Martha and Jim each have a very different impact on their center. Martha inspires a high degree of trust. The team members offer solutions to organizational challenges without fear of making mistakes. On Jim’s shift, the feeling is different. Day-to-day, his subordinates don’t know what to expect. His employees generally keep their ideas for improving the center to themselves. Do either of these scenarios sound familiar? Read on and discover the attribute that is the biggest differentiator.
There are two supervisors at your center. The first, Martha, is the epitome of patience and understanding during heated, emotionally-charged moments. When dealing with difficult situations on the dispatch floor, she is sensitive, yet direct and to the point. She communicates proactively and thinks on her feet. Martha reads the emotions of others very well, and manages to build relationships with almost anyone.
Martha always looks out for her employees. She has the ability to put herself in their shoes and ask herself what is wrong with a situation. Even during tough conversations, Martha is concerned about maintaining good, comfortable relationships. She helps her staff improve and grow, and she sets a good example for dealing with people assertively and speaking up. She tries very hard to be nonjudgmental and gives people the benefit of the doubt. Martha knows her teammates very well, and this enables her to handle conflict in a calm and positive manner. Even when there’s an atmosphere of resistance, confusion or outright conflict, she tries to find the best way to communicate.
The second supervisor, Jim, lets his emotions rule his behavior. Sometimes he acts or speaks hurriedly. In stressful situations, or when something goes wrong, Jim sometimes responds too quickly, sharply, or disjointedly. He means well, but can panic then stressed. His reactions trickle onto his teammates.
Jim is not one to socialize. He is so focused on work and sometimes comes across as not interested in what’s going on with a person on a particular day. He seems to have a “hardening of his positions,” and it makes him unwilling to accept other people’s viewpoints or include their input in his decisions. If Jim doesn’t see eye-to-eye with someone, he makes it apparent that it’s not worth developing the relationship. He always reacts to people instead of responding to them, and there is a stigma that Jim is tough, difficult to work for, and unapproachable.
Martha and Jim each have a very different impact on the center. Martha inspires a high degree of trust. Her teammates are made to feel safe through their interactions with her. They offer solutions to organizational challenges without fear of making mistakes. Martha’s employees take responsibility for their actions and hold themselves and their coworkers accountable. As result, there is a strong sense of team camaraderie and feelings of morale run high.
On Jim’s shift, the feeling is different. Day-to-day, his subordinates don’t know what to expect. He makes decisions without talking to his people, and has been known to give certain employees the silent treatment for weeks or months at a time. His employees generally keep their ideas for improving the center to themselves—“it doesn’t matter what we think anyway,” they say to each other. Jim’s staff members don’t feel valued and regularly complain about the way things are. The shift’s tone is one of victimization and blame.
It might sound like we’re talking about two completely different centers above, and, to employees who find themselves working Martha’s shift, then Jim’s, it can feel like it.
This is an example of the power of working with someone who has a high degree of Emotional Intelligence (or EQ, for short). In this example, Martha is the emotionally intelligent supervisor, intently aware of how she impacts her team and her organization as a whole. Jim, on the other hand, has lower EQ, making it difficult for him to understand how his emotions get in the way of his ability to make an impact.
Dr. Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves, in their book Emotional Intelligence 2.0, suggest that emotional intelligence is one of the single most important factors determining the success of an organization’s leadership team. Like Martha, leaders with high EQ tap the true potential of their teams. Bradberry and Greaves’ research, compiled after the participation of over 500,000 test subjects, is conclusive: EQ matters a great deal, yet only 36% of people are able to accurately identify their emotions as they happen. It’s true—most of us are still in the dark, sabotaging our own success along with the success of those we work with.
If you recognize yourself in the description of the second supervisor, Jim, don’t worry. There is hope. Begin today practicing the following five EQ-improvement techniques, and watch your effectiveness as a supervisor take a turn for the better:
It takes practice to pave inroads into a lifetime of conditioned ways of communication, but it’s a challenge worth taking. Your employees will thank you.
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Adam Timm is the president and co-founder of The Healthy Dispatcher. Previously a 9-1-1 telecommunicator with the Los Angeles Police Dept. for over a decade, Adam now provides leadership and resilience training to PSAPs around the country. His second book, Dispatcher Stress: 50 Lessons on Beating the Burnout, is out now. Visit www.thehealthydispatcher.com for more.
Also available at watsonconsoles.com, Adam's blog How the Best Comm Centers Motivate Frontline Employees.
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