Emotional Intelligence and Strategic Planning
This month, EFBC-er Danielle Reidel, was inspired to write about the nuances of how EI is woven throughout every fiber of EFBC. Read below her insights.
A quick visit to our website, you are met with our menu, and one of the first two items you will see is a link to an entire page dedicated to Emotional Intelligence (EI). What sets EFBC apart from other peer organizations is the deeply rooted understanding and appreciation of EI. EI allows us to manage our emotions, while understanding the emotions of everyone we meet.
In June of this year, with the onboarding of a new Board of Directors, we had time to brainstorm and evaluate the mission, vision, and values of the organization. The board developed five, unique strategic goals to implement over the next three to five years and woven throughout those strategic goals is EI. Check out our strategic plan and goals here.
We had an opportunity to not only talk and plan programming, but to ask the question “Why?” Why do spend so much time and money executing, planning, and organizing our educational and social programs for our members? What do we want members to take from our programs? How do we want members to feel at our events and after?
An outcome of EI is improved leadership. Through our high impact educational programming, we work to cater our programs that leave members with tangible action items, that they can take back with them to their organizations for them to be successful. For example, we are in the final stages of planning a spring keynote program, for May of 2024, and, hopefully, the goal is that when we bring in a speaker to talk about accountability in leadership that our members will leave feeling inspired and energized. The discussion for who to choose as a speaker came down to content. We want to know what our members are asking about. What are they talking about with their peers? All these conversations drive our programming.
Peer groups. It’s what we do. It’s what separates EFBC from other organizations. Our peer groups are deeply rooted in EI and protocol. Our peer groups create a safe, confidential space for members to open up and gain shared experience from each other to help them work through the problems that are keeping them up at night. EFBC has a high retention rate, about 90% of our members remain with us year after year, and a large part of this is in large part to our peer group model. Membership relationships at EFBC run deep and the Board determined that ensuring the health of these groups is maintained to be a priority and discussed at length how they planned to do this. Our forum director took this goal and developed a plan to “elevate” the health of these groups. Are members leaving these groups? Are they adding new people to freshen up experiences? Are members expressing satisfaction with the organization? When members have a successful peer meeting, they go back to their companies energized and excited to face the tasks ahead of them. Peer groups optimize opportunities to work on the business rather than in the business.
Lastly, with the discussion of these strategic points coming to an end, the last and most important piece of the puzzle is organizational affinity. That is, one’s deep-rooted connection and loyalty to the group to which they subscribe. Group members share common interests and goals. We know our members stay here. But we want to know why, and we want to ensure to keep that up as we move from year to year. We want them to exude how they feel about the organization to hopefully refer future members to us. They can be open with colleagues and share the ways in which EFBC has helped them. When someone confides in them, “it’s lonely at the top”, our members can empathize and demonstrate the actionable ways EFBC membership has helped them.
EI is sprinkled throughout our entire organization. It is who we are and what we do. At the staff and committee level, in our programs, with our peer groups; we are our biggest supporters and cheerleaders and truly committed to the growth and development of our members. Our members have expressed how being a part of this organization has grown them not only in their businesses but holistically improved their lives. We’ve heard direct testimonials that EFBC membership has improved the lives of our members and their families, their spouses and children, their relationships with friends and peers; that it has been life changing. We truly feel this is in direct result of our commitment to and understanding of the importance of Emotional Intelligence. Interested in learning more about membership? Check out our join now page, don’t wait!