Often decisions are made at a high level in an organisation and then cascade down through the layers. Unfortunately, not all people will leverage their Emotional Intelligence and go through the five steps of the EI process in every situation.
We can’t force people to be emotionally intelligent. We can’t force people to do anything they don’t choose to do.
So, when decisions are made at a level higher than us, are we able to still Feel It and Ask It with our teams if it has already been made and we are being told to just Drive It?
How the EI process should work
A top decision maker has several people reporting directly to them, creating the second level of management, and the organisational structure flows from there, with the second level having direct reports from the third level, the third level having direct reports from the fourth level and so on until they reach the community.
When the process begins at the very top level, we hope that the top decision maker leverages their emotional intelligence and owns the reality that this is a problem and requires action. All the emotions relating to this would then surface and the top decision maker would need to face each emotion, acknowledge and process it so that they can clear it and move forward.
Once this occurs, the top decision maker gets out of their own head and engages their direct reports in a conversation of Feel It. This might include open discussions around the current state, possible solutions, a better understanding of how it works and the impacts, and then everyone’s thoughts, concerns and opinions in relation to the challenge.
Ask It is when the logical questions kick in for both the top decision maker and their direct reports:
- ‘What is the core problem here?
- Why is it important and what is the impact?
- How will we fix it?
- Who will be involved?
- When is the best time for this to occur?’
Once all questions are asked and answered, at some point the top decision maker has to pull rank, make a final decision and give direction to Drive It.
Any decision made isn’t necessarily going to be agreed upon by everyone involved but either way, a decision has to be made and agreed upon as a leadership team. As leaders, it is their responsibility that once the decision is made, they must be 100 per cent on board with the outcome. The slightest crack or hesitation that they are not 100 per cent in agreement or on board will be picked up on by the teams and they too won’t be on board, and this will cascade through every level.
Once the Drive It step has occurred, the time for that layer of leaders to challenge and question is over, and the EI process starts again. It’s now time for the second level managers to return to step 1 and own the reality of the situation and that the decision has been made.
Fresh emotions will now arise based on what they think of the final decision. Regardless of the emotion, it’s time to face all emotions, and acknowledge and process them so they can get out of their own head and move forward into Feel It and Ask It, to cascade the decision to their direct reports, and so on through the layers of the organisation.
Where things often go wrong
Often, we don’t restart the process and Own It and face the reality of the decision ready to Feel It and Ask It with our teams. We turn around to our direct reports, frustrated at the outcome — because it is not what we think it should be — or we’re simply still in the Drive It step in our head and just tell them to Drive It without even attempting to Feel It or Ask It.
Our direct reports are not on board or satisfied with this and start to push back, trying to get us to Feel It and understand the impact it will have on them and the frontline. They will try to Ask It to get answers to all their concerns and questions. They aren’t aware of the previous conversations or process that has occurred; all they are hearing is ‘just do it’. But instead of us following the evolution of the process, starting at step 1 and moving through each step with them, we respond with ‘I’ve tried already; there’s no use, just do it!’
Our direct reports, now as frustrated as we are, sadly turn around and do the same thing to the next layer down. This process continues down through the layers or ranks until it hits the community, and they push back only to be told, ‘It is what it is.’
What other choice did they have when the decision was already made?
Regardless of where we sit in the decision-making and communication process, there is always the chance to Feel It and Ask It because the process starts again each time a decision is made. We are owning the new decision, the new reality of the situation.
When we turn to our direct reports and communicate the decision, we let them know the current reality of the situation, but we can still ask them:
- ‘How do you feel about this?
- Do you have any concerns?
- Are there any questions you would like to ask?
- Given we all must own the reality of the situation, how do we work together to make it work?
- What do we have control over here and what approach will we take together?’
To pass the buck and say, ‘I had no choice by the time it reached my level’ is wrong and lacks EI. When it becomes our communication, we always have the opportunity to start the emotional intelligence process again and reset at our level.
