Leen Kawas, a biotech industry leader, highlights the importance of emotional intelligence and provides tips for leveraging EQ in the workplace.
Leading a team (or a company) during uncertain times means adopting a strategy that’s subject to change. For effective female leaders, an emotional intelligence component plays an increasingly key role in the solution. Biotechnology expert Leen Kawas highlights the ways leaders with high emotional intelligence can help elevate the workplace culture. She also offers guidance on using this leadership attribute during uncertain times.
Leen Kawas’ Multifaceted Biotech Experience
Leen Kawas is Propel Bio Partners’ Managing General Partner. This Los Angeles-based venture capital firm partners with start-up and early-stage biotechnology companies. These businesses typically require financial, technical, and operations support. Although Leen Kawas accepts all founders’ pitches, she is particularly interested in those from women and minorities.
Prior to her current role, Leen Kawas excelled as another biotech’s Chief Executive Officer (or CEO). During her time at the firm, she managed multiple complex drug development cycles. She also oversaw Athira’s successful initial public offering (or IPO) in September 2020. Taken together, Leen Kawas’ two executive roles have prepared her to be an effective leader in today’s complex business landscape.
Emotional Intelligence: The Key to Workplace Cohesion
Today, the term “emotional intelligence” plays an increasingly integral role in many United States companies’ operations. Emotional intelligence is also called “emotional quotient” or simply “EQ.” This attribute refers to an individual’s ability to comprehend and manage their emotions in a positive manner.
In the workplace, positive emotion management can prepare an individual to engage in effective communication. They are better equipped to manage stress and effectively resolve workplace conflicts. High-EQ workers are also sensitive to their colleagues’ emotions and feelings. When productively applied, these attributes often result in more engaged workers and improved team performance.
For perspective, certain researchers believe emotional intelligence is inherent in an individual’s makeup. Other researchers think emotional intelligence can be cultivated and nurtured over time. Either way, leaders with high emotional intelligence can more successfully navigate workplace human dynamics along with operations logistics.
How Female Leaders Can Effectively Use Emotional Intelligence During Uncertain Times
Navigating business uncertainty requires a leader to utilize their entire toolbox of management skills. Surprisingly, Leen Kawas says high emotional intelligence can play an integral role in resolving challenges that arise.
Common Sources of Business Uncertainty
Operating a business isn’t like solving an equation with well-defined variables and a single answer. For perspective, a company owner regularly navigates business challenges impacted by internal and external factors that can change with little warning. Here, Leen Kawas discusses three types of business uncertainty.
Financial Uncertainty
Businesses in every industry can encounter financial uncertainty. A company can face fluctuating revenues, cash flow problems, and expense management challenges.
A business can unexpectedly see its investor funding decrease. This can potentially lead to a reduction in key research and development initiatives. One or more of these issues can affect the company’s ability to conduct normal operations.
Economic Uncertainty
Large-scale economic challenges can create varying degrees of uncertainty. Consumer demand for the company’s products can suddenly drop due to market conditions or other external developments. Inflation can substantially increase materials costs, leading to drastically reduced company profits.
Volatile interest rate movements can affect a company’s ability to obtain the cash necessary for equipment upgrades and/or business expansions. One or more of these factors can spur customers, employees, and/or investors toward more cautious behavior.
Cybersecurity Uncertainty
In today’s highly digital business landscape, companies rely on technology to conduct daily business operations. Unfortunately, increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals focus on penetrating business databases every day. These resourceful hackers may execute data breaches that mine sensitive customer data, often from thousands of victims.
Cyberattacks often target the company itself. Computer viruses, malware, and ransomware are common types of cyberattacks. These incidents could cause the company’s clients to balk at doing business with the firm again.
Emotional Intelligence as a Leadership Catalyst
Regardless of the uncertainty’s source, successfully navigating the situation requires an in-depth understanding of the challenge. A female business leader must also strongly focus on a viable solution that takes all relevant factors into account. Leading during uncertain times also requires ongoing attention to participants’ emotional states.
First, the leader should acknowledge (and manage) their own emotional needs. They should also be aware of team members’ emotional states and be ready to support them when needed. A leader with high emotional intelligence can apply those strengths to positively resolve the challenges before them.
3 Emotional Intelligence Skills are Key
Leaders who have well-developed emotional intelligence skills are better able to apply them during uncertain times. Leen Kawas emphasizes that a female leader who possesses these attributes is well-equipped to build team members’ trust. The leader is also ideally positioned to motivate team members and maintain productivity even during a challenging time.
Exploration of Empathy
To build empathy skills, the leader should look at a situation from another participant’s viewpoint. To illustrate, the leader should mention the challenge along with a feeling that might accompany the conflict. This acknowledgment may spur the person to share more of their perspective. In turn, this offers the leader an opportunity to empathize with their team member.
Development of Self-Awareness
Leaders should understand that their emotions can help sway key decisions along with the implementation specifics. An emotionally astute leader can identify emotions that improve (or detract from) their job performance. They can also pinpoint ways in which their emotions affect other team members. Over time, this self-awareness can help a leader adjust their reactions to emotion-related situations.
Cultivation of Interpersonal Relationships
When a leader maintains an interpersonal relationship with a colleague, accomplishing a goal or making a decision can be more difficult. From this perspective, the leader can understand that improving the relationship could enhance their (or the team’s) ability to reach the goal. Viewing the situation from the other person’s perspective, and implementing a strategy to enhance the relationship, can help create a breakthrough.
How High Emotional Intelligence Enhances Resilience
Female leaders with high emotional intelligence are ideally equipped to display resilience amid daunting challenges. These women have high self-awareness along with an ability to empathize with (and support) their team members. This enables cultivation of strong relationships, which is key to developing resilience. In addition, high-EQ female leaders can better manage stress and develop the clarity that helps them solve complex problems.
Leen Kawas says high-EQ female leaders’ ability to manage their emotional needs, and support team members’ emotional health, enables these leaders to recover from setbacks. Equally importantly, these attributes help these women to confidently and objectively chart a new path forward. This positive action sets the stage for professional and company growth.