Enhancing Emotional Intelligence to Drive Remote Teams
The following article references Daniel Goleman’s Spring 2000 Harvard Business Review (HBR) article titled “Leadership That Gets Results.”
Emotional Intelligence: A Brief Overview
Renowned psychologist, author and journalist Daniel Goleman has long been considered the godfather of Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Yet, for many, EQ remains a vastly new concept. In a world of increasingly distributed workforces, emotional intelligence has become critical among leaders wishing to elicit maximum performance from remote teams.
Goleman defines EQ as consisting of four fundamental capabilities, each composed of various traits:
With these EQ capabilities and traits defined, Goleman highlights the critical links between EQ, effective leadership, workplace climate and performance.
Specifically, Goleman defines six styles of leadership which have a critical impact on workplace climate/atmosphere:
As entrepreneurs and leaders, the way we think about our EQ and how it guides our leadership style is vital to our team’s success.
For example, by understanding the various styles of leadership, we can identify those which are most appropriate for our business –– as Goleman highlights, to be effective leaders, we must be capable of choosing the best leadership style based on the situation at hand, often switching between (or blending) styles throughout the day; similar to a golfer choosing the best possible club based on each unique shot.
Moreover, by determining the styles most critical to organizational success, we can identify the individual competencies that (if improve) will enhance our overall EQ, thus driving greater buy-in, performance and retention from our workforce.
Understanding the Correlation between Leadership Style & Financial Results
Goleman’s research is particularly interesting because it not only outlines the six different styles of leadership but bridges the gap between each leadership style and the resulting impact on a company's atmosphere/climate; ultimately, showing a correlation between leadership style and financial results:
As Goleman highlights, “Climate accounts for nearly a third of [financial] results. And that’s too much of an impact to ignore.”
Therefore, by following a simple four-step formula, we can enhance our EQ, improve workplace climate, and drive better results from our remote teams:
1) Identify the leadership style most appropriate for your business
2) Identify secondary/complementary leadership styles
3) Identify the competencies you must improve to enhance your EQ and effectively adopt these optimal leadership styles
4) Make a daily habit of reinforcing these new competencies
1) Identify the leadership style most appropriate for your business
As an entrepreneur and former founder, I believe that the most appropriate leadership style within a startup environment is authoritative (i.e. taking a “come with me” approach, stating the overall goal but giving people the freedom to choose their own means of achieving it).
Since startups are often comprised of a small team, the founders must convince members to buy into their vision, yet don’t have the time or ability to micromanage — members are often left to work on their own, be self-motivating and figure things out with minimal support.
The authoritative style seems most appropriate in a startup environment because it gives teammates the necessary creative flexibility to explore their own thinking and ideas, resulting in the company’s next potential breakthrough.
However, as Goleman describes, “the more styles a leader has mastered, the better,” so it’s best to incorporate multiple styles for maximum result.
2) Identify secondary/complementary leadership style(s)
In my experience, in addition to the authoritative style, the democratic style is highly complementary within the unique environment of a startup. For instance, as Goleman highlights,
“By giving workers a voice in decisions, democratic leaders build organizational flexibility, responsibility and help generate fresh ideas.”
In startup land, we’re continually looking for fresh ideas and better ways to grow our business. By having open and candid meetings (without judgment), we can get the best ideas and solutions from our teammates.
Thankfully, when we look at Goleman’s research and the “impact of leadership style on drivers of climate,” we see that the authoritative style has the most positive effect on company atmosphere (i.e. 0.54), with the democratic style not far behind in third place (i.e. 0.43).
Therefore, as leaders, we must ask ourselves: am I utilizing these positive leadership styles to create the best possible company atmosphere and get the most out of my team?
3) Identify the competencies you must improve to enhance your EQ and effectively adopt these optimal leadership styles
Understanding our unique personality traits and how we function is the first critical step in leadership development –– after all if we don’t understand what makes us tick, how can we possibly relate to others?
Personally, I prefer the DiSC assessment tool, which has long been the go-to standard for improved teamwork, communication and productivity in the workplace.
For example, someone with a C DiSC style is prone to fall into the pacesetting leadership style, which as Goleman describes, can be very harmful to company climate (i.e. -0.25). Thankfully, by knowing this, the individual can be more self-aware and adjust their leadership style accordingly.
Furthermore, by cross-referencing the four elements of emotional intelligence (i.e. self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skill) with the various elements of a C DiSC profile, we learn that the individual is strong in the areas of self-awareness and self-management, yet can improve when it comes to social awareness and social skill.
For example, a leader with a C DiSC style will enjoy working alone rather than collaborating with others. However, they also possess strong self-awareness, thus realizing how this behaviour can harm the company’s atmosphere if they don’t change.
As a result, the leader must remain cognizant of this tendency and strive to work more collaboratively until (as Goleman describes) they minimize the habit of working alone, thus rewiring their minds to better embrace teamwork.
4) Make a daily habit of reinforcing these new competencies
Goleman’s teachings remind me of the best-selling book, ‘The Power of Habit,’ by Charles Duhigg.
Duhigg explains how almost every routine behaviour, from brushing our teeth to how we act at work, is merely a three-step habit loop:
- A cue which triggers our automatic behaviour;
- A routine (physical, mental or emotional); and,
- A reward that reinforces the loop.
As Duhigg explains, the key to changing a habit is to “keep the old cue, deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine.”
Therefore, similar to Goleman’s story of Jack (i.e. the marketing director of a global food company, as highlighted in his Leadership That Gets Results article), Jack inserted a new routine as he worked to develop his EQ and establish a more effective leadership style:
“As soon as Jack felt himself tensing up, his job was to immediately step back, let the other person speak, and then ask clarifying questions. The point was to not act judgmental or hostile under pressure.”
For example, looking back to our leader with a C DiSC style, when in a situation in which their initial cue is to work alone, they can improve their EQ and subsequent leadership style by changing their routine and stepping back (i.e. letting their teammates weigh-in with various points of view instead of taking over the project and going it alone).
Ultimately, such self-awareness and openness to improve EQ will lead to a more effective blend of leadership styles, thus creating a more positive company climate, which we now know is largely correlated to improved financial results.
About the Author
Matthew is the founder of Allied Venture Partners, a new AngelList syndicate dedicated to the growth and diversity of Western Canada’s technology ecosystem. To learn more, please visit Allied.VC
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