Type A Personalities and the Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Teams

The beautiful thing about working in an office environment is that you interact with different kinds of people with varying personality types and temperaments. As an efficient worker or team leader, it can help to become aware not just of the personality types of the people you work with, but also your own personality type. Self awareness goes a long way in improving interpersonal relationships in the work environment.

One of the most common personalities discussed in the office is the type A personality. Type A’s are generally regarded as impatient, competitive workaholics that bring urgency to everything they participate in.

Whether you’re a Type A personality or not, it can often be hard to interact with and understand other people without emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence in the workplace is what makes it possible for you to accommodate others’ excesses to a reasonable degree and make decisions with other people in mind.

Displaying an understanding of emotional intelligence increases a person’s chances of success in interpersonal workplace relations. However, some personality types may find it more difficult to display emotional intelligence than others. One of these personality types is Type A.

Type A personalities, despite their strengths, may struggle with emotional intelligence in teams, but with proper guidance and digital coaching, they can learn to harness the power of emotional intelligence to build stronger, more productive teams.

This article takes a deeper dive into Type A personalities and how emotional intelligence can help them cultivate better relationships.

Understanding Type A Personalities

While it may be difficult to understand a Type A personality at first, it is nowhere near impossible.

Characteristics of Type A personalities

• Independent: These people can easily carry out tasks on their own without help. Sometimes, they do better without supervision and are quick to manifest leadership qualities.
• Driven: No matter the kind of task or project, Type A personalities are very committed and driven.
• Practical: A Type A personality individual is often able to come up with practical solutions to problems through their critical thinking skills.
• Serious: Type A’s are very focused and are more prone to using most of the time to get work done. They get their fulfilment from the completion of their tasks and projects.

The impact of Type A personalities on teams

Type A personalities bring a sense of urgency to teams that may not always be comfortable. While it is good to have dedicated and efficient members in a team, it can become difficult to cope with them if they constantly bring undue pressure and intimidation to them.

On the other hand, when managed properly, type A personalities are great at helping teams achieve their goals on time and with optimum results.

The strengths and weaknesses of Type A personalities in teams

Strengths

• Type A personalities are more motivated to accomplish all tasks inspired by challenges.
• They are fast decision makers who are great at strategising.
• They do not shy away from leadership positions.
• They are great multitaskers.

Weaknesses

• Taking on more projects that lead to stress.
• They are quick to respond with hostility or irritation at any hint of confrontation.
• They constantly neglect their mental health for work.
• They are prone to conditions like hypertension.

Emotional Intelligence in Teams

Contrary to popular opinions, emotional intelligence is not just about being sweet and nice all the time. It is the ability of a person to recognise emotions both in themselves and in the people around them.

In today’s world, emotional intelligence is one of those things that separate true leaders from the population. The more able you are to master your emotions and recognise the emotions of the people around you, the more likely you are to succeed in the workplace.

The benefits of emotional intelligence in teams

Emotional intelligence is great in any environment because it can help you cope and communicate better with people. When we realise that everyone has both negative and positive characteristics of their own, it becomes easier to come up with innovative ways to handle their more extreme traits. This does a lot to improve the relationships among team members. It also increases patience and cooperation.

The Challenges of Type A Personalities and Emotional Intelligence

Due to their intense, extroverted nature, Type A personalities are very likely to struggle with emotional intelligence in teams. This manifests itself in the way they are more likely to respond with irritation or anger at even the slightest hint of disagreement. They tend to view any question about their work as an attack and are quick to get on the defensive. This can make it difficult to see things from other perspectives and understand where their team members are coming from.

Common challenges Type A personalities face with emotional intelligence

Type A personalities tend to exude a sense of urgency that may stress out everyone around them. It becomes worse if they work in a fast paced environment that prioritises achievement and competition, they tend to ignore how their team members feel.

In a job that already creates stress for workers, people with Type A personalities may lose their patience more often and respond with more aggression than they intend. Their innate traits become exaggerated by the environment around them.

The impact of these challenges on team dynamics and performance

The downside to these kinds of traits is that they negatively affect team dynamics and performance. Team members become less inclined to express themselves and make their opinions known for fear of being met with aggression or an attack. This makes it difficult for people to work together and complete tasks efficiently.

Utilising Digital Coaching to Enhance Emotional Intelligence in Teams

Digital coaching is a system that helps people achieve their goals and expectations through guidance from qualified professionals trained in those specific fields. Different people have separate things they want out of life. Digital coaches help to bring those things to reality by helping people discover problem areas and come up with solutions that help them live more fulfiling lives.

How digital coaching can help Type A personalities develop emotional intelligence

Digital coaches can work with Type A personalities to help them get a clearer understanding of their characters. This helps create a level of self awareness that makes it possible for them to control the more extreme parts of their personalities. This way, they are a lot more likely to develop traits that help them become emotionally intelligent and sensitive to the feelings and responses of the people around them.

The advantages of digital coaching over traditional coaching methods

The best thing about digital coaching is that it works with your schedule. Since the coaches are accessed online, you can easily come up with a schedule that is not constrained by geography or time. This makes it easier to gain access to resources that will help with your growth and development.

Best Practices for Improving Emotional Intelligence in Teams with Type A Personalities

You can build a healthy, fulfiling relationship with a Type A friend or coworker as long as you are both willing to work together and be understanding of your differing character traits

Encourage open and honest communication

Avoidance is not the best way to deal with a Type A personality as it only leaves room for misconceptions and misunderstanding. Instead, be open to honest communication that gives everyone an opportunity to speak their minds and listen.

Provide opportunities for personal and professional growth

In order to develop character traits that we are proud of, we need to first make the conscious decision to develop healthier traits. This means that we have to be serious with our personal and professional growth. Companies can assist by creating opportunities for workers to participate in personal and professional growth development projects.

Foster a positive and supportive team culture

Communication is the key to creating a healthy and supportive team culture. Let your team members know from time to time that you support them and that you are open to discussing ways to build a better relationship.

Digital coaching is one of the best ways of improving emotional intelligence among team members, irrespective of their personalities. Digital coaches are able to give unbiased opinions of workplace dynamics, making it easier for them to suggest healthy solutions that benefit everyone in the long run.

Conclusion

Emotional intelligence is necessary in every work environment to ensure that good relationships exist among team members. It would be almost impossible to get things done in the workplace if there are constant conflicts among workers.

Type A personalities can be very effective in enhancing emotional intelligence in the workplace because they have a way of influencing the people around them. Digital coaching can make this process easier for everyone.