At Robson Laidler, we are always looking for new ways to improve the performance of our teams.
In recent months we have invested time in improving emotional intelligence within some of our teams to achieve the proven benefits of enhanced leadership skills, stronger relationships within the workplace, greater team work and better communication, all of which are aligned with our firm values.
In summary, emotional intelligence is the capability to recognise your own emotions and those of others, to handle relationships with empathy and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour. There are four elements of emotional intelligence:
Self awareness- being aware of your own emotions
Self management- the ability to control your own reactions whilst still behaving with honesty and integrity
Social awareness- being empathetic and also noticing how other people are reacting to what you do and say
Relationship management- the ability to communicate in a clear and convincing way
Within the healthcare profession, there is a rise in the number of professionals who feel stressed for multiple reasons resulting in more going on long term sick leave and many aging professionals choosing to take early retirement.
The stresses inherent with the job have always been there, but with tighter budgets and funding cuts over recent years as well as changes to tax and pension legislation, in addition to the pressure of delivering a healthcare service, GP’s and other medical professions have had these additional financial pressures placed on their shoulders too.
Emotional intelligence and a higher EQ by way of training can lead to better physical health and stronger mental wellbeing, which can increase performance and more importantly greater resilience to changes within the healthcare profession or any other profession.
From a physical perspective, the ability to take care of our bodies and especially to manage our stress, which has an impact on our overall wellness, is heavily tied to our emotional intelligence. Only by being aware of our emotional state and our reactions to stress can we put ourselves in a position to then manage it and maintain a better physical health.
From a mental wellbeing perspective, emotional intelligence affects our attitude and outlook on life and it can alleviate anxiety and avoid depression.
A high level of emotional intelligence directly correlates to a positive attitude and happier outlook.
As one of the directors at Robson Laidler I am in the process of undertaking some emotional intelligence coaching, which arose off the back of a 4- month leadership programme where I identified weaknesses in my own resilience and purpose. The benefits I have seen already simply by making a few small changes are huge, simply being aware of your own emotions and how you react in certain scenarios really allow you to relate well to others and improve your goals.
With a specialism in healthcare acting for a number of GP’s, hospital consultants and dentist and seeing the additional pressures they face day in day out, I do see this as being a tool they personally and their workforce could benefit from, particularly to avoid an epidemic burnout across the profession.
There are more details for those interested here : https://www.6seconds.org/2019/09/18/reversing-the-epidemic-of-doctor-burnout/
If you wish to look at your own EQ or that of your team, or simply have a chat around the subject, please do not hesitate to get in touch.