| Course | D253 Values-Based Leadership |
|---|---|
| Task | Task 2 |
| Paper type | Emotional intelligence team guide |
| Length | About 800 words, 2 pages |
| Format | APA 7 |
| School | Western Governors University (WGU) |
| Program | MBA |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for D253 Task 2
Memorandum
To: Billing Support Team, Customer Care Center
From: Customer Service Manager
Date: September 29, 2026
Re: Emotional intelligence and how we will use it as a team
Why I Am Writing
I have now spent two weeks on the floor with you, listening to calls, sitting in on escalations and reading our survey comments. You handle some of the hardest conversations in the company: customers who have been billed twice, who have had service cut off, or who have already called three times. The skill that separates a good call from a bad one is often not product knowledge but how well we handle emotion, the customer's and our own. That skill has a name, emotional intelligence, and I want us to use a shared language for it. Researchers define it as the ability to perceive, understand, use and manage emotions (Mayer et al., 2008). A widely used leadership model divides it into four domains (Goleman et al., 2013). Below is what each means for our work, what I commit to as your manager and what I am asking of you.
Self-Awareness
What it is. Self-awareness is recognizing your own emotions as they happen and understanding how they affect your behavior. It includes knowing your triggers.
What it looks like here. Think of the call where a customer calls you incompetent in the first ten seconds. If you notice the flash of anger in your chest, you have a choice about what happens next. If you do not notice it, your tone decides for you. Several of you told me that the third angry call in a row is where your patience runs out; knowing that about yourself is self-awareness.
My commitment. I will tell you when I am under pressure, for example at month-end, so you are not guessing at my mood. I will also ask for your feedback on how I come across in huddles.
My request. After a difficult call, take ten seconds to name what you felt before you take the next one.
Self-Management
What it is. Self-management is controlling your emotional reactions, staying calm under pressure and adapting when things change.
What it looks like here. Our work requires what researchers call emotional labor: showing calm and courtesy even when you feel frustration, which can wear people down if they have no way to recover (Grandey, 2000). Self-management is not faking a smile. It is taking a breath before you answer, lowering your voice when the customer raises theirs and choosing words that move the call forward.
My commitment. I am adding a five-minute reset option after any call flagged as abusive, no questions asked, and I will support you in ending a call that turns abusive after one warning, as our policy allows.
My request. Use the reset when you need it, and tell me if the pace of the queue makes that impossible.
Social Awareness
What it is. Social awareness is understanding what other people feel and need, including what they do not say directly. Empathy is at its center.
What it looks like here. Last week I listened to a call in which a customer shouted about a late fee. Our colleague asked a quiet question, whether something had happened that month, and learned that the customer's spouse had been in the hospital. The call changed completely. Social awareness also applies inside the team: noticing when a colleague has had a rough morning.
My commitment. I will listen more than I speak in one-on-ones and ask what gets in the way of your work, not only how your numbers look.
My request. On escalated calls, try one question about the customer's situation before you explain the policy.
Relationship Management
What it is. Relationship management is using the other three domains to build trust, resolve conflict, give and receive feedback and work well as a team.
What it looks like here. It is how a call ends: with a clear next step and a customer who feels respected even when the answer is no. It is also how we handle conflict with each other, for example over who takes the transferred call at 4:55 p.m.
My commitment. I will give feedback privately and specifically, recognize good calls publicly and address conflicts early rather than letting them build. When I get something wrong, I will say so.
My request. Give each other feedback the same way: specific, timely and kind. If a colleague handles a call well, tell them.
How We Will Practice
Emotional intelligence is a set of skills, not a fixed trait, and skills improve with practice. Starting next month, our Tuesday huddle will include one recorded call, chosen with the agent's permission, that we will review together using the four domains: what the agent noticed, how they managed it, what they picked up about the customer and how they ended the call. I will take part in the same way, including by sharing my own mistakes. My door is open, and I would welcome your ideas for making this useful rather than one more meeting.
References
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence (Updated ed.). Harvard Business Review Press.
Grandey, A. A. (2000). Emotional regulation in the workplace: A new way to conceptualize emotional labor. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5(1), 95-110. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.5.1.95
Mayer, J. D., Salovey, P., & Caruso, D. R. (2008). Emotional intelligence: New ability or eclectic traits? American Psychologist, 63(6), 503-517. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.63.6.503
What the D253 Task 2 instructions ask
For the second D253 task you write a document that helps a team understand and use emotional intelligence. Many versions ask you to address a specific audience, explain the four domains, give examples of each in that audience's work and describe how the team will build the skills. Evaluators look for definitions that are accurate and sourced, examples that belong to the setting you describe rather than generic workplaces, and a tone suited to the readers. Because the task sits in a values-based leadership course, the leader's own behavior matters, and a guide that asks staff to change while the writer stays the same misses that point. A plan for practice turns the guide from a lecture into something the team can use. Keep the format readable, with headings for each domain.
How this D253 Task 2 example is built
The guide is written as a letter from the manager, which sets a warm, direct tone. It begins with why the topic matters on this team: the hardest calls turn on emotion, not product knowledge. Each domain follows the same pattern, a short definition, what it looks like on a call and the manager's own commitment. Self-management introduces research on emotional labor and explains why recovery time matters. Social awareness uses a real-seeming call in which a quiet question about a late fee revealed a family crisis. Relationship management covers how calls end and how the team handles conflict over late transfers. The practice section describes a Tuesday huddle that reviews one recorded call through the four domains. Notes beside the guide explain which rubric aspect each part answers.
Where the D253 Task 2 rubric puts the marks
Each D253 Task 2 aspect is rated competent, approaching competence or not evident. A definitions aspect checks that the four domains are described accurately with a scholarly source. An application aspect looks for examples drawn from the audience's actual work, and generic scenarios tend to stop at approaching competence. An audience aspect asks whether tone, length and format suit the readers named in the task. The leadership aspect rewards a writer who models the behavior, which the sample shows through a commitment under each domain. A development aspect wants a concrete way for the team to practice. Professional communication covers organization, clarity and mechanics, and a sources aspect expects APA citations for the framework and any research on emotional labor. Evaluators notice when the guide could be handed to a real team as written.
D253 Task 2 help: what sends it back
Papers on this task often define the domains well and then offer examples from nowhere in particular. Choose one team and write every example from its daily work. Some guides read like textbook summaries addressed to no one, so write to your readers directly. Another common gap is a leader who asks staff to manage emotions without saying how the leader will do the same. Add your own commitments and keep them specific. Practice plans can be vague, such as encouraging reflection, when evaluators want a routine with a time and a method. Watch the claims you make about emotional intelligence and performance, since the research is mixed. Keep the guide short enough that a busy team would read it, and cite the framework you use in APA style.
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D253 Task 2 questions, answered
What are the four domains of emotional intelligence in D253?
Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management, the model popularized by Goleman and colleagues. The first two concern understanding and managing yourself; the second two concern understanding and working with others.
Who is the audience for the D253 Task 2 guide?
Usually a team you lead or could lead. The sample writes to a customer service team, so every example comes from their calls, and the tone is that of a manager speaking to colleagues rather than a lecture.
Is the D253 team real?
No. The manager, team and calls are a composite written to show the task. The emotional intelligence framework and the research on emotional labor are real and cited in the references.
How should D253 Task 2 describe practice?
As a routine with a time and a method. The sample adds one recorded call to a weekly huddle and reviews it through the four domains, with the manager sharing her own mistakes too.
Where can I find a free D253 Task 2 sample paper?
The customer service team guide is printed above with a note on each part. Describe the team you would write for, and your first custom D253 Task 2 guide will be drafted free.