Manage your Emotions - that's easy for you to say!

Whether in the workplace, at school or in our personal lives, research shows that those who understand and manage their emotions well, are more successful.

A piece of research by Gallup showed that the number one reason why people stay or leave an organisation is the quality of the relationship they have with their immediate supervisor. Our own research has revealed that the on board leadership has a direct impact on the rate of crew turnover.  Interestingly, Gallup also found that the leaders with lower levels of emotional intelligence tended to have higher turnover of staff, lower engagement and lower productivity in their team.

So what is emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence is the capacity for recognising your own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves and for managing emotions well in ourselves, and in our relationships.

When interviewing crew, we often hear comments that directly relate to the quality of emotional intelligence of their seniors.

“The stress levels that were being passed down to us, made it impossible to stay any longer.”

“We had to put up with regular emotional outbursts.”

“We have a great Captain, however stressful the situation, he stays calm and deals with it.”

As a leader, you inspire or demotivate others first by how effectively you manage your own emotions, and then by how well you impact on the focus, drive and energy of your crew.

According to Dulewicz & Higgs (2000) there are seven elements of Emotional Intelligence

1. Self-Awareness – the awareness of your own feelings and the ability to recognise and manage these
2. Emotional Resilience – the ability to perform well and consistently in a range of situations and when under pressure
3. Motivation – the drive and energy which you have to achieve results, balance long and short term goals and pursue your goals in the face of challenge and rejection
4. Interpersonal Sensitivity – the ability to be aware of the needs and feelings of others, and to use this awareness effectively in interacting with them and arriving at decisions impacting on them
5. Influence – the ability to persuade others to change their viewpoint on a problem, issue or decision
6. Intuitiveness - the ability to use insight and interaction to arrive at and implement decisions when faced with ambiguous or incomplete information
7. Conscientiousness and Integrity – the ability to display commitment to a course of action in the face of challenge, to act consistently and in line with understood ethical requirements

Today’s Superyacht Captains and senior crew need to be much more culturally aware, sensitive to mental health issues and need greater collaborative skills, all of which require greater focus on emotional intelligence, self-awareness and empowerment; than just the traditional management skills of old. And the good news: emotional intelligence is a skill you can develop…. If you want to!

Impact Crew has highly specialised consultants who work with crew as a team or individually, to develop their emotional intelligence and awareness of the impact they have on others. Contact us today for more information.