Bridging the Gap Between Emotional Intelligence and Management Consulting

Where to Start

My priority coming into a new program is to establish relationships and a team-oriented environment. Get to know your team—what drives them? How has their experience to date been on the program? Typically, the most important question to answer is what the team and individuals need to be successful.

Over my career, I have focused on the following aspects when joining an in-flight program to help lead judiciously and empathetically:

Avoid the “Heavy Hand” – As mentioned earlier, many people don’t respond well to being told what to do. Where appropriate, empower your team to make decisions and give them a safe space to learn and grow. Some individuals will need to be directed, sometimes firmly, but you can still hold them accountable without disrespecting them or killing their sprit in the process. In turn, they will be willing to work hard for you to accomplish the common goal you have set.

Minimize the Blame Game – It’s far easier to point fingers when an issue occurs, especially when you are working with multiple vendors, than to set a one team mentality. Removing the finger pointing can allow the team to focus on what’s important and take the corrective action necessary to ensure it doesn’t happen again. In some situations, this can be a very powerful tool. Unfortunately, this approach will not lend itself well to all situations and keeping the pressure on is necessary to ensure a successful program.

Manage the Stress – Large programs are stressful—there are a million things to accomplish and tight deadlines, that no matter how well-planned, always seem to come up too quickly. Today’s environment heavily relies on remote teams across different time zones. Always remember that the resources you are dealing with day in and day out are people too. Things are happening in their lives that you may never know of but try to keep things in perspective and ensure you lead with the necessary empathy.

Be Involved – Program managers typically engage at a high-level. It’s what we are taught to do and necessary to ensure large efforts get completed on time. Don’t be afraid to get into the weeds from time to time to experience what your project managers and team members are going through, but remember you don’t want to live there! I joined a program that frequently had late-night cutovers that would go on for hours. Wanting to see how one went, I joined the meeting for support and stayed up with the project manager who was driving the cutover. As 3:00 AM approached, you could tell the team was starting to go stir-crazy, but we pushed through. To this day, we still joke about my first cutover and whether I was awake the entire time.

Much like having your pilot switched out mid-flight can be terrifying, joining a program mid-flight can be terrifying for yourself, client and team. There’s nothing better than wrapping up a program knowing that you led with empathy and compassion, yet still completed it successfully.

By Johnathan Farnsworth