Love Love Me Do: The role of emotional intelligence in organisations and why it should be a priority for leaders
We kick off this season of the podcast with a #CommsHero speaker who has built her own legion of fans dubbed The Crown Jules. Jules Loveland (MCIPR) is currently a Communications Manager in the not-for-profit sector, with over 20 years experience in media and comms. A passionate advocate of the role of emotional intelligence in communications, Jules started her career in video production before segueing into website project management, allowing her to hone her writing skills for digital alongside developing her abilities in marketing & PR, leadership development and project management. Marrying strategy with storytelling, she is a content Queen, maximising digital outputs.
If Jules’ name sounds familiar, it’s likely you heard her session on mental health in the industry at CommsHero. No surprise then that Jules is also a trained mediator, and was previously a counsellor, with specialisms in trauma and conflict resolution.
Jules sat down with our very own Asif Choudry to talk emotional intelligence, why it should be a priority for leaders, and the difference it makes to organisations, teams and communication. Does the term soft skills belie the importance of emotional intelligence? Is it another comms buzzword?
Jules Loveland (MCIPR)
As usual, Asif went in with the hard questions first to discover that Jules loves a lie in; is an Apple fan (those creative types); prefers the networking and connection of Twitter over IG and has been seduced by Wordle, though you’d never know it as she’s too cool to post her scores.
Luckily there was no need for Jules to whip out her conflict resolution skills, though it could have gone a different way had Asif disclosed his toast teepeeing…
Key topics
It’s the ability to recognise, understand, manage and use emotion both in yourself and in your interactions with other people. Though it may seem like another word to add to your Covid comms bingo cards, it actually came to prominence in the late 90s through Daniel Goleman who argued EG was more important than IQ.
Says Jules: “There are five pillars: self-awareness; self-regulation; motivation; empathy and social skills. They give us the tools we need to be better humans and forge better relationships.”
Jules explains: “It gives us the ability to understand and connect with fellow human beings, and the core of any good comms – internal, marketing, PR is the ability to really understand your audience and to be able to communicate appropriately with them. That starts with listening.
“Are you equipped to be a good listener if you don’t have empathy, self awareness and good social skills? Communicators have a responsibility to be the best humans they can be.”
She cites the Ovo energy ‘tips’ as a prime example of how intention must be underpinned by emotional intelligence in order to communicate with audiences.
It’s intrinsic to being human. Says Jules: “We need to make it a priority; we’ve moved beyond broadcasting messages on behalf of brands and are now in a new era of authentic connection.
“In the workplace, it’s a cultural issue so it must start with Senior Leadership and the why. Senior Leaders must model it and help to embed throughout the organisation. It gives senior leaders a chance to show they want to create an environment that is good for people’s mental health.”
We can build on it by offering training opportunities and measuring progress, says Jules.
Are you even a communicator if your answer to this question isn’t Brené Brown?
“Outside of the public sphere,” comments Jules, “a former manager who gave feedback and boundaries, and held up a mirror to my behaviour.”
Their modelling of great emotional intelligence set our Jules on the path to self reflection.
Good news, it’s easy! Jules explains: “it doesn’t have to be an extensive training course.
“Trauma can be a blocker, but therapy or counselling can help.
“A few years ago I started writing a book of me.
“A book of reflection; a journal; a reminder on your phone can all help with self reflection and self regulating. We need to expel stress from our bodies. We need to try to stay in reality.”
As CommsHero approaches its eighth birthday, Jules recommends CommsHero week: “the best conference I’ve ever been to!” As for the CommsHero Twitter community, approaching 13K: “an incredible community of communicators, genuine friendship and a wealth of knowledge.”
The show notes are the creation of friend of #CommsHero Teela Clayton.
Resources
Daniel Goleman – Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ
Ovo energy tips controversy
Jules Loveland at CommsHero 2021 – Mental Health Matters
Surrounded by idiots – Thomas Erikson
Follow CommsHero on Twitter to join in on conversations of all things #Comms.
Look out for our CommsHero merch giveaways to get your hands on one of our notebooks to start your own Book of ME.
To join The Crown Jules, contact Carly Cook. Disclaimer: cool CommsHero-style merch not yet available.
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This episode is sponsored by Blink. The world’s first enterprise app designed exclusively for frontline workers.
