Emotional Intelligence and Motivation in The Military Sphere

Emotional Intelligence has been criticized for it vague system of assessment. But, it can play a vital role and can have a tremendous impact on how the workplace can be successful. When you can recognize the emotions that you project and how you internalize those emotions that you are a recipient of, there can be a good quality of performance that you can produce (TalentSource, 2017).

There are all sorts of walks in life for motivation, from self-motivation to the desire to do something just based off a potential reward. Sometimes self-motivation for any needs beyond yourself can be difficult to achieve and this can be noted within the workplace, according to Walumbwa, Wang, Wang, Schaubroeck & Avolio (2010). As sailors we get paid to perform task and career necessities, but sometimes the sailors engagement and morale can be low. Motivations in just not necessary, but also an achievement. Having continued engagement is necessary for the sailors, they need this to keep the fleet operating beyond adequate levels (Walumbwa et. al., 2010). So, the need to motivate the sailors beyond a paycheck becomes necessary.

Using positive reinforcement for a motivation tool is a reward for doing something well. This tool can be utilized when the individual performs beyond the leader’s expectations. Leaders can also use this positive reinforcement when they give certain tasks to only a few people, the can use this to help promote a friendly competition between the sailors. One example of positive reinforcement can be that if there is not much to do, so the leaders can put out that what little there is to do, if it gets done by a certain time then half or all but duty section can do home early.

As leaders in the military social skills are pretty much a requirement to handle or to even influence their sailors emotions. When you have leaders that excel in social skills and that posses the ability to get their sailor to support their vision and that are enthusiastic about meeting all goals and are not afraid to take on any new challenges when they arrive, these are the one that are very well balanced.

Having good communication skills is very important for leaders in any line of work. This is crucial for any leader when passing down information to their sailors. Leaders that have this kind of communication skillst are established firmly in self-esteem and they have personal confidence, they make good listeners, they are trustworthy and easy to talk to (SkillsYouNeed, 2011). Whenever you have stressful situations come up and you have a leader with mature social skills, they will be able to analyze the situation and make the best decision and resolve any conflicts that come up. All leaders are held accountable for the performance of their team. When the are looking at the areas that have a low performance, they do not respond in a negative way, they are able to communicate and express how they believe that their teams’ ability can improve, and they will focus their energy towards that goal.

Effective teams are not always easy to accomplish. Simple because building an effective team requires a certain number of building blocks put in place. Good leaders know that it takes an effective team to reach company goals. With teamwork and good collaboration with defined roles and responsibilities are the core of an effective team. We all know that competition exist, but it is up to the management team to ensure that the competition remains healthy and the teamwork stays the main priority for each member.

Leaders can do this by making sure that they roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, leaders should encourage collaboration. Leaders should be encouraging their sailors to work together and coaching them along the way. Leaders should be recognizing, and they should utilize the strengths of all their sailors. And in turn the sailors will feel valuable and that will lead to a heightened performance.

Being a leader in the military, you have to be creative when it comes to rewarding your sailors and trying to boost their motivation. Depending on where you work you can work out a work schedule. You can offer a shift schedule which offers every other weekend off and they only work 15 days out of the month. This gives them more time off and more time to spend with family. Leaders can offer different gatherings for the entire work place, cook out’s and holiday parties or different outings like bowling or amusement park. They can do sailor of the month and give them 24 hours off certificate.

Being a leader in the military you are not really giving a lot that you can do to reward your sailors, it’s pretty limited. Another way to find ways to boost motivation is to talk to your sailors. Find out what they would like to do and see done. That is the best way to get inside their heads.