A641.4.3.RB – Tipping Points of Emotional Intelligence
With my current situation at work and at home, there are so many adversities that present themselves in finding appropriate resolutions to the problems and issues that I face daily at home and in the workplace. At times, I see myself settling for taking short-cuts or simple decisions just to offer interim recommendations to the problems I face that are mounting and hope to move to the next situation that needs attending. In the end, I found that I had not resolved anything since the real core or center of the problem was never dealt with from the very beginning.
In my line of business as human resources professional, I have come across of the difficulties that a leader could experience when joining a new team as a leader. When positioned as Assistant Director of Human Resources, the team was lead by a director who could not lead the team with clear vision and goal. There was no cohesiveness in the setting of goals, and the team’s role was not clarified. The members of the HR team were not communicating openly and transparently either due to fear of retaliation or just did not care at all. Personality conflicts within the group were very apparent, and disrespect for each other was heightened.
It was evident at that time that I was not the right person to facilitate a team building program for my team, and worst of all, I was very anxious and fearful that I would not be able to lead my team successfully and efficiently. That was the tipping point of my negative emotion. I wanted us to start fresh by learning together the importance of an efficient and fruitful team to serve our faculty, staff, students, and stakeholders. I reached out to one of our Board of Trustees who was an expert in team building and a human resources expert. She gave us a clear vision of why we were doing what we do which was building on the university’s legacy of educating the students of today and the leaders of tomorrow and what our roles were to achieve the department’s vision and goals. Most importantly, the focus of the team building was trust that we have each other’s back and will support each other no matter what, and we will respect each other in the midst of our diverse culture, belief, abilities, and skills.
I have learned that resolving conflict is not only a standard function of a leader in the workplace. I had a diverse team with a different culture, belief, and religion. Conflict within my group was inevitable. Defining to my staff that it is okay to agree to disagree, but we have to take personal differences outside the workplace. We are all equal, and trust and respect for each other are significant to the success of our team. When one cannot persuade the other to see it their way, the other has to let either the matter go or just leave the room and discuss the issue when both are ready to listen with an open mind.
Blanchard (2008) defined supportive behavior as the extent to which one engages in two-way communication, listen, provide support and encouragement, facilitate interaction, and involve people in decision-making. In three simple words, supportive behavior can be defined as praise, listen, and facilitate. As a leader, I can impact the lives of my employees and colleagues, and my capability to organize an excellent team to make them feel that they are part of my team is an unselfish thing to do and a deliberate strategic decision that I have to make (Lencioni, 2014).
Communication is imperative to our relationship. Whether at work or home. At work, I have an open door policy with my team. My team at work and my husband know that I will avail myself when they need me. One time, one of my staff members had a personal problem with her husband. It was very noticeable that she was not 100% present. I approached her and asked to have lunch with me. During lunch, I told her that I was concern about her and said to her that she can always depend on me. That was when she burst into tears and blurted out that her sister was very sick. I assured her that she could take days off whenever necessary to take care of her sister. Time had passed, and she updates me on her sister’s condition until recently, I have learned that her sister left this world to be with God. I found a friend in Lydia just for that one act of kindness of asking her out to lunch.
I have learned that it is essential to practice supportive leadership in balance. Over-controlling our employees’ behavior for fear of finding them committing too much mistake and be hurt will result in our staff despising us because they are losing their freedom of becoming who they are. Over-supporting them will cause too much dependency or giving them too much freedom may create chaos in the workplace due to the absence of consequence and discipline.
References
Blanchard, K. (2008). Situational Leadership. Leadership Excellence; May 2008; 25, 5;
ProQuest Central pg. 19
Boyatzis, R.E., Rochford, K. and Taylor, S.N. (2015). The role of the positive emotional attractor
in vision and shared vision: toward effective leadership, relationships, and engagement.
Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00670
Lencioni, P. (2014). Teamwork. Retrieved from
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