Over the last several months, more and more people have been asking for support with their staffing teams. This has led to a heavy travel schedule, with more to come.

While I love in-person training, I've been torn because I know programs desperately need help, yet I was beginning to get burned out.

Until I made one small change…

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I just came from NAEYC’s annual Professional Learning Institute (PLI), where I had a blast.

While my main purpose was to present a session on Strategies for Developing Highly Effective Teams (here’s the link to the PowerPoint),

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For the past month, I've been discussing emotional intelligence within a team, and this week, I will conclude by discussing how highly effective teams play "big" teams.

As a reminder, when I reference "big" teams, I am talking about how teams interact with other teams and the organization. In her book Team Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Dr. Greaves refers to it as external relationships and speaks to the many benefits of teams who have this dialed in. For example:

Teams who excel in their external relationships…

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Like all relationships, having a strong "core" team (those you work with daily) requires time and attention. 

This is probably one area we are all familiar with and do often: team building.

Those activities that support us getting to know each other. Having fun, laughing, and sharing experiences. Using the good times to strengthen the team, knowing there will be challenging times the team must navigate through.

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The next step is to support your team(s) in building their emotional management skill sets, which would give your team(s) the ability to navigate emotional ebbs and flows that can push a team towards success or disaster. 

Emotional management entails reading emotions accurately and reacting in ways that benefit the team's work, internal and external relationships, and the organization's overall goals.

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Having a team with high emotional intelligence takes practice, just like building a muscle. 

Over time and with regular practice, the team will internalize and use the skills without thinking, similar to muscle memory. 

So, knowing that we already have a gazillion other things to do, how can we build our team's emotional intelligence without adding more workload?

Well…

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Have you ever been sitting in a room when someone comes in and you could just tell they were angry? And then, before you know it, you're angry as well?

And what about the opposite? Someone sits next to you, smiling and laughing. How often has that shifted your mood to one that is positive?

We've all had experiences related to the above and understand the power and impact of emotions. In her book Team Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Dr. Greaves helps us understand how emotions impact teams and the four skill sets teams need to navigate those emotions effectively.

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So, what is emotional intelligence, and how does it impact the workplace?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to manage one's own emotions and understand the emotions of others.

Why is it soooo important?

While we can tell you why based on our own experiences with people who have it and those who don't, research shows that highly emotionally intelligent people are better equipped to make sound decisions, create sustainable relationships, and handle continuous change.

Can you imagine a workforce where people are able to manage and express their own emotions and empathize with the emotions of others?  

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Many of us intentionally spend time teaching our children emotional literacy, or the ability to recognize one's emotions, name them, and express them appropriately.

But we don't do the same for adults. And we don't even think about it with our teams.

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In last week’s email, I talked about how those you spend the most time with can influence your values, beliefs, and thoughts by as much as 30%.

And keeping that in mind, I then challenged us to think about “who gets to have a seat at our table?

And that’s where I’d like to pick up from today.

Who does get to have a seat at our table? And how do we go about figuring that out?

Well… here is an exercise I’ve begun using at my leadership retreats called “A Seat at Your Table.

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Everyone knows I love a good quote; here's one of my newest favorites…

"You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with," a quote attributed most often to motivational speaker Jim Rohn. There's also the "show me your friends, and I'll show you your future" derivative.

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Have you ever had that person you love to connect with in your professional life?

You know, the one person who you can spend hours with talking about the craft of what we do in our profession?

First, if your answer is “no,”

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The last several weeks we’ve been talking about what it means to “belong” in the workplace.

 Today, I want to talk about how to intentionally cultivate belongingness in the workplace. With the key word being intentionally! For example, many of us have a list of tasks the employee needs to go through when onboarding but, how many of us include the following to foster a sense of belonging right away?

·      

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In part of Danny Langloss' article on the seven pillars of ownership, he used the metaphor of renting versus owning. And how we treat things differently when we own something versus when renting it. There is a greater sense of commitment and investment. 

And one of the seven pillars he focuses on is a sense of belonging, 

 So, why is "belonging" so important?

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Last month, I focused on the power of having a robust and compelling vision. A vision is so strong and persuasive that it invites others (e.g., staff) to share it and join the journey with you.

This month, I’d like to continue the conversation by discussing the idea of ownership, what it means when teams take ownership of their relationship, and how we can create opportunities for that to happen.

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Some of us have a vision, and some of us have a VISION. What’s the difference?
Remember the experiment I talked about last week? Well, the questions I asked that volunteer clarified her vision and made it compelling to the rest of the group.

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Last week, I talked about the importance of having a shared vision or purpose and how often the programs I work with don't have one or aren't connected to it when they do have one.

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Every time I begin working with a new program… 
Every time I begin coaching a new client…
And at the beginning of every new year, I ask the same question…
“What’s your vision?”

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