Latest / RiseUp - Live Joy Your Way / Creating Safe and Successful Teams Through Emotionally Intelligent Leadership

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Creating Safe and Successful Teams Through Emotionally Intelligent Leadership · RiseUp - Live Joy Your Way

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Today's episode is produced by my friends at Walk West.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: If you're looking to grow your brand and generate leads through podcast or video production, head over to walkwest.com.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's start the show.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Rise up, live joy your way.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: From emotional intelligence through cognitive distortions, certified life and wellness coach Comedy Wood is on a mission to help people see the magnificence of their own unique human spirit.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Through these small bites of self-visation and self-confidence, you can have healthy relationships, success in business and career, and live the life you want to live.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Rise up, live joy your way.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Hi there, and welcome to another episode of Rise Up, Live Joy Your Way, whether it's morning, afternoon, or evening, thank you for taking some time to spend with me.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: And today I want to talk about leadership.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're leading a team, whether you're a manager, an executive, running your own business, I'm hoping that what we talk about today might be beneficial for you.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you don't understand human emotions or you don't understand trauma or uh neurodiverse learning mechanisms, or you don't have empathy, it's difficult to really continue to succeed as a leader.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I just I wanna, I don't say you're not gonna succeed, but I really feel like this is something that we need to pay attention to because today's leaders are facing different challenges, right?
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: Burnout is an all-time high.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we're seeing that engagement is starting to diminish.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, quiet quitting is happening, there's high turnover, there's dissatisfaction.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, people are uh dealing with their own past traumas and uh leaders aren't uh equipped to know how to handle that.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we have neurodivergent learners and leaders who are not equipped to understand that can find themselves struggling.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Because really what we're start, what we're recognizing is that parts of human intelligence, emotional intelligence, are missing, right?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: Being able to understand people because it's not just about their work performance.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's that it's about who they are as individuals.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: And leaders are are finding themselves struggling more because if they only focus on productivity but not recognizing that they have an actual human being and they don't have the emotional intelligence, it's hard to continue to excel in a leadership role because leadership really is about people.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: And us humans are complex and we are emotional and we react to things in different ways.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: So when we're thinking about being in an effective leader, there are certain qualities that seem to be taking place as non-negotiables in the idea of being an effective leader.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: One of them that seems to be talked about more and more, and I know that I've been talking about it more and more, is the concept of emotional intelligence.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Emotional intelligence consists of uh being self-aware, right?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: So do you recognize your own emotions and how they might be affecting your leadership?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, emotional intelligence involves self-regulation.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Can you, as a leader, manage your own stress or frustrations or biases?
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, can you manage yourself in high pressure situations?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, emotional intelligence also includes empathy.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: Do you understand what your employees are going through beyond their work performance?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: And do you have the social skills, right?
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Do you can you communicate in a way that fosters trust and collaboration?
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then, of course, motivation.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: How are you contributing to inspiring your team?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Are you leading from a place of fear or and pressure, or are you leading from a place of empowerment and resilience?
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, leadership also involves empathy and creating psychological safety.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, as uh an important part of becoming an effective leader, you know, it's important that your team feels safe with you, not just physically safe.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about emotionally and psychologically as well.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, people don't leave companies, they leave toxic leaders and environments.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so a leader who lacks empathy or creates an environment where people are afraid to speak up, or they're afraid to fail, or they're afraid to just be themselves.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: It does stifle creativity, it stifles innovation, it stifles performance.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: So, in order to lead effectively, it's about learning to listen, to understand, right?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: Not just respond.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's about recognizing and validating emotions rather than dismissing them.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's about fostering and creating an environment where people do feel valued and respected, and they feel safe to contribute their ideas.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it I really do believe that an effective leader today also understands neurodivergence.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: Not everybody thinks the same, not everybody works the same way.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, people do work through having ADHD, they work through having dyslexia, they work through uh having autism, there are other cognitive differences.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: And yet those individuals bring so many strengths to the workplace.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: But if we only lead from a one size fits all, we're we're losing out on all of that potential that those individuals can bring.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: So leaders have to learn to adapt their communication styles to different learning and processing needs that individuals have, you know, provide flexible ways for team members to thrive, recognize that brilliance doesn't come in the same package in every single person.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then it is about being trauma informed.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, a lot of people in the workforce have experienced trauma in their past.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not about, you know, bringing so many leaders say, leave your personal life at the door.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: And that's fine.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like we don't need people to bring all of that in, but we have to recognize that these individuals do have a history.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it and trauma will affect how people react to stress or feedback in leadership styles.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're not trauma aware, you might misinterpret a team member's hesitancy as resistance, or you might you might misinterpret a shrug of the shoulders as being rude, when in fact, that's a trauma response because they're fearful.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: So if they're disengaged, it might actually be that they're experiencing burnout or emotional exhaustion.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: So trauma-informed leadership is so important.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: And what do I mean by that?
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: It means leading with patience and understanding.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: It means not jumping to conclusions about people's behaviors.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's about creating an environment where people feel seen, heard, and respected.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's an environment where we recognize that individuals might have a uh a nervous system response and we create space for them to calm down and to regulate.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: And then great leaders, it's not just about those things.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's also about building your communication skills, right?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, because leadership is all about building your people up.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's about developing people.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just directing them and telling them what to do.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, hopefully, as a leader, we want our the individuals on our team to grow and maybe even exceed us.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, learning how to communicate, but then also asking questions before assuming things, giving constructive feedback in a way that empowers somebody rather than belittles them, helping employees set goals, right?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Helping them say, look, well, what are your intentions?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then helping them figure out how they might take take steps to meet those goals and having it align with the company's vision.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: A leader who knows how to create that with their individuals, you're, you'll find that your team members actually then start to become intrinsically motivated because it's really not about them just following your orders.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's about them choosing to engage in the work.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: So, what happens when we don't pay attention to these leaders, leadership skills?
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well, without emotional intelligence, without empathy, without trauma awareness, you're gonna end up having high turnover where people leave because they don't feel valued.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna create a toxic work culture where stress and conflict and disengagement are just on the rise.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna find that there's gonna be a lack of innovation because if you're in a fear-driven environment, people are not gonna be creative because they're in a fight or flight stage, right?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna want to survive.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: So that shuts down all creative, all creative thoughts.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, when we'll see burnout, employees uh and managers and executives even will burn out when the leadership feels disconnected from their own needs.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: So it's not, it's, it's, it's beyond just um an ethical issue, it's also a business issue because the cost of replacing an employee is one and a half to two times their annual salary.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: So multiply that by, you know, numerous departures and your companies are going to start to lose millions because they don't have the right people in leadership, in leadership roles who can who can be a leader.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: So, how do you lead with emotional intelligence?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: How do we fix it?
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: What are some things that you can do if you're in a leadership role and you're like, you know what?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: No, I'm committed to growing and evolving as a leader.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, committing to self-awareness.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Leadership starts with understanding your own self.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: I said this with emotional intelligence.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: It starts with self.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: You have to get take time to recognize what your triggers are, what your biases are, and how you will tend to respond.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Which do you have emotional responses?
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then shift from a place of control into a place of connection.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: Leadership isn't about micromanaging, it's about fostering relationships where people feel safe to bring themselves, bring who they are to work and build this muscle around asking and being curious instead of just assuming.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: So instead of assuming an employee is struggling because they just don't care, asking curious questions, like, you know, what support might be helpful to help you succeed?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, educate yourself on different ways, you know, neurodivergence and trauma, right?
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: Different ways that people learn and they process information.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Encourage psychological and emotional safety.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: People absolutely perform better when they don't fear retribution for mistakes, when they don't fear their leader.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: So focus on that and practice emotional intelligence daily.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the way you start with that is you start with yourself every single day, becoming self-aware and learning how to self-regulate.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, as a challenge, if you are in a leadership role, really take a hard look at yourself, not from a shaming way, but from a curious perspective.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Are you leading with empathy?
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: Are you truly seeing the people in your organization?
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Or are you just managing them like a set of numbers on a spreadsheet?
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: Because leadership isn't about only meeting KPIs.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not saying that we don't want to meet our KPIs, but true leadership is about creating an environment where people thrive because that inevitably will have us meet those KPIs.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: And all of this starts with you as the leader.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: If this has resonated with you, or you feel like it would help somebody that might be in a leadership role, feel free to share it with them.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: And if you would like to discuss how coaching could help develop your leadership skills, feel free to book a time with me anytime at coachwithcomedy.com.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: And until next time, stay well.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to Rise Up, Live Joy Your Way.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: For more information, book a chat with comedy at www.chatwithcomedy.com.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Or visit her website at www.comedywood.com.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: You can also find comedy on Facebook or Instagram.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Username It's Authentic Me.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.