Emotion is not something often associated with the clear-headed, fast decision-making world of business leadership, but ING DIRECT's Mark Woolnough thinks it might be time that changed.
Emotion is not something often associated with the clear-headed, fast decision-making world of business leadership, but ING DIRECT’s head of broker distribution Mark Woolnough thinks it might be time that changed.
Humans are emotional creatures, and a broking team is no exception. Studies show that the decisions people make regarding effort and their job are largely based on their emotions, as well as those of their colleagues and their leaders.
Understanding and utilizing this fact, says Woolnough, can be a real advantage in managing your team.
“Emotional intelligence gives leaders the opportunity to use, understand and manage with emotions in a positive and motivating way.
“What it does is allows the leader to understand the emotions involved in the team, to recognise the dynamics of the team as a group and therefore come up with an individual style that fits with those dynamics.”
One of the first things any leader should do when starting with a new team, says Woolnough, is take the time to ask questions and find out what their individual motivators and drivers are, and then make sure these form a core part of your leadership plan in a visible way.
“Show the team that you’ve taken on board their thoughts and their concerns in order to construct your decisions so that they’re drawn in.”
And emotional intelligence is not just about getting to know your team, says Woolnough, but letting them get to know you.
Customers do business with people they like, and a team will work harder for a leader they like. This doesn’t mean that you should be everybody’s best friend, says Woolnough, just that your team need to see you as human.
Part of that, says Woolnough, is not “cotton-wooling” your emotions too much.
“I always say you should rarely show your emotions with your team, that you should hold your frustrations and hold your stress - and if I could do that all the time I’d be very happy.
“There are times when you do blow up and there are times when you get quite frustrated, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing every now and then. People need to see you for who you are and people should know who their leader is and as much about them as possible.”
It’s about finding a balance, says Woolnough. It’s important to be able to control your emotions as a leader, but fight too hard to remain calm and you could end up appearing complacent.
In the end, the most important thing about emotional intelligence theory, says Woolnough, is not about memorising the dos and don’ts, but about taking the time to reflect on what actions you are taking on a day-to-day basis.
“As a leader you are surrounded by content about leadership… the hard part is taking that theory and making sure you don’t just talk about it but you use it and you are true to it.”
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