Last winter we had November for about 180 days or so. Gray days, slush and wet. At least in southern Finland. Getting through that takes a lot of energy. Feeling down and wanting just the days to go by are natural emotions.
That is what the weather could through at us. There is no reason to complain, the weather does not really care. There are remedies for the emotions and feelings weather delivers. But what if you have the same feelings because of work? Could it be, that you are creating the same gray mentality at work, as the weather does out there? That would be more of a culture, in nature we would call it climate. If you are working in an environment, where gray is main mental color, then it is your responsibility to do something about it!
We are working on climate change throughout the globe. A huge project, where results will be seen in decades. Luckily the culture change in an organization takes much less. If you are an employee, it may be a bit more difficult to deliver the change. But just more difficult, not impossible. If you are a manager or leader, then you can deliver a sunny culture for your team. This happens simply through leading yourself in a way, which creates the better culture. Just like you are leading yourself in little things to have a positive impact on the climate change.
As an employee in contemporary world one of your tasks is to lead your boss. With coaching approach using open questions you can have an impact on their thinking and behaviour. Yes, there can be situations where your boss is not taking on your message. That is the reason why today the main reason people leave their job is not about the job. It happens because of the boss. This is what you need to do, if the culture and behaviour (climate and weather) are bad in your organization. It is a must for your wellbeing and future career development! The longer you stay, the more difficult changing the inner culture you have, will become.
As a boss, changing the culture is much more easy. You can choose to think and act differently over night. Those working for you will start to adapt to your new way in some months. The real change, if you use emotional intelligence for it, will happen in the best case in a bit over a year. If you don’t really lead it, change might take up to 3 to 4 years. The more decisive you are in leading the change, the faster you (and your people) will see results. Results are both business results and emotional wellbeing.
There is absolutely no business, where culture improvement would be impossible. And there in every business improving culture will have positive impact on A) customer service B) customer satisfaction C) financial results and D)employee wellbeing. We have learnt, that culture improvement can also reduce sick leave volume up to 15 %! The question you need to ask yourself is “can I afford not to get the benefits”?
The light for wellbeing and business results improvements comes from adapting emotional intelligence to what you do. Using your emotional intelligence in the best possible way will deliver results. It is not about how much (or little) you have emotional intelligence. It is about how skilled you are in using what you have! Because it is about skill, it can be learned! There are 4 steps to take in order to shed light on your future. 1. accept that you can be better tomorrow, 2. take a valid emotional intelligence assessment (like EBW) to understand your strengths, 3. use a professional coach to learn how to be more skilled in using your strengths and 4. start to live as you know is the best for you and your teams success.
I have helped people like you to create their own light house for their success. Even emotional intelligence is the core, everyone needs to create his/her own path. Having an experienced and trained emotional intelligence coach can cut the time needed for your process by 50 %. Which means that major results are not 3 years ahead, but you will see them at the end of 2021.
Your partner in making success happen, Kari I. Mattila, emotional intelligence advisor
