracy to emotional literacy
· Each transition or commitment is possible if you commit to continuous EQ training. Each improvement in these areas enhances your ability to generate profits, achieve a better return on mission, retain top talent, and foster innovation and improved solutions.
You can train in all kinds of skills and should. However, without training in emotional intelligence, you cannot address the primary issues hindering your organization: unhealthy EQ and its implications. And all of these are
directly related to culture, so you improve your organization’s culture in
direct proportion to an improvement in its emotional intelligence.
What it takes is for senior leaders to make this a priority for themselves and then for their entire organization. It can and should be done.
