In the latest In-House Connect webinar, “Elevate Your Legal Team’s Performance: The Power of Emotional Intelligence,” host Shai Mehani along with executive speaker coach and corporate performance consultant Rich Bracken, delved deep into how emotional intelligence can transform legal team dynamics and performance.
Here are the top five takeaways from the webinar:
- The Importance of Emotional Vocabulary
Childhood experiences significantly shape our emotional vocabulary, which impacts how we interact as adults. Expanding this vocabulary helps us better articulate and manage our emotions. Regular self-reflection is encouraged, with a recommendation to spend at least five minutes during lunch and at the end of the day acknowledging and understanding our emotions.
- Addressing Emotions Proactively
Instead of ignoring emotions, it’s important to address them directly. Suppressing emotions can lead to feeling overwhelmed and making hasty or biased decisions. Engaging in practices like journaling or self-reflection can help identify specific emotional triggers and evaluate whether these reactions align with one’s ideal self.
- Active Listening and Team Engagement
Effective communication and active listening are essential for team success. Key practices include making eye contact, observing body language, and avoiding interruptions during conversations. Reinforcing these techniques with team members and ensuring full engagement during meetings can significantly improve relationships and productivity within the team.
- Self-Care and Setting Boundaries
Managing stress and preventing burnout are crucial for legal professionals. A resource is available with 50 self-care activities that can be completed in under five minutes, highlighting the importance of setting boundaries. It’s essential to remember that saying no is acceptable and to offer alternatives to avoid people-pleasing, which can contribute to stress and overwhelm.
- Building Emotional Intelligence for Better Team Performance
Emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in team retention, recruitment, engagement, and overall company performance. Recognizing team contributions, enhancing communication, and fostering a positive work environment are all benefits of emotional intelligence. Understanding the strengths and opportunities within the team can lead to more effective communication and greater overall success.
The webinar offered essential strategies for using emotional intelligence to boost legal team performance. By expanding emotional vocabulary, addressing emotions proactively, practicing active listening, prioritizing self-care, and developing emotional intelligence, legal professionals can manage daily stressors more effectively and work more efficiently. Investing in both personal and team emotional intelligence is key to achieving better control, balance, productivity, and overall satisfaction.
Missed the session? You can watch it now via IHC On-Demand!
