The Whole Team Needs Leadership-Grade EQ - Not Just Leaders

Typical leadership training is focused on self awareness and building communication skills in order to work more effectively with others. And these high EQ traits are necessary for effective leadership.

With the increasing flatness of organizations and the growing importance of working in teams, the need for individual contributors to effectively communicate and collaborate in cross-functional initiatives has grown exponentially. It's been my experience that successfully participating in cross-functional teams requires the same “leadership” grade communication skills and EQ to be effective.

Team collaboration -- across functions and across borders -- is challenging in the best of circumstances given the number of people involved. Even those who are not in formal team leadership roles still must effectively represent their functions, contribute their ideas and proactively solve problems in order for the team to deliver needed business results. This kind of collaboration requires everyone to have “leadership” grade EQ and communication skills, not just those holding management positions.

The good news is that knowing yourself, respecting the points of views of others and empathy in the workplace aren’t such complex and radical ideas in and of themselves. This isn’t quantum mechanics or theoretical physics where only a chosen few can effectively grasp and apply the concepts. 

Every professional can and needs to develop his/her EQ, communication and empathy skills from day one. EQ skills take time, even years, to effectively learn, apply and refine. There is no downside in training all team members the principles and allow them to begin practicing at the start of their careers.

Why did we start AptiTeam?

The idea for AptiTeam grew from our experiences as mothers of young sons and as working professionals.  Today, most work is accomplished through interactions with colleagues and co-workers. Therefore, while academic achievement and acquiring today’s technical skills are both necessary, those alone are not sufficient for success.

Over our careers we’ve participated in numerous management and leadership seminars and trainings designed to teach us about our own strengths, the strengths of others and the skills necessary for productive collaboration and team management.

Given the criticality of these non-technical, collaboration skills, it occurred to us, “Why do we wait until a person becomes a manager to introduce skill building in this area?”  Kids -- especially those in their middle school years -- also need the opportunity to identify and appreciate their own strengths, as well as appreciate the skills and strengths of others. They need to learn how to participate on a team comprising unique talents and abilities, and learn how to design and lead these teams as well.

We believe students can be offered team collaboration training in an age appropriate way and by building these skills will see benefit in both their academic careers in the short term, and their professional or entrepreneurial endeavors in the long term.

What is AptiTeam?

AptiTeam is a middle and high school student enrichment program which develops the communication, collaboration and EQ skills needed to succeed in today’s team-driven, collaborative environment.

Thecutting edge, age-appropriate curriculum was built in active partnership with both leading edge management coaches and educators.  Based on team collaboration and leadership principles valued by today’s most successful companies, AptiTeam utilizes engaging online and onsite learning experiences to bring concepts alive for a teen age student audience.

Accredited alums of the Aptiteam program are able to identify the positive talents and skills in themselves and appreciate the same in others. They have internalized the value that comes from active collaboration and understand how to put it in action. They are able to both lead and participate on teams in order to achieve a successful outcome. And these skills benefit the student now, in their academic careers and in their future college, corporate and entrepreneurial endeavors.