Know Yourself to Know Your Team

As a new vice president of professional services at a US technology firm, Percy Rotteveel was charged with leading a newly merged consulting team. For months, he led in a typical fashion, with structure and directives focused on imposing scale within a startup culture. 

It wasn’t until he walked into his annual review, polished slides and bold demands at the ready, only to be told what his team needed was not a better version of the leader he presented as, but more the actual person underneath. 

That moment, he says, changed the way he saw himself as a leader. “Strategy stopped being a document I produced and started being a way I showed up.”

In 2025, he took part in Haskayne’s Strategic Leadership Development Program (SLDP), where a module on emotional intelligence is offered by Dr. Fred Jacques, PhD. 

Jacques, an adjunct associate professor, explains that the concept of emotional intelligence--to develop an understanding of individual personal management style; how, as a leader, that person sees their role within an organizational structure, while at the same time clueing in to the personalities of the people on their team. 

“As humans, we naturally impact each others’ emotions,” explains Jacques. “A leader’s emotions have a more significant impact as their mood can quickly become the mood of the entire team.”

And this can cut both ways, he says. “A leader in a positive emotional state can help to create a healthy, optimistic mood in their group; a leader prone to moodiness or negativity will likely see that reflected in the tone and interactions within their team. This relates to a concept called ‘emotional contagion’, which explains how we can ‘catch’ emotions from others. If the leader is stressed out, the team is too. If the leader’s checked out the team’s checked out.”

Jacques, who has been with Haskayne School of Business since the late 1990’s, focuses his work on leadership and emotional intelligence and offers the module to participants who undertake the SLDP, as well as within other programs at Haskayne. The SLDP program offers leaders at every level a straightforward, flexible way to enhance their leadership skills, either within a cohort or individually, custom designed to fit specific needs.  

Jennifer Tempro also enrolled in the SLDP program and says that although she understood that emotional intelligence was important, she likely would have described it as a complementary leadership skill rather than a core one. What shifted for her was realizing just how central it is.

Tempro, director in the president’s office at United Way of Calgary and Area, credits  Jacques and the course with validating skills she had been practicing instinctively, building confidence at a time when she needed it. “It pushed me to trust my gut more and to see that this is a skill not everyone naturally has. Instead of second guessing it, I am now much more intentional about leaning into it and putting it at the forefront of how I lead.” 

Through the module, one on one coaching with Jacques, and the self-evaluation exercises, she says she was also able to recognize the strengths she already brings to her role. 

“In practice,” says Tempro, “emotional intelligence shows up in how I approach conversations and relationships at work. Taking the time to understand where someone is coming from and how they are experiencing a situation can completely change the outcome. It builds trust, creates more honest dialogue, and ultimately leads to better decisions.”

Percy Rotteveel, who today helms his own Alberta-based security consultancy, now understands that expressing vulnerability does not weaken authority; rather, it anchors it. “I had spent a career believing the opposite,” he says. “Once I let a few imperfections be seen on purpose, the pressure to perform dropped, the decisions got faster, and the people around me got braver.” 

“I began opening meetings by naming the things I had not figured out yet,” he recalls. In short order, “the work got better. More tellingly, the consultants told me afterwards that they felt protected. None of my earlier frameworks had produced that.”

Jennifer Tempro echoes those thoughts. “Leadership is about people, and if you cannot truly understand the people you are leading, it becomes much harder to be effective.”

“Being an effective, present leader requires self awareness and self care. Taking that time is not selfish, it is strategic. To properly lean into your own emotional intelligence, and to use it to strategically lead a team, you need to be at your best. You show up differently in conflict when you are in a good place yourself. You listen better, respond more thoughtfully, and keep the conversation productive.”

About Haskayne Executive and Professional Development
Executive and Professional Development (EPD) at the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business equips leaders and organizations with the capabilities to navigate complexity, lead with confidence, and drive measurable impact Through open-enrolment and customized programs, EPD delivers practical, evidence-based learning that strengthens leadership, strategy, and organizational performance. Online info sessions are scheduled in June and are currently open for registration.