In the farming game, it is common to focus on employee’s performance and conduct. Little to no importance is placed on what they are really thinking or feeling.  

Data from the most recent census in the United States indicates that 96% of farms are family-owned and operated. Understanding and applying emotional intelligence (EI) is critical for balanced family and business relationships. EI among business members is crucial to successful farming businesses and pivotal in reducing the risk of conflict.

Most farm businesses are not aware of the importance of EI. Without putting a gender stamp on it, women tend to be stronger in picking up on the small and sometimes minute signals that indicate someone isn’t happy. 

Our emotional culture influences employee satisfaction, burnout, teamwork, and even “hard” measures such as safety incidents, financial performance and absenteeism. 

The ability to manage and monitor your own emotions, interpret emotional cues from others and then use that information to inform your actions or response is fundamental for having teams that have healthy relationships that ensure they perform well together.

Noticing our own emotions and picking up on the feelings of others can help us understand how people relate to each other and keep our workplaces safe from physical or psychological harm.

If emotional intelligence is ignored, it can create a workplace that operates in survival mode. A workplace in survival mode tends to do things by the book with little energy or engagement and generates high stress and conflict.

One Welsh study linked emotional intelligence with management effectiveness noting a one per cent change in EI score had the potential to amount to a 25% increase in management effectiveness.

Stress in the workplace

When bosses are not emotionally intelligent, it can cause unnecessary stress on individuals within the team. When our body thinks its safety is at risk, our adrenal glands make and release the hormone cortisol into the bloodstream.

In the right amount, cortisol is designed to protect us and can last in our system for 26 hours. However, chronic stress can weaken immune systems, cause high blood pressure, headaches, severe fatigue, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and contribute to anxiety and depression.

Bank accounts for emotions

Think about EI as a bank account. 

When you have a positive interaction with an employee, work colleague, or business partner, a deposit is made into the emotional bank account. Likewise, when you punish, shame, blame or humiliate an individual, a withdrawal is made. 

Experts say that deposits into emotional bank accounts have a positive impact on business. When a withdrawal has been made from an emotional bank account, it can take 6-7 positive interactions to recover from a negative withdrawal.

Poor or misunderstood communication resulting from not identifying negative emotions, can account for as much as 40% of the total cost of managing a farming operation. As well as finance and production measures, studies have shown that farmers who exhibited high EI skills produced 2.7 times more profit. 

Self-awareness & leadership

Ever had one of those days where your emotions got the better of you? 

Did fear make you react out of character? Perhaps bitterness caused you to say things you later regretted? Or did anger cloud your judgement?

Is your energy supporting those around you? Is it lifting people up, or is it reducing them? As leaders, our mood can have a considerable impact on our team.

Leaders who are self-aware of the energy they bring to work contribute to better relationships with employees, leading to less need for performance management. Understanding the impact you have on those around you helps to breed productive conversations and connections.

Practicing emotional hygiene as a leader, is a key skill. When we make wrong decisions, errors in judgement or act inappropriately and attempt to cover up our mistakes, we give our team permission to do the same!

Set the example for how you want your employees to behave. If you have flown off the handle or made an error, you need to take stock and role model the steps that show them how to remedy the situation.

Wear and tear

In farming, we are often in business with the people we love the most. At times, we would rather pull a tooth than have a tough conversation.

The full extent of emotional wear and tear can be seen in environments where the team must constantly scan for threats. Mental and emotional energy is expended to self-protect rather than focus on.

Leaders who are emotionally flooded might win the argument but tend to lose the person in the process. Employee wellbeing should be a priority, not just a perk. 

Emotionally healthy workplaces are more productive and focused. A team cannot be effective when they are using any bandwidth they have to make sure they don’t say or do the wrong thing. 

The low down

Maya Angelou once said that “people will forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

Acknowledging the production and profit potential of EI is one of the most powerful skills you have in your toolbox. Strengthen EI can help to keep you and your farm team safe from physical and psychological harm. It’s a game-changer. 

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