PART 2: What are low EQ (emotionally intelligent) leaders costing your organization? $$$ ?

In part 1, I covered what low emotionally intelligent leaders are costing companies in productivity per employee per year. In this part we will cover the damage it does to your employees themselves and how it impacts you the business owner.

The type of damage done to an employee reporting to a low EQ leader is heart breaking. It does not just affect their productivity, the impact of this is much more severe for them because it permeates all other areas of their lives. I am simply going to list the effects of the treatment below:

1. Family life suffers
2. Low self-esteem as a result
3. Mental health issues (as this treatment creates a wound)
4. Desperation
5. Fearfulness
6. Their physical health deteriorates
7. Depression
8. Deterioration of their relationships in all spheres
9. Unable to find another job because of desperation

These are some of the immediate side effects to them as a person. Financially, if they are not on a medical aid it means massive expenses. Should the person ‘redline’ (a term used to describe the breach of the stress level’s peak), and need to be admitted to hospital, the excursion could cost at least $9 500.00 for a three week stay (calculated according to charges by Crescent Clinic in Johannesburg).

What does all of this mean to you as a business? How does it impact you? Consider that these charges can be claimed back from you in light of the fact that you allowed this behavior of a low EQ leader. Hence facilitating it. If they wish to they may take you to court and use the hospitalization as proof of your misconduct as an employer. They can also take you to all the relevant labour departments of your country. I don’t think it is necessary to do the sums for you here – I will leave it up to your imagination.

This is a worst case scenario. However, I am trying to impact on you how serious this is. Not just for your organization but for a fellow human’s life. Another aspect worth mentioning is, how does this allowance of such a leader’s behavior in your business reflect on you?

There are a lot of things that you can regain in life, but a tarnished reputation is not one of them.

It is always best to address a leader with low emotional intelligence as soon as you asses that they are such a leader. However I do strongly advise that you work with them in a positive manner. ‘On boarding’ them or gaining ‘buy in’ from them to submit to a best practice EQ strategy. The way this will work to your advantage is that this low EQ leader changes and becomes a high EQ leader. If the person can not reconcile themselves to the new way of working, they will leave in their own time. Either way, you and the rest of your staff will win because of the change.

Before you digest the food for thought I just handed you, please leave any questions or comments below. They are of great value, not only to myself but to our business.

As always

Grow & Prosper

Suzy Wilson
www.magnetostrat.com
Suzy.Wilson@magnetostrat.com

PART 1: Develop Self-Awareness to Develop your EQ (emotional intelligence)

If you read anything on emotional intelligence, you will see the word ‘self-awareness’ come up time and time again. But I get so frustrated because most information sources provide a little two liner on each topic believing that you will head off into the sunset happily applying the two liner advice they gave you. Whooohooo! I do believe if you can complain about something you should be able to do something about it. So here is the 101 on developing self-awareness.

Take a Personality Test

This is the most effective and the fastest way of gaining a solid framework as to what you are about. It is easy to find a personality test online that will give you substantial amount of information resulting from the test. There are just some guidelines you should follow to determine the quality or the value of the information they give you.

1. Is it an automated test?: If you take the test and the system spits out the results within a couple of seconds, you have just had a machine tell you what you are like. I have found these types of tests to be between 50% and 70% correct, but no more than that.

2. Is someone that has no contact with you at all evaluating the answers?: If you are lucky enough and they send you the results in a couple of days, it usually means that one of your fellow humans has evaluated your answers. This is preferable. However if it is someone that you have never had any contact with you are likely to get a 70% to 85% accuracy.

3. Is it complicated?: if it’s complicated, you are more than likely to get frustrated with the mountains of data they have sent you. The point is to get a framework and key words that describe you. Not Einstein’s analysis of e=mc2… If this is the case, I am sorry you have wasted your time. The rule with anything is to keep it simple. The most complicated questions usually have the most uncomplicated answers.

4. Make sure someone asks you questions: It is best to be evaluated by someone that as well as giving you a test, actually speaks to you. Preferably face to face or a Skype call will do. You will know that this person has your best interest at heart and will give you an honest assessment. They will ask you questions about what you like, what you don’t like and how you respond to situations. Then they will combine that information with the information from the test and you will get an accuracy of at least 95% to 99%. We will leave the lagging percentages for human error. But you will get a much more reliable source of information.

I can tell you this with absolute certainty because I have been doing it for years. With the advent of Magneto Strategics, I have had to develop and devise our own personality tests and emotional intelligence tests. Also from being on the road for such a long time in sales and marketing, I refined my assessment skills. A practiced coach will be able to give you 70% accurate feedback about your personality within 10 to 20 of meeting you for the first time. Scary yes, ask a couple of my friends I have done that to… 🙂 . But I learnt to refine that skill because it helped me sell my products. I very rarely accept a ‘No’, because to me that means ‘Go’. And it is most likely only a temporary situation if you can build a strong enough relationship with the person. I always bring home the bacon, no matter how long I have to hunt for it! Why? Because I know how to engage you according to your personality type. The test they give you should take no longer than 20-30min and be straight forward and to the point. The combination of the two types of information is fantastic!

That is your first action – please go and complete a personality test.

In part 2, I will let you know what to do with the information.

Before you school off to do that, please leave your comment or question below – I would love to hear from you!

Grow & Prosper

Suzy Wilson
www.magnetostrat.com
Suzy.Wilson@magnetostrat.com

High EQ (emotional intelligence) Lashing

By now, if you have been following my blog, you will have noticed that I have a problem with low EQ leadership. I.e. bully bosses. Or in general if people treat others around them badly. I actually want to loose it! But I won’t… That’s bad EQ management 🙂

I have always had a problem with it. Especially when I entered the job market as a junior person and noticed the way some leadership treat their subordinates. I was 19 years old and got myself into a lot of trouble standing up for people. I didn’t mind, I kept doing it and I will keep doing it. Part of Magneto Strategics business is to help people suffering under a low EQ (emotionally intelligent) leader.

The golden rule is: Treat others the way you would like to be treated. It is a sound principal. Why then do I see so many – especially in corporate companies – that can’t manage the basics? Even worse, why does the top leadership allow this? It is by no means ethical. I have worked for high EQ companies and I have created my own. I know it is possible and by no means difficult to do. It is actually a lot of fun and less effort than this wallowing people do. Please don’t misunderstand me, I know all to well all the psychological reasons as to why people behave in this manner. What baffles me is even though they know it is not ethical, they will continue! They do this in the hope of getting better results even though they see that their results with people stay poor. Enter the definition of insanity: ‘To do the same thing repeatedly but expecting a different result’. So what do they have to do to get different results? Here are the things that characterize high EQ leadership:

1. People First

Any high EQ leader worth their salt will let you know that it’s not about you, it’s about your people. End of story. A high EQ leader will make sure that his/her team crosses the finish line together. The picture does not look like this: ‘Big Dog’ personality type striding into the boardroom with glinting smile. Following hot on his heels, scraggly looking frightened pups doing obeseness with files and paperwork dropping out of their hands. Please pay attention the next time you see a known low emotionally intelligent leader enter the boardroom with an announcement…

2. Humility

This is the hallmark of a pure bread high EQ leader. When everybody showers them with praise, they will redirect that praise to their team. Contrary to belief, humility is by no means a show of weakness. Humility has an underlying strength of steel. It takes great courage to be humble.

3. Humanity

High EQ leaders are care givers. They make sure each individual on their team is validated, is made to feel wanted and valuable. Drawing on their strengths and assisting them in their weaknesses.

4. Listening

There is an Afrikaans saying, when loosely translated sounds like this: You have two ears and one mouth. Listen twice but only speak once. Truly great leaders know how to listen and hear their people.

The low EQ leader and his/her team stand no chance against a high EQ leader and their team operating in this manner. It breeds a fierce loyalty with a high EQ leader’s team and will out perform any low EQ leader and team by at least 40% should you measure their productivity. That is a lashing of note! So then what are low EQ leaders costing you? Go to my blog on PART 1: What are low EQ leaders costing you?

The same is true for high EQ individuals, their success rate with people is astounding on many levels. It is completely unnecessary for anybody to have a low EQ. It is a skill that can be learnt and grown. Why people choose to – because it is a choice – operate on low EQ goes beyond me.

If you have a high EQ company and high EQ leaders, please let me know? I would like to feature you in my blog as a good example to all! Also please leave your comments below, I would love to hear from you.

As always

Grow & Prosper

Suzy Wilson

The Sadness of Low EQ (emotional intelligence).

Over the weekend I visited and old friend of mine that part owns and runs the German Club in Edenvale. Dirk mentored me while I was setting up my meat pie manufacturing facility and was a great asset; not to mention – a fabulous mentor. From the moment you meet Dirk, you know where you stand with him. But he has a big heart and saves people form themselves in times of distress. He has a great talent for that and most definitely possesses a very high emotional intelligence.

For a short while, I helped out at the German Club and thus got to know the staff. I am not too sure what the story was with this little girl and her mother that helped Dirk out on some weekends waitressing and with events like beer feasts. I could never get on friendly terms with her. Later I found out that she has a very high IQ and was accepted on a bursary to one of the top universities in the country, as you will never guess what… A rocket scientist. I am absolutely serious.

Being the person I am and always practicing my favorite sport; analyzing people, I just could not get footing with this child. Being in sales and marketing for a long time, when that happens, you immediately start asking yourself, ‘Have I lost my magic touch?‘. It is a rather distressing couple of moments as you try but fail miserably to get your ’emotional hooks’ in. No matter how I tried to get onto a good footing – she just wouldn’t bite. I ascribed it to her youth, rebeliousness and just plain rudeness. Over this last weekend I saw her again. This time, she did not even greet me. She would stare me blankly in the face, I would greet, but she would carry on as if nobody had spoken to her. This behaviour had always puzzled me. It is understandable coming from a small child that suffers a bit of natrual shyness – but she is an adult and understands there is no excuse for rudeness.

But then my analyzing brain started ticking over again. She displays the typical symptoms of a low EQ person. I find it tragic, these people have a hard time going through life. Hence, I do what I do. The symptoms are typically this:

1. Uncalled for Rudeness

You most likely did not ask for this and don’t understand why the person is being rude to you. The reason is that you are viewed as a threat. Astonishing but true. For most part people with low emotional intelligence, suffer low self-esteem. It does not seem like it at first but on closer analysis, you will find it there.

2. Low Self-esteem

They usually have a sidekick with lower self-esteem than they themselves posess. They do this to bolster their own. I mention this because it’s an easy way to spot them. It sounds like a very stupid thing but you get them in sophisticated circles. Easiest place to spot them? In an office invironment – they are the people that contribute the most to ‘office politics’. A person with high emotional intelligence are under no circumstances allowed in their space and they will resort to bullying to get you out of the way. That is what a bully is by the way, a person with low emotional intelligence. They don’t know how to process you in their world, you don’t make sense. Take for instance the girl I mentioned earlier. She showed up with her sidekick ordering her around and making her do stuff for her that a normal person would never do to another out of respect.

3. You are a threat

How on earth do they spot and perceive a person with high emotional intelligence, especially as a threats? To a degree, they have a bit more social intelligence but they use it to manipulate people. This is due to their lack of emotional intelligence. They will pick it up in your ‘vibe’. In other words, your body language. A lot of people are reading this and going, ‘Lady, you have lost it.’ Never, but never underestimate the power of body language. You are a fool if you do. Here are the stats: In everyday conversation, even ofer the phone, body language counts 75% of your total message. In business it counts as much as 85%! If you are emotionally savvy, it comes across in your macro and micro signals. If you read up about social intelligence, you will find how two people’s brains connect seamlessly – sending and receiving messages. When the low emotionally intelligent person picks up on your savvy – you become a target! Why? They simply don’t know how to deal with you, so they do the best they can – limit contact by making things unpleasant. If that does not work they will resort to mistreatment of the emotionally intelligent person.

4. Anything you do will be viewed as wrong

You will never be able to live up to this person’s ‘standard’ – ever. They will only change once they recognize they have a problem. Ignore them and do what you do anyway.

It is truly sad about that girl and many others like her. She will go through life holding her high IQ over everybody’s heads like a sword. Never considering the fact that she might have to change or improver her dealings with her fellow man. Why? Because we are conditioned at school that a high IQ is all you need. Why should she believe anything else? Nobody has given her a reason to. And she sure as hell is not going to listen to me! That is why I have entitled this blog, ‘The Sadness of Low EQ’.

Some may correct (how happy I will be and people around them) and some won’t. A high IQ never determines success or the level thereof. It determines whether you can read, write, count and logically put things together. Success is always determined by your high emotional intelligence.

Thank you for reading our blog. I would love to hear more about our views on the subject and you are welcome to leave your comments below. Or you can simply mail me directly Suzy.Wilson@magnetostrat.com. For more information on Magneto Strategics go to www.magnetostrat.com.

Grow & Prosper

Suzy Wilson

PART 1: What are low EQ (emotionally intelligent) leaders costing your organization? $$$ ?

How much money do you think low emotionally intelligent leaders are costing your organization on average? According to a study done by Harrison Psychological Associates in the USA, did a study on 9000 federal employees. Indicating that 42 percent of female and 15 percent of male employees reported being mistreated by a leader within a two-year period, resulting in a cost of more than $180 million in lost time and productivity.
‘Mistreat’, is a nice encompassing word for low emotional intelligence.

1. The Sum

If you divide the $180 million by the 9 000 employees it would equal $20 000 over a two year span, meaning $10 000 per year per employee if you averaged it out.

The company I worked for still has the culture of nurturing low EQ leaders. On the second floor of the head office building alone, there are no less than four low EQ leaders. To be nice, let’s say there are two low emotionally intelligent per floor in each of their buildings. Times the average of six floors per building times the ten buildings they have in Johannesburg alone times the $10 000 per employee per year (I am not going to even attempt the amount in Rand! Just FYI, it was around x8 this morning), is an astounding $120 000 per year per building they have. Then calculate the staff turnover with that. Two years is the average time your other employees stay in their positions before leaving that leader. I am in full agreement with John C. Maxwell when he says; ‘People leave people – not organizations.’

We are talking about an organization that has business interests in 38 countries in the world and close to 40 000 employees on their payroll. (I’m sure you are more clever than I am and don’t need a calculator to do the sum for that one.) Really? That’s just not smart business.

2. The Summation

Funny enough, organizations like the one I worked for have the value of ‘Winning with People’ written up in their official values declaration. But the statistics reveal that 85% of the top and middle leadership in these organizations never get trained or corrected on how they deal with or treat their people! That is SHOCKING! But if you really feel like having the people that are costing you millions each year hang around and do that… Well, then I just don’t know…

It is vital these days to have a business where all your employees are happy. Happy employees are productive employees. I know from experience how hard it is to leave a highly emotionally intelligent leader. You simply don’t want to. The reason why you have to do this is – your best staff are leaving you. And you are left with the low EQ… You know, the stuff that makes a business work…

3. The Solution

Training. If you can get everybody to adhere to the same basic code of honor (this is not a set of rules and regulations, they are principals), you have won 50% of the battle. What battle? Regaining your profits. Once you have it in place, the people that want to stay will stay. The ones that leave, are the ones you want to leave.

This will naturally constitute a cultural change, but more on that in part two.

I would love to hear your opinion or simply your thoughts on the matter. You can leave your comments below or you can mail me directly at suzy.wilson@magnetostrat.com

As always..

Grow & Prosper!

Suzy Wilson

Blogging with High EQ (emotional intelligence): Using your empathy

In our high tech world it has been difficult to stay ‘high touch’. Social media has brought the whole world to your fingertips but has created physical isolation bubbles.

The human creature is a social one. So much so that we have intricate body language queue’s, personalities that slot together like puzzle pieces, cultures that know how to communicate in a specific way… Even children at play have their own language.

I read my fellow bloggers well put together thoughts on paper and needless to say I have found some awesome writers! Some, however, sadly forget that there is a person on the other side reading what you wrote. That’s who you do it for, right? Maybe some timely reminders to get your juices flowing then? Here is how to blog with high EQ (emotional intelligence). For some clarity on what emotional intelligence is, go to this link: https://magnetostrategics.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/what-is-eq-emotional-intelligence/

1. Remember who you are speaking to.

There is another person at the other end of the screen reading your thoughts. It is easier to imagine a close friend sitting beside you while letting them hear your thoughts. That way the feeling of speaking to a close fiend will come through in your writing.

2. Energy leaks

Just as you might ask someone to leave you alone for a bit so you can rest, calm down or regather your thoughts, it’s a good idea not to write when you are feeling bad. People will pick up on it.

3. You have worked hard

No doubt, you have worded very hard to generate and earn the trust of your readers. Make sure you always have an illustration, story or word picture that they can relate to. This will draw out your readers natural emotion and help them relate to you. If you are going to start getting mechanical, and I am sure most of us fall short here at some point, you are going to loose your hard earned audience.

4. Empathize! Empathize! Empathize!

Include ‘fellow feeling’ in your pieces. Now here is great news for the guys – it does not mean you have to get mushy and start reading poetry to Daisy the cow at random! Try to feel and understand how your readers might feel at what you are writing. Your reader will appreciate the depth of your empathy and understanding of their situation. Writing a blog is not about you – it’s all about them!

Remember to nurture and take care of your readers with the ‘high touch’ of empathy! That is high emotional intelligence and a base skill of it. You will have a happy and loyal readership for years to come.

As always I would love to get feedback from you. You can leave comments below or mail me directly at Suzy.Wilson@magnetostrat.com

Grow & Prosper

Suzy Wilson