Understanding the “emotional bank”

Great managers invest and withdraw wisely

Great managers understand that within any successful work relationship is the balancing act of an “emotional bank”. To get the utmost out of your team to achieve both the immediate targets and long term objectives, you will need to invest and withdraw wisely. Staff after all are the most important investors in any project, as without their contributions, goals and targets will never be met. For this reason you must constantly be aware of maintaining balance on the emotional bank scale.

You must maintain balance on of all emotional bank scales

Withdrawing too frequently, or without logic, will have your staff resenting their work and performing well below their natural peaks. Likewise failing to understand the need to invest in your staff by aligning their professional development and needs to those of your team’s goals will fast have you ending up with a demotivated team with lots of “I s” but little cohesive objective orientated work. Thus it is critical for managers to understand the necessity of investing into the team and an extremely helpful way to get this investment right is to view it as an emotional bank account, one you monitor regularly.

Monitor regularly your emotional bank accounts

Whilst investing is naturally the starting point of any emotional bank, withdrawing well, and as needed, is of equal importance. No manager will accomplish work goals without being able to call upon the willing assistance of their team. It is no coincidence that great managers often have “followers”, people who seem to standby their leader no matter what. These managers have invested in their staff, built up the people around them, and earned the right to ask for something back.  A great manager does not shy away from, or fear, asking for that extra help, if it is important to achieving a set objective because they do so with the confidence that things are fair as they have been aware of the investment they have done into their staff.

Good emotional investments, give you the right to ask for things back.

So from here on judge the emotional and practical side of work relationships you have with your staff like you do your own bank account. Monitor it carefully and take stock regularly that things are balanced. In good times make sure to invest and in challenging ones rely on the support that comes from being able to make withdrawals. By taking control of the emotional bank you have with staff, you will be one step closer to being the leader you need to be.

See all work relationships within the context of an emotional banks.