Resilient Teams Thrive
Leading in Times of High Volatility and Uncertainty
Our world today is becoming more uncertain, volatile, complex and ambiguous. Change is accelerating. Even when we welcome the change as leaders, the enormity of it can be like drinking from a fire hose; eventually we reach our limit, and so will our people.
It is difficult to lead in highly uncertain and volatile environments because they trigger our survival behaviors where we are not at our best. They affect team performance, people become reactive and depleted and ultimately, burn out.
Our human survival system is built for one-off threats, not for an onslaught of relentless change and pressure. These require a different leadership skill set from us centered on the capacity to be personally resilient, grow from adversity and help a team be resilient too. Few of us have had the opportunity to learn to do this well.
We have an unprecedented need to fill this gap in leadership ability.
At EQED we help you meet that need. We work with leaders and teams to develop a powerful toolkit of emotional intelligence and resilience skills, behaviors and capacities, so your organization can emerge stronger and thrive during high uncertainty and change.
Resilience Programs
Using Today's Challenges to Build the Resilience Muscle of Your Leaders and Teams
Resilience One and Two
5-Week Interactive Courses
We introduce a toolkit of resilience skills through a combination of online lectures and application in groups. In Resilience One, we focus on individual skills and then apply them in interpersonal and team situations in Resilience Two. Participants meet virtually for one hour per week over 5 weeks to learn and practice EQ skills. They develop a solid set of resilience habits and behaviors designed to support them and their teams through periods of hyper-growth, disruption and change.
Resilience Labsā„¢
Custom Programs for Organizations
We run custom learning labs that tailor the curriculum to the specific needs of the client. Teams and peer groups hone the five skill areas of emotional intelligence under conditions of high uncertainty, stress and duress. The results include strong relationships and heightened interpersonal effectiveness, a strong capacity to generate group cohesion, and an increased ability to respond fluidly to ambiguity and change. Teams learn to not only overcome challenges, but to become stronger and evolve because of them.
Executive Coaching
1-on-1 Leadership Development
We coach senior leaders to increase emotional intelligence, lead for team resilience, and overcome behavioral blind spots that get in the way of individual and team performance goals. Leaders create solid resilience behaviors to stay the course, lead through times of high uncertainty and change, and increase the resilience of their organization overall. The results are enhanced performance, improved individual well being, and the ability of the leader and their team to adapt and thrive.
A Toolkit for Leaders
Developing Resilience in an Organizational Context
EQ significantly impacts performance, especially at senior levels in an organization. In Daniel Goleman's research, EQ was twice as important as other factors for performance at all levels. Its importance increases at higher levels of a company. When comparing star performers in senior leadership positions with average ones, 90% of the difference was attributable to EQ (rather than cognitive abilities).
Businesses operate in a context of business model disruption, accelerating change and ever increasing uncertainty. This was true before COVID and is even more true today. The ability of leaders and leadership teams to flow with change, pivot and evolve as a result of pressure is crucial to surviving and thriving in the new normal.
EQ is located in the limbic system. This is a group of forebrain structures that includes the hypothalamus, the amygdala and the hippocampus. Our custom EQ Labs™ are designed to address the Limbic Brain in the way the Limbic Brain learns: Experientially through repeated practice and feedback - as opposed to books, articles and lectures. Trying to build EQ cognitively does not work and reduces interpersonal effectiveness.
In our Resilience Labs™ we also address the more ancient brain structures (the brain stem) and our physiology. Survival behaviors such as fight, flight and freeze are triggered when we are faced with large or continuous uncertainty and threats. These are physiological responses and need to be addressed at the level of our physiology first before moving to the higher brain structures.
Emotional intelligence is a set of five skills, namely Self Awareness, Self Regulation, Motivation, Social Skills and Empathy. These skills enable leaders and teams to access high performance and enhance results. Each of these skill areas corresponds to a set of behaviors that can be observed, practiced and learned. Ultimately, EQ is the ability to influence and get things done with and through other people.
Resilience is the same set of skills but under conditions of uncertainty, stress and duress which trigger their own set of dynamics, such as survival behaviors and an increased need for Self Regulation. Individuals and teams learn to not only overcome and navigate stress, uncertainty and change but grow from them and become stronger as a result.
