Disconnected team can’t create wonders

“You have to take an emotional intelligence workshop with my managers. They badly need to be turned into inspirational leaders and self-controlled people. They should not remain mere managers,” said Ram Sinha, CEO of a multimillion Indian infrastructure company. 

He wants his ‘leaders’ to become affirmative and emotionally stable, and this should happen preferably overnight. 

According to Sinha, the company has done well revenue wise in the last three years but the profit has shrunk by 25%. The reason for reduced profit has ballooned the cost of projects. This was not because of any increase in production cost. 

The reason, in fact, was delayed projects of constructions. That cost was in tersm of penalties, additional construction budgets and inability to take on new projects as old ones were incomplete. So though the sales registers were full until the following year, the cash registers were not ringing. 

What is the connection between emotional intelligence, profit margins?  Very smart leaders and result-oriented managers are not attuned to a great understanding of self-awareness. In fact, a higher position in corporate ladder may even lead many managers to become self-obsessed. 

Mix it with undue flattery, and established savvy managers fall prey to the false idea of being an inspirational and goal-centric achiever. What goes wrong and how it affects company’s growth and long-term sustenance.

General Motors (GM) in India had nine chief executive officer (CEOs) in 21 years. That is an average of 2.5 years at the topmost position. Expats as CEOs were moved back or elsewhere before they even understood how Indian dealer network actually works. 

Most of them would be exhausted. They were pulled in to being part of the strategy, product, sourcing, innovation, research and more. In fact, a lack of mature consistent stable top line that should have been emotionally aware and available otherwise, resulted in their exit from selling cars in the Indian market. 

In 1999, GM had bought stake in Hindustan Motors stake. In 2009, GM picked up SAIC, Chinese partner. It also bought 43% of Chinese partners holding in 2012. 

This in-and-out game was expensive as GM had its stake raised up to 93%. Commotion such as this, with no clear goals and achievement maps, will always cost any organisation its success. 

Can you imagine a disconnected team creating wonders?

Goal setting with emotional stability and intelligence demands a critical reading of markets and surroundings. It also demands to create a team that will look up to seniors as inspirational leaders. The urge to give orders to get a work done is very easy, but pushing a person to find solutions is what is difficult. Managers may put up a show of listening. 

But ultimately, if they are only doling out orders and doing exactly what they have done anyways, there is no possibility of creating an emotionally intelligent team. 

An emotionally intelligent team would mean having people who are positive in outlook and high in organisational awareness. The ability to connect to new developments globally needs adaptability. This is an essential part of creating legendary organisations. Be it a multimillion company or small personal venture, the recipe of success remains same..

The writer is a strategic advisor and premium educator with Harvard Business Publishing