If leaders are having a bad day, their teams might too
Claire Denut-Samuels, Global Head of HR services at consulting and growth management firm, Polyglot Group, has a very personal way of illustrating what emotional intelligence is — and isn't.
Writing in a recent blog post, she shared the two very different responses she received from her managers when she told them she was pregnant.
The first was full of congratulations and support. The second complained and was stressed about her taking leave.
"These two moments taught me something profound: how a leader responds emotionally can shape how people feel, perform, and belong. Emotional intelligence isn’t just a leadership skill, it’s a human one," Denut-Samuels wrote.
How leaders' emotions impact teams
Speaking to HRD, Denut-Samuels, who is also a certified executive coach and has a Diploma in Positive Psychology and Wellbeing, said creating awareness about the impact leaders' emotions have on teams is the foundation of emotional intelligence.
"Leaders often think their team feels pretty safe… but when we ask people, 'would you raise your hand if you make a mistake?'… not many people raise their hand,” she said.
“I’m sure you’ve been into meetings when there’s one or two leaders who are not in a good mood—you can see the impact it has on the whole meeting and even the quality of the decision.”
Denut-Samuels said managers tended to over-focus on tasks being completed, instead of collaboration.
“Leaders often focus on ‘what,’ but never take a step back to look at how these goals work for our people. We’re focused too much on things getting done instead of ensuring workers are, ultimately, happy," she said.
“Often people are very clear on what they want to be perceived like, but there’s a big difference between what they’re trying to project and what people bring,” she added.
Power of positive feedback
Reframing performance management strategies and how we speak with our colleagues can be an important contributor to creating psychological safety at work.
“When we review performance, what are we measuring? Is it only the strategy... or are they those soft skills that belong to emotional intelligence—empathy, the ability to give feedback, to coach, to listen?” Denut-Samuels said.
Even during discussions of how to be more people-focused, it’s easy to frame everyday language in a way that’s the opposite of being emotionally intelligent, according to Denut-Samuels.
“Think of the term ‘getting the best out of someone.’ Why don’t we reframe that to ‘getting the best in someone’ – that way, you’re seeing it more as an investment in that person, instead of you taking it for business gain," she said.
“You need to create a culture where people give feedback and know how to give feedback... the foundation of good feedback is being able to give 80% of the time positive feedback.
"When managers focus on deficiencies, performance goes down.”
How emotional intelligence increases performance
Denut-Samuels points to research to show investing in emotional intelligence delivers returns to businesses and employees.
“Researchers took two groups... both had the task of answering challenging questions... One group watched funny videos, got treats, and were encouraged... Guess what? The test group had better results—and they stayed longer to finish the task which they didn’t have to.”
“This is just one example of how important it is to reframe how we manage our employees – and really drilling down to look at what we’re measuring performance for,” she said.
“The way you look at people has an influence on their performance... if your leader believes that you’re good and you can do it, then guess what? You flourish and grow.”
