A641.5.3.RB - ICT at the Team Level

Using the concepts within ICT focused on the team level, reflect on why the Olympic US Women’s Soccer team won so often and the United States’ men’s basketball Dream Team did so poorly in 2000 and 2004?

Intentional Change Theory (ICT) provides valuable insight into the ability for both individuals and teams to meet their potential and support success through an understanding of the power of intentional change. Whether team development is happening within an organization or on a sports team, in order to maintain sustained and desired change, the team needs to develop and maintain a shared vision, team identity, and multiple levels of resonant leadership (Boyatzis, 2010). Intentional change on a team level can only be sustainable and effective if the members within that team find balance and cohesion between their shared visions and motivators. Without these shared foundations, sustainable intentional change becomes difficult, if not impossible.

As mentioned in the prompt, the 2000 and 2004 Olympic US Women’s soccer team was very successful whereas the men’s basketball team was not. One standout reason why that might be is that the soccer team had been in the performing stage of development far longer than the men’s basketball team. These women had played together in many arenas beyond the Olympics and had already formed those resonant relationships with one another. As the first professional women’s soccer team, they also had an emergent awareness of shared hope that continued to motivate them to achieve more and reach their ideal purpose. Just like champion athletes develop and use an image of themselves performing at their peak in preparation for competition, there is power in focusing on a desired end" (R. Boyatzis & Kohlrieser, 2017). The US Women's team knew what they came to the world stage for, and they weren't leaving without it.

The United States Men’s Basketball team (known as the Dream team) struggled in the Olympics in both 2000 and 2004. The 2004 team lost to Puerto Rico in one of the biggest upsets in Olympic basketball history and will forever be marked as the one that brought home bronze instead of gold (Maisonet, 2017). One difference in the success of the teams may lie in how the teams were developed. According to Mark Cuban (2004), the 2004 Olympic team consisted of various all-stars and resembled nothing close to a unified or cohesive team. In fact, many of the players were accustomed to being opponents during their regular NBA season. "The stark reality of Team USA was that throwing a random assortment of basketball players with a "name" head coach into a situation they were wholly unprepared for didn't work" (Maisonet, 2017). Viewing this issue in the light of ICT, the coaches assembled teams of individuals who were had very highly skilled but were not provided the knowledge to adapt their skills on an international level. Another reason the men's team may have done so poorly was their negative outlook. The men's basketball team were riddled with personality and power struggles, causing much tension throughout the team. The balance between positive and negative emotions also play a significant role in the success and ability to change because positive attractors pull team members toward their shared purpose or vision, allowing them to experience hope as a group and focus on the possibilities, while negative attractors add balance by encouraging team members to reflect and explore alternative ways of taking action (Akrivou, Boyatzis, McLeod, 2006).

Resources:
Akrivou, K., Boyatzis, R. E., & Mcleod, P. L. (2006). The evolving group: Towards a prescriptive theory of intentional group development. Journal of Mgmt Development Journal of Management Development, 25(7), 689-706.

Boyatzis, R. (2010). Coaching Teams for Sustained, Desired Change. In The Coaching Kaleidoscope: Insights from the inside (pp. 168-181). Palgrave Macmillan.

Boyatzis, R., & Kohlrieser, G. (2017, February 21). The Five Stages of Intentional Change Theory – Key Step Media. Key Step Media. https://www.keystepmedia.com/intentional-change-theory/

Cuban, M. (2004). What’s wrong with team USA basketball? Retrieved from http://blogmaverick.com/2004/08/15/whats-wrong-with-team-usa-basketball/

Maisonet, E. (2017, October 3). The Miseducation of the 2004 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball Team. Bleacher Report. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2731575-the-miseducation-of-the-2004-us-mens-olympic-basketball-team

A641.4.3.RB - Tipping Points of Emotional Intelligence

The assigned article this week discussed the Tipping point of Emotional Intelligence.  

When was the last time you reached a ‘tipping point’ or had that ‘aha’ moment at work? A tipping point is “a point in time when an underlying pattern that has been going on for some time suddenly produces a large change." (Obolensky, 2014, p. 82).

When I was put in charge of managing the Sortie Support Section, I knew there was a lot to fix. We were responsible for the security, control, and accountability of equipment. However, the section was in a troubled state. The Quality Assurance pass rates were very low and morale was almost non-existent. Not to mention the fact that our customer service reputation was lacking. The support members would greet customers with irritability and slowly retrieve tools. Conflict between my members and our customers was a daily occurrence. I needed to fix it, but wasn't sure how. 

While reading a story in the book The Outward Mindset, I first got the idea to implement a new strategy in my section. The story in the book described how Bill Bartman built a debt collection company that figured out ways to help their clients make money. “They operate from the premise that their clients owe them money precisely because they don’t have enough money to pay them.” (The Arbinger Institute, p.61) This sparked an idea in me to find ways to help our customers and section.

I started with a dry-erase board and an outward mindset.  At the front counter where our customers stood to check out their tools, I hung a dry erase board and simply wrote “How can we make your job easier?”. I was fishing for ideas, changes, improvements that we could make. At first there was pessimism and hesitation. Finally, after a week of negative comments and complaints, real suggestions started to flow. We implemented the suggestions and our section began to improve as well as our relationship with our customers. Each time we completed a project, I would write it on the left with a check. Weeks went by and we received more and more suggestions and my team continued implementing them.

Boyatzis (2013) states the process of change is not a continuous one, it happens with these tipping points, around these moments of emergence. What moves us ahead in the intentional change process are tipping points that move us into the Positive Emotional Attractor or PEA.

We started to communicate. Not only, were the customers communicating their ideas with us, we were communicating with each other. Within a few months, we QA pass rates increased and the number of lost tools lessened. Our customers would come in with smiling faces and my Airmen would optimistically greet them while quickly retrieving whatever tools needed. The support Airmen also came up with a myriad of ideas to improve the section and benefit the customers. We shifted our organizational mindset from an inward one, to an outward mindset.

There was a tipping point in our workplace success.  " Emotional intelligence reflects one’s ability to manage the immediate situation successfully by applying available knowledge" (Prins et al., 2018, pp. 7).   I used the four components of Emotional Intelligence, namely self-awareness, self-management , social awareness skills, and relationship management to make a positive change in my section.  


References:
Boyatzis, R. E. (2006). Using tipping points of emotional intelligence and cognitive competencies to predict financial performance of leaders. Psicothema, Vol. 18, Suplem.1, 124-131. Retrieved from http://www.psicothema.com/psicothema.asp?id=3287
Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex adaptive leadership: Embracing paradox and uncertainty. Burlington, VT: Gower Publishing Company.
Prins, A., Niekerk, V. E., & Weyers, A. (2018). Emotional Intelligence: Tipping Point in Workplace Excellence. KR Publishing.

A641.3.3.RB - Emotional Intelligence: Getting Results!

Emotional Intelligence is a range of abilities which include self-awareness, emotional self-management, empathy, and social skills.  Each of the four dimensions apply to all of us in some form or fashion.  

Self-Awareness - 
Self-awareness is something that I think everyone possesses. However, I believe that we overestimate our ability to self-analyze our impact and positions on many different things, especially when our emotions are impacted.  Being self-aware of my own emotional state helps me talk with others and resonate with them effectively. I firmly believe it is vital to control of one's emotions prior to interacting and building bonds with others. Being self-aware also limits the amount of volatility with emotions and relationships. This, in turn, makes it easier to engage and correct any dissonance with a team.

A few books, specifically 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in my Head by Dan Harris, started my journey of self-awareness.  Meditation and mindfulness allow me to have thoughts without judgement and reactive emotions.  Furthermore, remaining in the present allows me not to focus on the past or future.  It lets me live in the moment and enjoy the present.  Meditation and mindfulness have also helped in times of stress realize that the situation may not be as extreme as it might appear.  It lets me to remain self-aware and regulate and control my emotions, thus building my emotional intelligence.

Self-Management - 
Whetten & Cameron describe emotional intelligence as "the ability to diagnose, understand, and manage emotional cues"(p.49) I've always been an emotional person and can easily able to recognize my emotions. Perhaps it's because I'm a woman, a mother or Italian but controlling my emotions seems to be a bit more difficult for me. As I've aged, though, I've noticed I can regulate my emotions, depending on the situation and environment. I believe that if I can control impulsive feelings and behaviors, manage my emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on commitments, and adapt to changing circumstances, it will only make me a better leader. I would also say that I am very good at recognizing others' emotions and empathize with them. Moreover, since beginning this program, I've learned to think critically about my emotions and responses to people and situations.

Social Awareness - One dimension I have improved in yet still have tons of room for improvement is social awareness. I have some trouble assessing certain situations and how to approach those situations. While I may not understand how to approach other situations, I freeze up and shut myself down. Most people do not know how to handle that, so it essentially leads to me being misunderstood. However, there is one aspect of social awareness I am great at. This aspect is empathy. I have an uncanny ability to put myself in someone else’s shoes and tell them exactly what they need to hear. In a way I can inspire them all thanks to my empathy.

Social Skills - The fourth element, social skill, is the ability to put the three previously discussed together and learn how to be a team player in handling relationships competently (Goleman, 2012).  As a kid, I was very shy and introverted.  When I joined the Air Force it was difficult to crack out of my "shell".  However, once I started getting promoted and put in positions with legitimate power, I realized I needed to step up to the plate to be the best Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) and Senior NCO I could be.  My determination allowed me to overcome obstacles such as my quiet personality.

While I feel that I have a pretty good grasp on Emotional Intelligence and I have definitely improved, I also understand that I have many things to learn in this area and that this is something that requires my attention every day. For example, sometimes instead of addressing problems, I avoid them. This avoidance obviously does not help my ability to be social and develop my skills.

 All in all, I still have a long way to go in developing my emotional intelligence. I do not see this as a bad thing though. Instead, continuously working at this will allow me to fully develop my skills. Doing so will allow me to use these tactics in all facets of life which could help me tremendously.

References:
Big Think. (2012, April 23). Daniel Goleman Introduces Emotional Intelligence | Big Think. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7m9eNoB3NU. 
Goleman, D. (2007) Daniel Goleman introduces emotional intelligence. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7m9eNoB3NU

Goleman, D. (2012). Why aren't we more compassionate? TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_goleman_why_aren_t_we_more_compassionate.

Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills (9th ed.). Essex, England: Pearson Education.