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Illustration © Dani Saveker
How do I start my team off right so it never becomes a dysfunctional team? How do I know if my team is dysfunctional? If it is, what do I do?

Teamwork makes the dream work. But teamwork also can turn the dream into a nightmare. Visions of prayerful launch team meetings fade into the reality of contentious disagreements on how often to serve communion or which worship artists should be banned from your services. The idea of a plurality of elders is great - until you have a plurality of elders who disagree with you.

The Fall of Teams

Christians shouldn't be surprised when we experience conflict and dysfunction in our teams. The sinfulness of the human heart causes havoc in both our relationship with God and our relationship with others. Your church planting team is not immune to the consequences of sin.

In his book Five Dysfunctions of a Team , business leader Patrick Lencioni reveals five key actions and attitudes that cause teams to breakdown. Each of these dysfunctions is an echo of Genesis three and the results of sin:

Absence of trust seen in refusing to be vulnerable - After Adam and Eve sinned, they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. They were unwilling for the "naked truth" to be known about them. In the same way, teams today are filled with individuals who struggle with vulnerability and trust.

Fear of conflict seen in artificial harmony - Fear entered the world in Genesis 3. Instead of disagreeing graciously and compassionately, after the first sin Adam and Eve feared the graceless conflict that would ensue. Similarly, teams today often are characterized by artificial harmony, instead of the willingness to disagree graciously.

Lack of commitment seen in ambiguity - Ambiguity is the language of unfulfilled promises. "It'll get done." "Mistakes were made." Ever since Genesis 3, we've avoided commitment by hiding in the shadows. The gospel, however, is not advanced ambiguously but by real people going to real places.

Avoidance of accountability seen in low standards - After the first sin, God found Adam and Eve hiding in the bushes. We've been hiding ever since. Even when we're working together in teams, we hide in our avoidance of accountability.

Inattention to results seen in concern for status and ego - The serpent appealed to Eve's ego. He's covered a lot of ground since then by appealing to ours as well. Rather than attention to the results of the team, we're often more concerned with our individual stats. 1

Laying a Healthy Foundation

So, what's a leader to do? Should we abandon the concept of teamwork and go at it alone? No, that won't do. Should we fill our teams with "yes men" who will give the appearance of plurality without the conflict of disagreement? No, we need honesty. We must find a healthy way.

The gospel, the good news - that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried and on the third day rose again in accordance with the Scripture - both frees us for teamwork and compels us to teamwork. The gospel liberates us from the fears and insecurities that cause us to hide in isolation. It demands that we work with - even love - others to obey God's commands and make disciples.

Consider how you might confront Lencioni's five dysfunctions with a healthy gospel culture:

Absence of trust seen in refusing to be vulnerable - Because you have God's full approval in Christ, you can be vulnerable with your team. This doesn't mean you abandon discretion and share everything with everybody, regardless of trust levels. It does mean that you set a culture of vulnerability. Admit your mistakes. Confess your sins. Your righteousness is not threatened because you made a poor leadership decision.

Fear of conflict seen in artificial harmony - The death of Christ satisfied the wrath of God toward you in your sin. If you need not fear conflict with God, why would you fear conflict with another person? A lack of health in leadership may cause some to run from conflict and may cause others to create conflict. Set the pace for your team by pursuing real harmony. Work through the conflict for the unity of the church and the advancement of the gospel. We see Paul model this in Galatians 2.

Lack of commitment seen in ambiguity - Church planters can get away with ambiguity - for a while. "Working on the vision." "Strategically thinking about locations." "Brainstorming evangelism strategies." Eventually, however, the work calls you to commit. The discussion of planting a church must give way to an announcement, the risk of fundraising, choosing a location and the appointment of leaders. Allow your team to wrestle with ambiguity in discussions but take the lead, make a decision and keep clear commitments.

Avoidance of accountability seen in low standards - Dysfunctional church planting teams will constantly chalk up their failures to "well, we're church planting." As though established churches have no struggles! A dysfunctional team will repeatedly come up with excuses when God is calling them to repentance. Raise the bar. Hold yourself and your team to a higher standard of excellence. The gospel is not honored by sloppy saints or disorganized teams. See Paul's charge to Titus in Titus 1:5.

Inattention to results seen in concern for status and ego - "Church planter." The very title carries a certain weight and maverick honor. I'm not just a pastor; I'm a church planter. I'm not merely in ministry; I'm in church planting. If you're not careful, you'll get so caught up in being a "church planter" that you'll fail to do the actual work of starting a church. Yes, church planting can be a great place for ego. So watch yourself carefully. Surround yourself with others who will pay attention to both you and the results - and who will call you out on both.

Teamwork matters to God. Every page of Scripture testifies to God's work in and through the context of teams. This means the devil also is at work in and through teams. He's whispering lies in between meetings and creating doubt and distrust among those on your team. So, leader, work to create a gospel culture that guards against the common dysfunctions and helps you enjoy all the benefits God gives us through the gift of teamwork.

Published December 1, 2021

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Confronting 5 Traits of Dysfunctional Teams - New Churches

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Illustration © Dani Saveker How do I start my team off right so it never becomes a dysfunctional team? How do I know if my team is dysfunctional? If it is, what do I do? Teamwork makes the dream work. But teamwork also can turn the dream into a nightmare.

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the 5 dysfunctions of a team - Google Search

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lencioni pyramid summary book pdf chart accountability trust team assessment conflict

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The Ability To Inspire Others Is One Difference Between A Manager And A Leader.

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The Ability To Inspire Others Is One Difference Between A Manager And A Leader.

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Becoming a Transformational School Leader

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Becoming a Transformational School Leader

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Becoming a Transformational School Leader

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The transformational school leader must confront student deviance , as well as teachers' possible cynicism and lack of motivation.

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Test anxiety can show in ways from headaches and shortness of breath to crying or lack of concentration. It can affect students physically, emotionally, behaviorally and mentally. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America names failure as the leading cause of test anxiety: fear of failing the test, failing to prepare for the test and feelings of failure from failing previous tests.

In his book "Brain Rules," John Medina defines stress as "a measurable physiological response, a desire to avoid the situation and a loss of control." He explains how it can affect a person's cardiovascular system, immune system and memory.

School counselors can counteract the stress of test anxiety by planning, preparing, incorporating positive self-talk and advocating for parental support. Be aware of your school atmosphere and the emotional wellness of your staff and students throughout the year, and plan accordingly. Plan training sessions with staff to emphasize the importance of teaching foundational study skills, and lead classroom discussions addressing test anxiety on a regular basis, not just the week before testing. Strategically design group counseling sessions and school counseling core curriculum lessons to teach test-taking strategies to reduce testing anxiety, and keep an open door for individual counseling.

Prepare the Battle Plan
Preparation for testing builds confidence in students. Create an environment of intentional and frequent conversation regarding good test-taking strategies. I recently learned the 5-4-3-2-1 coping technique: focus on five things you can see, four things you can touch, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste. Students can easily use this coping strategy in a classroom during an exam to reduce symptoms of test anxiety.

Here are a few resources and techniques I've found to be successful with test anxiety.

Controlled breathing exercises: Have students inhale for a four count, hold for five, exhale for another four count, and, if needed, do it again and exhale with puckered lips (do it as many times needed until breathing is regulated). Other breathing techniques are blowing bubbles or using musical instruments (e.g., deep breaths when playing a clarinet).

Feeling thermometers: Create feeling thermometers in the classrooms, giving students the chance to indicate how anxious they are feeling at that time, and then teachers can lead a discussion about handling it in a healthy way.

Laughter: Telling a corny joke or getting students to laugh some other way can help relieve some of the test anxiety.

Exercise: Incorporate modest exercise techniques such as walking, stretching, etc.

Action plans: Teach students how to develop an action plan when feeling test anxiety.

Also, be aware of attendance issues, which may be a symptom of avoidance or "planned forgetfulness" when confronting a test

Apps: Another tool is literally at our fingertips. Here are a few apps to consider:

Breathe2Relax: Contains videos demonstrating relaxation breathing to reduce stress

Calm: Contains tools to reduce anxiety and induce quality sleep

Happify: Contains games and activities to reduce stress, strategies to build resiliency and ways to encourage positive self-talk

De-Stress Fest: This activity takes a little organization and planning, but it's relatively inexpensive and helped my students de-stress before the standardized testing cycle. We created rotation stations with one station per sense.

1. Smell: cotton balls with aromatherapy oils on them (keep them in plastic bags)

2. Touch: stress balls made from balloons and play sand or flour

3. See: glitter water bottles, coloring pages with positive quotes and/or encouraging poetry or short stories

4. Taste: chocolates, gum or peppermints

5. Hear: rain sticks made from paper towel rolls and rice/beans or playing classical music while doing coloring pages

Positive self-talk: Use these creative ideas with any age group.

Crush the can'ts: Students write down a negative thought on a slip of paper and tape it to an empty soda can and stomp on it to literally "crush" their can'ts.

Positive world wall: You can use positive quotes, list test-taking strategies and include can-do attitude posters or sticky notes to let students add their own positivity to the wall.

Personal positive story: Ask students what makes them anxious about the test, what do they think will happen, what can they tell themselves to face the anxiety, what can they do to overcome the anxiety, what's the conclusion?

Test anxiety argument: Why is it OK/not OK? Is it silly? What can you do instead?

Daily positive quotes: Suggest students write positive quotes in their agenda or on their phone.

Positive self-talk cards: Find ideas galore on Pinterest.

Journaling: Have students express the anxiety in writing and evaluate their feelings.

Gather the Troops
Parental/family support plays an integral part in reducing testing anxiety. Encourage parents/families to cultivate meaningful conversations with their students to reduce test anxiety. Support strategies include:

Encouraging a good night's rest and eating a healthy breakfast (with protein) at home or school

Giving positive affirmation (e.g., positive notes on snacks or lunches, bathroom mirrors, etc.)

Talking openly and honestly about the test and their student's feelings, to lead into discussions of ways to handle test anxiety in a healthy way

Ensuring the students are prepared - arriving to school early, being organized, etc.

It's also important to help the parents recognize that avoidance is not an option - their child will need to face the test anxiety head on and work through it, not around it. Ignoring the anxiety isn't the answer; students need to be aware that stress affects everyone, in different ways, and the key is developing tools and strategies to reduce it.
As students learn to implement strategies to overcome test-taking anxiety, they grow and become more confident from one "battle" to the next. After a while, tests may not seem so stressful after all, and the tests can become a game or a challenge - no battle at all. Students can then see every test as a chance to succeed, rather than a chance to fail.

Naomi Howard, Ed.D., is a school counselor for Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools in Elizabeth City, N.C. She can be reached at renaomi@aol.com.

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Test anxiety can show in ways from headaches and shortness of breath to crying or lack of concentration. It can affect students physically, emotionally, behaviorally and mentally. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America names failure as the leading cause of test anxiety: fear of failing the test, failing to prepare for the test and feelings of failure from failing previous tests.

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What is Transformational Leadership and Why is it Effective? | UMass Global

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Effective transformational leaders are skilled at motivating employees to perform beyond what’s expected. Learn how to implement it at your organization.

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Servant Leadership! How to become a good servant leader? Is Servant Leadership the right choice?

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"If your actions inspire people to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams

When Nathan and I started TeamGantt, we decided to buck tradition and take a different approach. As leaders of the company, we care more about being part of the team and setting people up for success than making sure everyone knows who's boss.

That's why servant leadership is our go-to leadership style.

Let's take a closer look at what servant leadership is and the 10 characteristics that define a servant leader.

What is servant leadership?

Servant leadership is a management style that prioritizes the team's growth and well-being over the organization's or leader's own ambitions. Unlike traditional leaders, a servant leader focuses on coaching and developing individuals, not just achieving the goals of the organization.

Servant leadership traces its origins to Robert Greenleaf. In his 1970 essay "The Servant as a Leader," he described servant leadership like this:

"The servant-leader is servant first... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first."

A lot of companies look at employees as cogs in a wheel who exist solely to help the organization advance its goals. Leaders act as taskmasters who dole out authority and don't care how work gets done, as long as it's delivered on time. Servant leadership flips the typical leadership script by putting people ahead of power.

10 key principles of servant leadership

So what does it take to be a servant leader? Servant leaders share a common set of core characteristics. Follow these 10 principles to put servant leadership to work with your team.

1. Listening

Listening is at the heart of servant leadership. If a team member's talking, give them your full focus and attention-no interruption allowed! It's a simple way to make your team feel valued so they know you care.

2. Empathy

A lot goes into empathy, but when it comes to servant leadership, it basically comes down to getting to know your team. Find out what makes them tick, and learn their strengths and weaknesses. That way you can let your team members shine and maybe even help them turn their weaknesses into strengths.

3. Healing

Some team members may come to you from a previous job that had a really toxic work environment-and you have the privilege to help them heal.

Don't worry: It's not as hard as it sounds. Healing is as simple as creating a healthy work environment that has work-life balance built in. It's also about giving people the tools they need to succeed so they feel like a valued member of the team.

4. Self-awareness

I've already mentioned the importance of understanding your team's strengths and weaknesses. But it's just as important to do a little self-reflection of your own.

Take inventory of your own strengths and weaknesses, and figure out how you fit into the overall team. Then use yourself in ways that benefit the team and the company. Recognizing your own limitations can help you see opportunities to leverage your team's strengths more clearly.

5. Persuasion

Slick sales tactics may come to mind when you think of persuasion. But that's not what we're talking about here.

Servant leaders use persuasion to build consensus and get buy-in from their team. That way everyone feels like they have a stake in the team's success.

6. Conceptualization

You've got to know where you're going as a leader and a company. After all, how else will you carve a positive path for your team?

TeamGantt enables you to keep the big picture in mind without losing focus on the day-to-day. For example, the Project Health Report makes it easy to see how all your projects are tracking, while Workloads enables you to keep a finger on the pulse of your team.

7. Foresight

Another key characteristic of servant leadership is taking the knowledge you've learned in the past and applying it to the future so you and your team can continue to grow.

Project post-mortems or retrospectives are a great tool for figuring out what worked-and what didn't-so you can fine-tune your process with each project. You can also use TeamGantt's baselines feature to compare your original plan to your actual timeline and pinpoint opportunities to improve.

See how baselines work in TeamGantt.
8. Stewardship

Stewardship is simply leading by example. It's your job to set the tone for your team, so don't ask people to do things you wouldn't do yourself.

At TeamGantt, I lead the development team. One way I put this into practice is by being the first person to sign up for 2:00 a.m. deployments. If something goes wrong, I'll take the heat. This goes a long way toward building trust-a must for any well-functioning team.

9. Commitment to the growth of people

If you want your team to grow, you've got to invest in people. One simple way we do this is by providing an annual conference budget so team members can develop the skills they need to thrive in their role.

We also conduct 360 performance reviews each year. As a leader, you can only see so much. A 360-degree review brings peer and even direct report feedback into the process so you have a more complete picture of performance and can identify meaningful opportunities for growth.
Watch this video to learn how we build unity and morale on our remote team.

10. Building community

Teams who trust each other work together to get more done. That's why it's important to cultivate relationships among your team.

As a fully remote team, we have to be extra-intentional about this. We bring the whole team together once a year for our annual team meetup, while smaller teams get together more often. We make sure to build in time for fun between business strategy so trust has room to grow. It's worth the investment!

Apply the servant leadership style to project management

Servant leaders know there's always more to learn-and we can help you out with that. The Art and Science of Project Leadership is an online video course that can help you embrace the servant leadership style as you grow your project management skills. Watch the classes anytime, from anywhere-and it's totally free!

I recommend starting with An Introduction to Project Leadership-not just because it's the first in the series-but because it lays the foundation for what it means to be a great project leader.

Lead the way!
Remember: You don't have to have a manager title or a team of direct reports to be a servant leader. If you lead projects in any way, you have the power of positive influence and can set your team and organization up for success.

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The 10 Principles of Servant Leadership | TeamGantt

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"If your actions inspire people to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams When Nathan and I started TeamGantt, we decided to buck tradition and take a different approach.

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A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better. - Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur.

Everyone on Samit's team knows that he's "there for them." He checks in with them often to see how they are, and he helps them develop the skills they need to advance their careers, even if this means that they may move on.

Samit also makes an effort to see situations from others' perspectives. He makes decisions with the team's best interests in mind, and ensures that everyone has the resources and knowledge they need to meet their objectives.

As a result of this, his team is one of the most successful in the department, with low staff turnover and high engagement.

Samit is an example of a "servant leader." In this article, we'll explore what servant leadership is, and the advantages it can bring you as a leader. We'll also look at situations where it isn't appropriate.

What Is Servant Leadership?

Robert K. Greenleaf first coined the phrase "servant leadership" in his 1970 essay, " The Servant as a Leader." However, it's an approach that people have used for centuries.

As a servant leader, you're a "servant first" - you focus on the needs of others, especially team members, before you consider your own. You acknowledge other people's perspectives, give them the support they need to meet their work and personal goals, involve them in decisions where appropriate, and build a sense of community within your team. This leads to higher engagement, more trust, and stronger relationships with team members and other stakeholders. It can also lead to increased innovation.

However, servant leadership is problematic in hierarchical, autocratic cultures where managers and leaders are expected to make all the decisions. Here, servant leaders may struggle to earn respect.

Important:

Remember that servant leadership is about focusing on other people's needs - not their feelings. Don't avoid making unpopular decisions or giving team members negative feedback when this is needed.

Also, do not rely on it exclusively - use it alongside styles like Transformational Leadership, where you develop an inspiring vision of the future, motivate people to deliver this, manage its implementation, and build an ever-stronger team.

How to Become a Servant Leader

According to Larry C. Spears, former president of the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, these are the 10 most important characteristics of servant leaders:

1. Listening.

2. Empathy.

3. Healing.

4. Awareness.

5. Persuasion.

6. Conceptualization.

7. Foresight.

8. Stewardship.

9. Commitment to the growth of people.

10. Building community.

Once you've decided to prioritize other people's needs over your own in the long term, you can work on developing your skills in each area. Let's look at how you can do this.

1. Listening

2. Empathy

3. Healing

This characteristic relates to the emotional health and "wholeness" of people, and involves supporting them both physically and mentally.

4. Self-Awareness

You can become more self-aware by knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and asking for other people's feedback on them. Also, learn to manage your emotions, so that you consider how your actions and behavior might affect others.

5. Persuasion

There are many tools and models that you can use to be more persuasive, without damaging relationships or taking advantage of others. You should also build your expert power - when people perceive you as an expert, they are more likely to listen to you when you want to persuade or inspire them.

6. Conceptualization

This characteristic relates to your ability to "dream great dreams," so that you look beyond day-to-day realities to the bigger picture.

7. Foresight

Foresight is when you can predict what's likely to happen in the future by learning from past experiences, identifying what's happening now, and understanding the consequences of your decisions.

You can use tools such as SWOT Analysis and PEST Analysis to think about your current situation and environment, while Scenario Analysis helps you understand how the future could play out. Use the ORAPAPA checklist when you make a decision, to learn from experience and make sure that you've considered all the angles.

Also, learn to trust your intuition - if your instinct is telling you that something is wrong, listen to it!

8. Stewardship

Stewardship is about taking responsibility for the actions and performance of your team, and being accountable for the role team members play in your organization.

9. Commitment to the Growth of People

Servant leaders are committed to the personal and professional development of everyone on their teams.

10. Building Community

The last characteristic is to do with building a sense of community within your organization.

You can do this by providing opportunities for people to interact with one another across the company. For instance, you could organize social events such as team lunches and barbecues, design your workspace to encourage people to chat informally away from their desks, and dedicate the first few minutes of meetings to non-work-related conversations.

Encourage people to take responsibility for their work, and remind them how what they do contributes to the success and overall objectives of the organization.

Tip:

See our article on Leadership Styles to explore popular leadership approaches and the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

And see this Expert Interview for a valuable discussion on the misconceptions and realities of servant leadership.

Key Points

You are a servant leader when you focus on the needs of others before you consider your own. It's a longer-term approach to leadership, rather than a technique that you can adopt in specific situations. Therefore, you can use it with other leadership styles such as Transformational Leadership.

You can become a servant leader by working on these 10 characteristics:

1. Listening.

2. Empathy.

3. Healing.

4. Awareness.

5. Persuasion.

6. Conceptualization.

7. Foresight.

8. Stewardship.

9. Commitment to the growth of people.

10. Building community.

Servant leaders are likely to have more engaged employees and enjoy better relationships with team members and other stakeholders than leaders who don't put the interests of others before their own.

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Servant Leadership: Putting Your Team First, and Yourself Second

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A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better. - Jim Rohn, American entrepreneur. Everyone on Samit's team knows that he's "there for them."

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The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs

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The Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs

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Leadership Theories Cecilia Keilman Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Angelo State University EDG 6363: Leadership Dr. Tara M. Hart April 8, 2022 Task 1 about Servant Leadership Focused on meeting people's needs. A literature review done by Dierendonck in 2011, states that

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"Research from Harvard Business School demonstrated that EQ counts for twice as much as IQ and Technical Skills in determining who will be successful!"

Emotional Intelligence Quiz

Our Emotional Intelligence quiz describes situations that we all experience in our lives (like being given difficult feedback). Be as honest as possible when answering the questions as that will provide you with the most accurate assessment of your level of Emotional Intelligence. Once you have taken the quiz, you will receive your results as well as recommendations on how you can manage your emotions and connect more skillfully with others.

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Test Your Emotional Intelligence, Free EQ Quiz, EI Test

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Test your emotional intelligence with our free EQ quiz. Our free emotional intelligence test assesses your how you can improve managing emotions under pressure

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Authentic leadership: Why showing up as yourself matters | BetterUp

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Learn about what authentic leadership is and why it’s important at work. Read about 9 characteristics of authentic leaders and how you can develop them.

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LIVE from Dallas: Authentic Leadership | Inside the Principal’s Office - SchoolRubric

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LIVE from Dallas: Authentic Leadership | Inside the Principal’s Office

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The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Self-awareness

If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with humility.

So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness?

Keep a journal. Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation

Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.

This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and commitment to personal accountability.

So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate?

Hold yourself accountable. If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the respect of those around you.

Practice being calm. The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper (and not showing them to anyone!) is better than speaking them aloud to your team. What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to ensure that they're fair!

3. Motivation

Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.

How can you improve your motivation?

Re-examine why you're doing your job. It's easy to forget what you really love about your career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. If you're unhappy in your role and you're struggling to remember why you wanted it, try the Five Whys technique to find the root of the problem. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way. And make sure that your goal statements are fresh and energizing. For more on this, see our article on Goal Setting.

4. Empathy

For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.

If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic.

How can you improve your empathy?

Respond to feelings. You ask your assistant to work late - again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social Skills

Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're experts at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.

Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and make everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behavior.

So, how can you build social skills?

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Emotional Intelligence in Leadership - Learning How to Be More Aware

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Relating to others is vital in today's workplace. Learn how to build your emotional intelligence (EI) with this article.