I’ve written quite a bit about Emotional Intelligence in the past; you can read a few of those Thought Partners here, here, and here. 

However, last Summer/Fall I had the pleasure of conducting several leadership sessions focused on Team Emotional Intelligence. The primary difference between Emotional Intelligence and Team Emotional Intelligence is…are you ready for this….the team. Tuning in with true awareness of the collective team’s emotions and recognizing how those emotions are managed by the team as a whole, helps influence team dynamics, productivity, and health. Essentially, Team Emotional Intelligence can be broken down into two categories:

1. Emotions – How we feel (Emotion Awareness and Emotion Management)
2. Relationships – How we connect (Internal and External Relationship Management)

During the workshop, I shared the below graphic from Team Emotional Intelligence 2.0, by Dr. Jean Greaves and Evan Watkins. I had small groups participate in the following activities:

  • Individual groups were tasked with identifying a key challenge or opportunity their group was facing at the moment.
  • Once the challenge or opportunity was identified, the groups examined the leaves on the Team EQ tree and attempted to isolate the behaviors, qualities, or characteristics the team needed to cultivate, develop, or access that would allow them to make an impact on their challenge or opportunity. 
  • Once the behaviors were identified, the groups were then asked to discuss the emotions and the energies that their teams were managing as a result of not “having” these behaviors or qualities. And of course, what types of emotions or energies would result if these could be implemented as a team?

Today, as we continue to kick off this new year and this first month of 2024, I task you with this same activity, for yourself (or for your team if you would like to share it).

  • What challenge or opportunity are you facing today?
  • What leaf (or leaves) would move the needle for you if you made that your focus this month?
  • What emotions or energies would you notice as a result? How would that make an impact on your goal, reduce unwanted emotional stress, or improve your internal or external relationships?

What we bring as individuals affects and impacts our teams. If we can isolate what moves the needle for ourselves and bring that to our teams, we’re more likely our teams can move the needle together.

What leaves are speaking to you today?

If you think this workshop sounded fun, it was! If you think your leadership team would benefit from having me share it with them, they will. Reach out to me and let’s talk.