Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2021 - 42

the makeup of that team, including the
team's strengths and blind spots, how
balanced or unbalanced that team is and
how to optimize that team's composition
for performance. " He adds, " When I
was a practicing clinical psychologist,
I would do the inkblot test and that
would accelerate my understanding
of somebody by about six months.
Similarly, by examining psychometric
data, I accelerate my understanding
of that team - and the root causes of
certain dynamics - significantly. "
Relational intelligence is emotional
intelligence turned outward. Relational
intelligence speaks to our ability to be
aware about how we affect others and
how their emotional states might be
affecting us. This enables us to act with
empathy, to interact with and resolve
conflict, and motivate and persuade
others in ways that have impact.
Furthermore, a medical research
company used aggregate psychometric
data to design a more effective
curriculum for scientists who likely would
assume positional leadership roles as
future heads of its research labs. The
organization identified the cohort's top
attributes, blind spots and development
needs and created a year-long program
comprised of curated microlearning and
macrolearning content. This data-driven
approach to developing leaders at scale
- with the ability to access just-in-time,
just-in-need micro content and tools in the
flow of work through a platform - supports
a continuous learning culture.
In addition to psychometrics, a
comprehensive understanding of
workforce experience is another critical
data set for leaders. Recent disruptions
demonstrate how quickly the experience
of employees can shift, yet a relatively
low percentage of organizations
measure workforce experience more
than once a year. Deloitte Consulting
observes, " Whatever workforce
measures might have indicated prior
to these [2020] disruptions, they have
most likely changed. As a result, we
recommend increased frequency of
workforce experience measurement...to
maintain an accurate, up-to-date picture
of your workforce experience. "
A manufacturing company recently
surveyed its entire global workforce
across multiple indices. The organization
scored high around the quality of its
leadership but low around coaching and
managerial skills. Leaders were great at
communicating vision, but employees
sought a greater one-on-one connection
with their immediate managers. Survey
results were further correlated with
leaders' psychometric assessments to
| 42
Team intelligence enables
leaders to facilitate
psychological safety.
Team intelligence is emotional
intelligence applied in a team setting.
Having good team intelligence includes
the ability to assess and manage the
emotional states of the team. This
allows a leader to anticipate roadblocks
to communication, resolve conflict and
recognize and honor team members'
unique contributions. Team intelligence
also helps colleagues nurture and
support one another so they can
reach their full potential. Having team
intelligence enables leaders to facilitate
psychological safety, the hallmark of
high-performing teams.
generate prescriptive recommendations
for each manager around enhancing
relational skills, strengthening one-onone
relationships with team members
and developing desired behaviors.
In an environment where leaders
and managers have a responsibility
to support employee well-being,
psychological safety and belonging,
developing these essential capabilities
around emotional, relational and team
intelligence is more important than
ever. And focusing on a small number
of leadership behaviors necessary for
success results in better outcomes,
research shows.
Emotional, Relational and
Team Intelligence
Most of us are familiar with the concept
of emotional intelligence (EI). One of
the foundational aspects of emotional
intelligence is self-awareness. This
includes an awareness of our own
emotional states, an understanding
of how those emotional states impact
others and the ability to manage our
emotions. With this self-knowledge, we
can connect more meaningfully and
deeply in relationships.
Empower Leaders with Data
When McKinsey & Company amassed
systematic data on the interventions that
drove effective leadership development
programs, two sets of interventions were
most impactful, statistically speaking,
namely (1) focusing on the leadership
behaviors most critical to performance,
based on context and (2) ensuring
leadership development interventions
reached all organizational levels.
If our current and future leaders are
to succeed as stewards of culture,
engagement, innovation and inclusion,
we need to provide highly personalized
development opportunities in the flow
of work that simultaneously address
real problems and high-priority
organizational needs. Increasingly, this
requires that we empower leaders at
all organizational levels with access to
data, resources and tools and help them
develop those essential capabilities that
drive sustained impact in our new world
of work.
Andy Stankiewicz is an EVP at
SurePeople, a next-gen platform that
optimizes leadership development, team
performance and talent strategies for
the new world of work. Email Andy.
Training Industry Magazine - July/August 2021

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