Team Emotional Intelligence 2.0: The Four Essential Skills of High Performing Teams

As organizations shift to depend more on team-based structures, the pressure to develop high-performing teams is more critical than ever. In the modern work environment, teams are expected to embrace change, navigate complexity, and collaborate well under pressure ―all while delivering exceptional results and forming productive relationships.

While it is crucial to have talented, bright people within a team, there is a dynamic that is even more essential to overall team effectiveness. This dynamic is “Team Emotional Intelligence” (Team EQ). While most people are familiar with emotional intelligence (EQ) when it comes to individuals, the power of how EQ relates to the entire team has not been well-understood until now.

Insights from the latest research on team emotional intelligence and TalentSmartEQ’s research trends from working with over 200 teams (with 2000+ team members) combine to bring EQ know-how to the team level. Team Emotional Intelligence 2.0 delivers practical strategies and showcases how an emotionally intelligent team is far more than the sum of its parts. This book focuses on the four key skill areas of Team EQ:

• Team Emotion Awareness
• Team Emotion Management
• Internal Team Relationships
• External Team Relationships

It delivers 53 strategies and a step-by-step process for increasing team EQ skills so team leaders and anyone who’s a member of a team can achieve peak performance and reach their goals.

Dr. Greaves, Evan Watkins, and their contributing team of experts begin with a life and death story of team failure that illustrates how emotions can drive team decisions and lead to disaster. They share a proven approach to helping teams understand Team EQ skills, build these skills into strengths, and use them to sustain positive momentum and achieve peak performance. Strategies for remote and hybrid teams working virtually offer targeted approaches to bonding, communicating, tough conversations, and decision making as modern workplaces transform.

Like she did with the best-selling Emotional Intelligence 2.0 (at 3 million copies sold and counting), Dr. Greaves and her team take complex concepts and translate them into easy-to-understand skills that can be used immediately and developed further over time. As organizations increasingly rely on getting work done through teams, the understanding and development of team EQ skills is more relevant and impactful than ever.

Dr. Jean Greaves, Ph.D., is an author, executive coach, and organizational psychologist who specializes in emotional intelligence in the workplace. She is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal Bestseller Emotional Intelligence 2.0, co-developer of the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal® suite of EQ assessments, and TalentSmartEQ’s Mastering Emotional Intelligence® training programs. Additional books include Leadership 2.0 and The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book. Dr. Greaves holds a Ph.D. degree in industrial/organizational psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University. Jean and her family reside in San Diego, CA

Evan Watkins began his career with TalentSmartEQ in 2014. During his seven years in emotional intelligence research and development and leadership training, he has served in a variety of roles including content creator and blogger, research analyst, and training program coordinator. A writer at heart, Evan holds a master's degree in Creative Writing from The New School and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Southern California. He currently resides in Solana Beach, CA. 

Additional Contributors: Dr. Greaves engaged and mentored a virtual team of experienced subject matter experts to contribute content and perspectives to this book, based on their career experiences as well as their role at TalentSmartEQ, including:

• David Brzozowski, Director of Training (Pittsburgh, PA)
• Sue DeLazaro, EVP of Programs (Chance, Maryland)
• Sheri Duchock, Director of Training (Carlsbad, CA)
• Howard Farfel, CEO (Del Mar, CA)
• Josh Rosenthal, Director of Training (San Diego, CA)