Making EI a Strategic Advantage in Uncertain Times

One of the biggest challenges facing organizations today is the prevalence of complexity and uncertainty and how they are impacting decisions, culture, results and more. While senior leaders will nod and agree that complexity and uncertainty are having an impact, most are proactively addressing these factors or connecting them to training and development activities.

While there are many tools and approaches we can use to address or harness complexity and uncertainty, there are tools that your organization are aware of, but haven’t connected the dots for how these tools can help you navigate complexity and uncertainty.

Today, I specifically want to talk about the tools of EI as a strategic advantage that can be leveraged today. Chances are you had done some training or development around the basic EI skills – whether you called them that or not. Here’s a refresher of what most call the key EI skills:

• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Skills
• Empathy
• Motivation

So how can we connect these skills to the challenges that complexity and uncertainty present us?

Consider Calm as a Competency

The stereotypical leader in many organizations is the “take-charge,” decisive and directive type. While the willingness to move forward quickly can be valuable, so can the ability and willingness to stay calm, take a breath and consider options rather than simply taking charge. If you want an organization that deals with complexity and uncertainty effectively, expect and value the ability to pause and respond with intentionally under pressure.

Build Self-Management into Decision Rhythms

People who have been trained to (or observed successful leaders) make decisions quickly, need to use their EI skills to decide differently in times of uncertainty. While we can teach these skills, we can also create processes to support a healthier decision rhythm in times of uncertainty. Include planned pauses in meetings, allow space and process for other opinions and perspectives to surface, and create other expectations that let everyone know (and remind leaders) that there needs to be time for curiosity and consideration in decision making processes.

Equip Leaders to Manage Microculture

Psychological safety is always important to allow people to share thoughts and perspectives. Uncertainty raises and amplifies stress and risks, so maintaining this safety is among the most important things a leader can do. Train your leaders to understand their stress signals and read the room for the stress levels of others, knowing they will be higher when there is uncertainty. Expect and support them in modeling curiosity over certainty and collaboration over immediate action.

Explicitly hire for EI

When you see EI skills as not just “nice-to-have,” but a critical skillset to help people navigate uncertainty, you will recognize the need to have more of these skills in your organization. While training can be a solution, make sure that as you add talent to your teams, you are considering EI skills as an important selection criteria.

When times are uncertain and decisions and systems are complex, we need to equip our people (including leaders) with ways to succeed through these challenges. Hopefully you now see EI as a strategic advantage worth consciously building in your organization.