In the continuously evolving workplace, generations have begun to prioritize emotional intelligence and interpersonal factors. A 2023 Forbes article entitled “Why Emotional Intelligence Is Crucial For Effective Leadership” explains that today's leaders differ from those of traditional, stereotypical leaders. Rather than solely focusing on specific data, sales targets, or goals, managers are now expected to achieve these goals while also promoting psychological safety. Forbes author, Sanjay Sehgal highlights the difference in today's leaders, boasting self-awareness and care for fostering relationships over giving directions creating a new kind of workplace. 

In this new and evolving role that managers have an expectation to undertake, many struggle to support direct reports going through personal struggles or challenges. Managers' ability to navigate these situations requires empathy, emotional intelligence, and the focus to balance professional and personal needs. Sometimes managers struggle in switching from a task-oriented to a relationship-oriented workplace, however, prioritizing relationships in the workplace is paramount to the success of modern leaders. Leaders commonly lack the training or experience relevant to handling sensitive, emotionally impactful conversations, which can make it difficult to provide genuine support. As organizations increasingly prioritize balance, managers must develop the awareness needed to effectively support their teams during challenging times. Here are 6 ways managers can provide emotional support and build psychological safety for their team members:

Oftentimes, communication barriers hinder managers' ability to emotionally support their direct reports. Without a clear understanding of the extent or challenge someone is facing, leaders have no way of knowing what will best support their teams. Miscommunication or lack of trust can lead to misunderstandings, leaving employees feeling unsupported or unvalued by the team. On the other hand, open communication strengthens relationships, fosters a sense of psychological safety, and ensures employees understand the personal and professional support available. 

2. Offer Flexibility

To emotionally support direct reports by demonstrating empathy and understanding of personal challenges, managers can offer flexibility in teams, where available. Finding productive methods to manage contributions and find a compromise to support individuals is challenging. Altering schedules, adding a cushion to deadlines, or allowing remote work can aid employees in managing their struggles. Flexibility and understanding when possible can foster stress and aid in reducing stress for employees facing a variety of challenges. Creating an environment where direct reports are comfortable asking for help or support should be at the forefront of focus in creating psychological safety. 

3. Build a Strong Team Culture

Creating a strong team culture positively boosts a manager's ability to emotionally support direct reports by fostering a sense of trust, camaraderie, and mutual respect among teams, and levels of an organization's hierarchy. Working in an inclusive culture, employees are much more likely to openly communicate personal and professional hurdles, enabling managers to provide timely and appropriate support. Building productive workplace cultures has another benefit for providing support to team members. A strong culture encourages peer support and empathy, building a culture where team members care for each other, reduce stress, and provide a comforting work environment. 

4. Set Clear Expectations

Employees' fundamental understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and goals works to mitigate stress and promote efficacy in the workplace. Clear expectations offer a foundation for trust and open communication which encourages employees to ask for help, and clarification and express concerns as they arise. Building a structure to foster a supportive environment will promote employees' feelings of security, and better enable managers to provide meaningful emotional support when needed.

5. Promote Balance

Enhancing workplace balance is a strong tool for managers hoping to provide emotional support to their direct reports. When managers encourage work-life balance, employees are more in control of their personal and professional lives which, can be supportive in facing hurdles in either sphere. Ongoing support reduces burnout and anxiety, which makes employees more apt to approach managers or leaders to discuss their challenges. A balanced workplace creates an environment where every employee can feel supported in work and personal needs. By prioritizing balance, managers demonstrate care for their team's well-being, strengthening trust and improving their ability to offer emotional support when needed.

6. Offer Continuous Feedback

Providing opportunities to receive continuous feedback can aid in supporting direct reports through personal challenges. In creating trust and promoting transparency, providing continuous feedback is crucial for continuous growth. Regular feedback not only provides employees with a clear sense of their performance but helps to alleviate confusion and, provides opportunities for discussion about responsibilities and workloads. Feedback circles enable a conversation between direct reports and their employees, allowing managers to better address challenges and comprehend major factors affecting their direct reports. Having a proactive approach to discussing performance with employees demonstrates a focus on overall development and well-being, promoting comfort and support. 

In today’s workplace, emotionally supporting team members is crucial for managers to foster a positive and productive environment. Encouraging open communication ensures that employees feel heard, valued, and safe to express their challenges. Offering flexibility, where possible, helps managers accommodate personal struggles, reducing stress and building trust. A strong team culture and clear expectations further reinforce psychological safety and mutual respect, making it easier for employees to seek support. Promoting work-life balance enhances employees' well-being, helping them manage both personal and professional demands. Finally, continuous feedback creates a foundation for growth and clarity, allowing managers to offer timely emotional support. Altogether, these strategies build a resilient, connected team, benefiting both individual employees and the organization as a whole.

Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow provides valuable insight into understanding how the human brain's analytical systems impact decision-making. The book provides a dual system thinking theory, explaining that when someone is faced with a decision, they will utilize one of two systems, called system 1 or 2 thinking. 

Strong decision-making skills are crucial for managers' success. Leaders are constantly faced with decisions that heavily impact the lives of others. Managers' decisions affect team morale, culture, and efficiency so mindfulness in making these decisions is crucial to team success and longevity.  Layoffs, raises, promotions, client placements, and strategies are all decisions that leaders face on behalf of their direct reports. To best keep serving teams and executives, it is paramount for leaders to be deliberate in their decision-making. 

Managers may employ a variety of decision-making tactics so to mitigate bias in decision-making, every leader should be conscious of how they utilize system one or system two thinking. 

System one thinking is immediate. This system is essentially automatic and is initiated by the surrounding environment and habits. System one thinking is dangerous because it is subconscious and can sincerely affect decision-making processes in all people. System one thinking enables unconscious bias to influence choices. These biases are problematic because the individual is unaware of the bias that impacts their decisions. Unconscious bias can appear in all individuals and is extremely hard to detect and reverse. 

System two is critical thinking. System 2 thinking is intentional and engages the brain in analyzing every aspect and result of decisions. System 2 thinking is usually initiated by a fight or flight type response. When the brain is unfamiliar with the circumstance, system two thinking kicks in to analyze and understand aspects the brain doesn’t realize in system one thinking. 

To minimize bias and prioritize system two thinking, managers can employ a variety of strategies to challenge their perspectives and beliefs. For managers to foster a positive team culture, they must encourage open dialogue, learning, and psychological safety. Being mindful of individuals' cognitive processes, biases and experiences will enhance decision-makers' tendencies away from system 1 thinking.  To better utilize system two thinking, managers should consider finding new opportunities for mentorship or collaboration that will broaden their understanding and perspective. 

A critical opportunity for leaders to learn from others' experiences is mentorship programs. Mentorship programs have benefits for individuals at all levels within an organizational hierarchy. Every member can benefit from mentorship but, finding mentors for executives can be challenging.  Ambition in Motions Horizontal Mentorship Program is an opportunity for executives of different industries and experiences to collaborate and create a productive learning environment. Opening new opportunities to grow and learn in a dynamic environment catered to specific problems faced in the workplace makes horizontal mentorship a great tool to initiate system two thinking and encourage learning from others. 

In the workplace, situations depending on system one or system two thinking heavily impact the outcome of decisions. For example, consider Sarah. Sarah is a manager at a small consulting firm and is responsible for 15 direct reports working underneath her. In a quarterly meeting with her boss, Sarah learned she has to lay off 20% of her staff, 3 members. Sarah is faced with a tough decision to make. 

If Sarah depended on her system one thinking, she would not critically evaluate her employees' performance. System one thinking promotes irrational decision-making and emotionally driven reasoning. If Sarah utilized system one thinking, she would likely lay off employees with whom she had issues or problems within the last couple of weeks rather than evaluating long-term commitment and performance. Or, using system one thinking, Sarah may lay off an individual who she had an argument with or faced a conflict while working on a client project. 

On the other hand, if Sarah critically evaluates options for this decision, she will be more apt to conduct the layoffs with consistent reasoning and explanation. System two thinking forces decision-makers brains to be engaged in the process of finding an evidence-based solution. If Sarah engages her system two thinking, she will be basing her decision on quantitative data or, factors such as efficiency or long-term performance, goal setting, and achievements. 

To collect quantitative data useful in system two decision makers, leaders should consider utilizing AIM Insights. AIM Insights is a software that provides continuous goal and progress reports to both managers and their teams. Members can see personal and team goals, sincerely impacting performance and lifting expectations. Additionally, AIM Insights provides tools for attainable goal-setting that are accessible to both managers and direct reports, with benchmarking and gap analysis available, creating transparency in performance, expectation, and growth. Through the use of software such as AIM Insights, managers have readily available data to find evidence-based solutions to problems they face in their roles. 

However, a pivotal benefit of AIM Insights is executive coaching. Executive coaching provides leaders with a personal connection to aid in goal setting and analyzing AIM Insight metrics. These experienced industry professionals provide guidance and consistently analyze results and metrics through a system-two lens. From the removal of personal connections with direct reports, executive coaches gain emotional distance and are able to objectively evaluate the performance of members, aiding in data-driven decision-making. 

Overall, it is crucial for all individuals, and especially leaders to engage their system's two thinking processes. Understanding the differences in automatic and critical thinking provides valuable insights into decision-making habits and how information is processed. By recognizing the best settings for each of the thinking models, leaders are enabled to enhance decision-making skills and efficiency along with mitigating bias. Embracing the dual-system thinking model will unlock potential and encourage mindfulness in decision-making across roles. 

Continued professional education is not a new concept in the workplace. For years, teachers, accountants, lawyers, and many other professions have mandated the continuation of professional education for these individuals to be up to date on the new legislature and field changes. However, for unrequired industries, these educational opportunities are equally as important. Seeking developmental opportunities can be difficult, professionals are often worried that their employer may perceive their participation in these programs as dissatisfaction or intent to leave their current role. 

Attending development and growth programs relevant to any industry is essential for personal growth, career advancement, and performance enhancement in nearly every role. Continued education programs encourage life-long learning, stress the importance of keeping up with industry trends and practices, and exhibit the value of new skills and perspectives within an individual's career. 

Educational and professional development opportunities within the workplace have become scarce. It is a challenging task for managers to find developmental programs for a variety of roles and, focuses. Managers often feel lost with configuring resources to upskill their employees.  Managers often struggle to encourage their direct reports to seek continual development because they want to maintain the employee's commitment and focus in their current role. Seeking professional development opportunities does not directly indicate that an individual is dissatisfied or unhappy in their role. Those motivated by learning and new environments may become more committed to their role with the opportunity for professional growth. 

Nevertheless, each individual must take their advancements into their own hands. As creatures of habit, it is easy for humans to get stuck in a rut or become complacent in their jobs. Every individual must take charge and drive their career paths and advancements by proactively seeking opportunities to broaden their knowledge, perspectives, and experiences. 

Professional development programs take on a variety of forms and focus. Based on interests, level of formality, and availability, individuals can find the perfect space to grow their capabilities. However, seeking these opportunities through employers may not yield adequate opportunities for development or learning. To find the best-fit opportunities, individuals should conduct their own research and determine what the best next step may be to broaden their knowledge, skills, and experiences. 

Finding adequate options for development programs and determining the best route for career advancement is a challenging task for most. Depending on the formality, commitment and cost, there are different routes best for specific scenarios. Here is a deep dive into 3 Categories of learning opportunities for direct reports seeking professional development and advancement programs:

Attending workshops or seminars relevant to any professional industry is a stepping-stone to advancement, growth, and performance improvement. Workshops and seminars may be presented in different ways on a variety of topics but can generally be broken into two overarching categories. 

The first category is seminars or workshops focused on industry-specific topics, including niche topics or tools to help participants broaden or improve their skill set within a specific role, group, or industry. On the other hand, general skills workshops focus on over-arching topics relevant to advancement and growth in a variety of industries. General skills workshops commonly focus on topics related to leadership or soft skills such as management or organization.  A general skills workshop may focus on leadership or communication and may be most impactful when entire teams participate or, in the use of preparation for leadership roles. 

Interactive workshops, like executive mastermind groups, can be a great way to gain objectivity, learn from others, and improve one’s own skill set.

2. Certificates

The continuation of formal education can be a paramount tool for the development and possible advancement of professionals across industries and positions. Those seeking to continue their education in a formal setting outside of traditional secondary or post-graduate education should consider certificates and licensures. In obtaining these licensures or certificates, individuals are enabled to broaden their roles, responsibilities, and industry knowledge. For each industry or role, there are a variety of opportunities available for certifications. Compared to workshops, certificates tend to take a more formal setting. Content to obtain a certificate is commonly done through a course or a several-day seminar, usually capped with an exam. Certificates are a strong form of professional advancement because in the event that individuals seek new roles, certificates, and licensures are a concrete representation of knowledge, experience, and education in a specific field. 

The AIM Insights People Leader Certification can be a great avenue for a leader to showcase their abilities and benchmark their performance compared to other leaders of similar teams.

3. Mentorship

Mentorship is a crucial tool for developing strong leaders and integrating team culture throughout different levels of the workplace. However, a seemingly informal form of professional development, establishing mentorship connections is highly impactful in an individual's ability to lead and advance in their fields. 

Mentor and mentee connections are a key differentiator in individuals' capacity to learn from new perspectives and adapt in the workplace. Mentorship may be implemented in professional atmospheres through a variety of ways but essentially should aid in the personal and professional development of younger generations from those with more experience in the industry. However, not all firms or companies facilitate adequate mentorship connections. Individuals seeking mentorship may consider joining mentorship groups or joining professionally focused organizations. For example, certified public accountants (CPAs) may join the AICPA and establish mentoring relationships with other accountants who have more industry experience or, accounting experience in other focuses. 

By exploring a diverse variety of options in professional advancement programs, individuals have the opportunity to improve their expertise, gain valuable skills, and expand their industry knowledge. Given the wide array of advancement opportunities, formality levels, and time commitments, every individual should actively seek opportunities to better themselves and their career path. 

Professionals across all industries and roles can immensely benefit from continuous education in their fields. Regardless of position, every team may benefit from seminars on improving communication, leadership, or team culture. The most imperative key to success is drive. Those seeking promotion or advancement should take charge of their future career path, and participate in a variety of programs and activities that will enable them to succeed. No matter their success or experience, every professional has something to learn. 

It is no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic significantly affected norms and traditions in the workplace. The transition to work from home and eventually hybrid work schedules sincerely impacted professionals' productivity and well-being. Yet, nearly 5 years later, many companies continue to struggle with promoting work-from-home productivity and mixing new members into team culture when welcoming new hires. 

In the pre-pandemic traditional office, team culture and expectations were effectively communicated to incoming team members face-to-face in offices and meetings. However finding the best way to communicate these objectives to new hires in a virtual environment is still paramount for establishing a well-oiled, productive team.

On the other hand, after a five-year stent of the work-from-home environment, leaders are now tasked with transitioning teams back into the office while maintaining a previously established culture or, even more difficult, adjusting to better-fit team culture. Managers face further challenges leading through change in welcoming new team members throughout this transition and establishing clear expectations whilst working to integrate new hires into the team or company culture. 

Adding new members to a virtual team can create feelings of isolation and exclusion so fully integrating new hires is crucial to sustain their involvement with a team. However, this is a daunting task for managers in fully virtual and even hybrid environments. Here are three steps for leaders to better integrate new hires into a remote company culture:

Building the right culture can be a daunting task but, finding an adaptable, productive team culture based on values and expectations is crucial for the optimization of every team and the success of team members. In building a team culture representative of members' values, new virtual team members will be able to observe the importance and priorities of a team, making it easier to fuse with the culture. On the contrary, if the culture is not representative of members' values and demonstrated by current team members, new hires will have a challenging time following and joining the company culture. 

 To begin building a beneficial team culture, leaders and managers should focus on psychological safety and building genuine connections across a team. Leaders can establish a beneficial team culture through a variety of ways, including structured onboarding, social events, and, cross-team collaboration. However, a highly effective manner of building a strong culture is through leaders ‘living the values’ and principles that the culture is built on. Leading by example is the best way to demonstrate expectations. Through embodying company values, managers promote team culture and provide an informal opportunity for learning in both technical and relationship-based expectations. 

2. Encouraging Communication Across Teams

Through efficient and effective communication, leaders and managers can communicate expectations, norms, and roles that aid in building a productive team culture. Especially in the work-from-home environment, encouraging open communication is paramount to integrating new hires. Allowing open streams of communication that encourage asking questions and getting to know others will certainly demonstrate and welcome new team members. Specifically, leaders should promote collaboration and teamwork in the beginning of the role before focusing on more autonomous aspects of a new-hires responsibilities. Through open communication, productivity will skyrocket via efficient problem-solving and team members collaborating and participating in events with each other. Through open communication, new hires can observe team dynamics and norms that will help them better join the team or firm culture. 

3. Promoting Mentorship Across Levels

Promoting mentorship is a necessary tool for developing strong leaders and integrating team culture throughout different levels of the workplace. Mentorship can be implemented in professional atmospheres through a variety of ways but essentially should aid in the personal and professional development of younger generations from those with more experience in the industry. To establish a mentorship program in an office, leaders should focus on building connections and encouraging relationships throughout different levels. Additionally, managers should consider a formal mentorship program in which senior employees are paired with new hires or more junior employees to establish connections and provide guidance throughout their careers. Mentorship is a necessary tool aiding in the continuation of team culture across generations and organizational hierarchies. 

Managers and leaders seeking mentorship or guidance should consider joining an executive mastermind group to gain insights from other high-level professionals across industries. Executive mastermind groups create the opportunity for leaders across fields to learn from each other's experiences and expertise. Mentorship is crucial for development across all levels, not just for new hires or college recruits, and establishing strong mentor relations will serve individuals throughout their lifetime. 

4. Leveraging Technology in a Creative Way

Using technology in creative ways to encourage socialization is a pivotal tool in welcoming new hires into a team. Holding virtual events primarily focused on the social development and connection of a team is a primary way of integrating new hires. These meetings are an opportunity for everyone to relax and form genuine connections with their colleagues. In traditional in-person teams, professionals will take it upon themselves to personally connect with their colleagues in the lunch room or throughout the office whereas in a virtual environment, individuals do not necessarily take the initiative to socialize unless organized by leadership.

Leading through change is a critical aspect of management but certainly a very challenging aspect, especially in such significant changes such as work-from-home to in-office shifts. As always, leaders need to stay positive through times of change and understand that large transitions may take time and patience. Great leaders adapt to change and approach their teams with empathy and support through challenging adjustments. To best lead teams through change, managers should focus on transparency and building trusting relationships with their direct reports. More than anything, the best leaders serve as advocates for their teams, working to find the perfect medium of productivity and balance in the workplace that supports individuals in the office and their well-being outside of the office simultaneously. 

Through serving as a leader of an executive mastermind group, advisors broaden their industry knowledge and gain paramount perspectives that enable them to provide experienced guidance to members of their coaching groups. By learning from surrounding perspectives, executive coaches can provide first-rate, credible advice built on a wide range of experiences.  

 

To grow a business as an executive coach, it is imperative that professionals effectively establish trust and credibility. Demonstrating credibility as a potential coach can be daunting because credibility is dependent on individuals varying judgments and interpretations. 

 

To develop business based on experience, professionals should work to understand the components that construct others' perceptions of an individual's credibility. Credibility is proposed to be composed of three components- competence, character, and compassion.  

 

Competence 

Professionals generally establish competence through explicit knowledge and understanding of technical topics. In the workplace, competence is generally measured through accuracy and the ability to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the subject matter relevant to an individual's role. In forming relationships with prospective participants, appropriately demonstrating competence can be challenging. Individuals are quick to judge and can be easily offended by overbearing or “know-it-all-all” behaviors. Executive coaches must rely on their own past experiences or past coaching experiences to establish their expertise in a specific subject matter when connecting with a potential client.  

 

Character 

Individuals present character by exhibiting their moral compass.  In the workplace, individuals are given opportunities to demonstrate their character in situations of ethical dilemmas. When engaging with a prospective client, coaches should be intentional in building a relationship and effectively pivoting coaching styles to best fit each individual. In speaking to potential clients, executive coaches can show character through honesty, respectfulness, and accountability. However, coaches must be deliberate in their decision-making because a poor impression of character is extremely difficult to reverse. 

 

Compassion 

Compassion is commonly demonstrated through empathy, understanding, and general concern for others. For executive coaches working to grow their businesses, compassion is a vital element to success. In the inherently interpersonal relationship of coaching, it is crucial for coaches to demonstrate compassion in order to grow their business. Individuals seeking guidance and advice value authenticity and genuine interest from their advisors. In the workplace, compassion can be shown through flexibility and understanding or overall care for colleagues. Executive coaches have the responsibility of expressing compassion and support as participants navigate unfamiliar circumstances and problems.  

 

To better explain the benefits of executive coaching experience and the impact of credibility, consider Lori. Lori recently transitioned out of her industry position to follow her passion for coaching. Lori has started an executive mastermind group and leads the group with guidance and structure from Ambition in Motion’s executive coaching licensing opportunities. Through leading her own executive mastermind group and serving as a coach for professionals across industries, Lori has significantly broadened her understanding and experience, enabling her to become a better coach.  

 

To best elaborate on the importance of experience in building business, here are 3 potential streams from which Lori could grow her business and how varying relationships will impact her credibility as an executive coach: 

 

1- Existing Connections 

Lori’s business as an executive coach may grow from existing relationships such as members of her old firm, college classmates, or industry peers she has connected with over her career. Through these existing relationships, Lori’s authority and experience are likely recognized so Lori does not need to establish herself but must work to maintain the credible reputation she has developed. Additionally, in an existing connection, trust has likely been built between Lori and the client, which is a crucial part of establishing a productive coaching relationship and can be a challenging relationship to develop. 

 

2- Referrals  

A common source of new clients for businesses are referrals from peers or colleagues. When engaging with a referred potential client, Lori likely has the advantage of good praise from their mutual connection that referred the prospective client. However, Lori is still responsible for establishing her authority relevant to the industry and circumstances of the potential client. In the circumstance of a referral, Lori has the benefit of a connection that speaks to her character and compassion so, Lori should focus on establishing her competence in the individuals industry to best build her credibility. In addition to building credibility, Lori should focus on establishing a trusting relationship to best advise new participants. 

 

3- Cold Clients  

Cold clients are clients that do not have any mutual connection or referral to a business. Although daunting to most professionals, finding new clients without a previous connection is a crucial component of growing a business. In interacting with a new potential client, the onus is on Lori to establish all three aspects of her credibility and build trust. In the instance of connecting with a new potential client, Lori should focus on communicating the interpersonal-focused aspects (compassion and character) to build trust. Building business through this type of prospect may be challenging because it takes time to develop the trust that is paramount to a successful coaching relationship. Once Lori has established a connection with a prospective client, she can shift to demonstrating her competence in coaching the individual within a specific role or industry.  

In guiding members through new circumstances and experiences, executive coaches build better businesses based on expertise and diverse perspectives. Through providing advice and guidance to their clients, coaches continuously develop their skills and competence, enabling them to grow their businesses. The development of executive coaches and their businesses is exponential; through serving one client, executive coaches are able to learn new ideas and techniques that will improve the guidance given to other members.  

 

Executive coaching requires patience and business development can be a challenging process. However, serving as an executive coach builds experience that continuously improves credibility. From gaining new perspectives, executive coaches can apply diverse approaches to problem-solving in turn, expanding their expertise and business.