As a leader of your organization or your team – you set the course, the tone and the motivation levels of the people you’re leading. In order to do this, it requires that you have a level of clarity within yourself.
Research shows us that Emotional Intelligence is key predictor of success. Unfortunately, it also shows that the higher leaders rise in the ranks, the lower the EQ they seem to have!
Don’t become a statistic.
Here are 3 common mistakes made by leaders that you can easily avoid by increasing your Emotional Intelligence.
Three mistakes that are holding you back from long-term sustainable success.
Three mistakes that are easy to correct if You are willing to make the effort.
Mistake #1: Lack of Buy In
As the leader, your job is to define the values, vision and mission of your company or team. If you’re not clear, then there is no way for your team to be clear.
Which makes it very difficult for your team members to buy into your vision, to align with the organizational values, and to get on the same page with you, rowing in the same direction.
Neilsen research has reported that today’s younger workforce, Gen Y, also known as Millennials, are inspired by those they can relate to and connect with in a meaningful way and those who care about the causes that are important to them.
What I’ve found in my 16 years as an executive coach is that fundamentally, everyone wants to feel like they can be of contribution in a good way to something bigger than themselves. Your job as the leader is to help foster this connection to the work. Without this level of buy in, your employees are just punching the clock and waiting for the weekend to arrive.
Solution:
As a leader, clarify your vision so you team can be inspired by it. Take time to identify the core values and underlying Why of your work. What’s the purpose and passion behind what you’re doing, offering or creating as an organization?
This will go a long way to create the intrinsic motivation you’re looking for in your employees. Because when you can translate that vision to your team so they can understand it and Own It, you create a positive mood contagion, which leads to a high performing team that is willing to go above and beyond when deadlines are tight.
It’s also a great way to filter for potential new team members. Are these values and principles something they can get excited about and buy into? The more alignment and emotional resonance that you can foster with your team around the values, vision and mission, the higher your team will soar.
Mistake #2: Lack of Trust
Trust is a powerful emotion.
When there is a lack of trust in yourself, your talents, or your genius to get the job done, your fears are running you. This can be debilitating if it goes on for too long. And, you run the risk of increased stress, tension and potential health issues that can keep you from reaching your full potential as a leader.
Worse yet, this lack of trust in yourself, can easily bleed over into how you’re relating with or managing your team. When you lack trust in your team, it can quickly create a downward spiral of negative emotional resonance that can lead to demotivation, reduced effectiveness and loss of productivity throughout your entire team.
Solution:
Learn how to release your fears and take back your power.
Fear is a thought.
An emotion.
Which is just energy.
When you have the right tools, you can learn how to manage your energy and release your fears, taking back control and getting that fear monkey off your back.
When you learn how to master your mindset, it also enables you to more easily tune into what’s going on over there with your team members so you can nip miscommunications and conflict in the bud.
Learning how to do this is key to your success.
And, it’s easier than your fears might have you believe.
As a leader, you have to be willing to move beyond the edge of your comfort zone, feel the discomfort and expand your capacity for what’s possible.
Mistake #3: Lack of Flow
Ignoring the symptoms of MHS…. Multiple Hat Syndrome
Symptoms of MHS include: increased stress, nausea, ulcers, flatulence, rash, itching and burn out!
As a leader, it’s easy to wear too many hats, spinning too many plates – trying to do too many things, at the expense of your health, well-being and the trust of your team.
While we’ve been led to believe that multitasking is very efficient, it has been scientifically proven to not be the case. Your brain can literally only focus on one-thing-at-a-time. While your brain can switch back and forth between things at a pretty fast rate, it has been shown that multitasking actually lowers your effectiveness because it takes four times longer to recognize new things, so you’re actually losing time. It’s this jumping from task-to-task that decreases your flow and your efficacy.
And if you’re spinning multiple plates, trying to control them all, you’re most likely taking your team out of their flow as well.
All of which is counter productive, stressful and time consuming.
Solution:
Discover what your Genius Zone is – that place where everything flows easily, the path of least resistance and you’re firing on all cylinders. This is the place where things unfold easily and time disappears.
Musicians call it “The Pocket.”
Athletes call it “The Zone.”
When you understand what skills, talents and tasks are INSIDE your zone and more importantly what skills, talents and tasks are OUTSIDE of your zone, then you can much more effectively delegate those tasks to members of your capable team, so you can focus on the task at hand.
And, for a double bonus, when you’re clear on what lies inside the Genius Zone of each of your team members as well, now you’re enabling everyone to work more productively and with greater focus and satisfaction.
When you’re able to overcome these three common mistakes as a leader, magic happens.
The result?
You’re on your way to building a high performing team that is happy, engaged and more collaborative.
Enabling everyone to achieve greater balance, well-being and success.
Thus creating the Win-Win-Win for all involved.
If you’d like some assistance implementing any of these solutions in your organization, start here with my Busy Leaders Tool Kit For Success, which contains 3 ebooks to help you fully own your expertise, a values assessment to help you determine your Why, and a guided meditation to calm your mind.
And when you’re ready to make some powerful shifts quickly, then email me. We can schedule a complimentary strategy call to discuss the challenges you’re currently faced with and determine what’s needed to facilitate positive transformation for you and your organization.
#RapidRewire #ReleaseYourStory #SomedayStartsNow
Michele Molitor, CPCC, PCC, RTT
Your Executive Confidence Coach & Rapid Rewire Expert
As the founder and CEO of Nectar Consulting, Inc., Michele works with executives and entrepreneurs worldwide bringing over 25 years of experience, intuitive insights and strategic business savvy to your success.
Her unique inside-out approach is a culmination of years of study and practice in the realms of emotional intelligence, neuroscience, physics, psychology, sales, marketing and spiritual teachings to help catalyze shifts in your thinking, eliminate mental/emotional blocks and rewire your brain for greater confidence and success. All to enhance your capacity as a leader, build high performing teams and exponentially increase bottom line results. www.NectarConsulting.com
Enjoy her latest training:
“5 Steps To Confidently Excel In Your Career (Without Ever Feeling Like A Fraud)”
