EQ Moment #2:
Miners Survive on Team EQ

Imagine facing what appears to be certain death for 17 days, in the dark and 90° heat, cooped up with 33 of your coworkers. The Chilean miners endured this hellish situation prior to their first contact from above ground. The secret to their success? Team EQ. There’s no better example of a work team rising—literally—from the darkest depths and triumphing over disaster. The group survived their ordeal because each individual was willing to put his own needs aside—and keep his emotions in check—for the good of the group. For the first 17 days, each man’s daily diet consisted of a small piece of tuna, a few scraps of rotting leftovers, a small sip of ultra-pasteurized milk (every two days), and a drink of oil-tainted water siphoned from the ground and machine radiators.

From the very beginning, these men formed a productive team and took bold steps to manage themselves, their emotions, and their situation. The group chose a leader, assigned sub teams to tasks such as searching for an escape, and established a majority rule voting system. Five of the 33 miners, employees of a different subcontractor, had formed their own separate camp until persuaded to integrate with the other men for the good of the group. The men consciously chose organization and balance for their life underground by keeping a schedule for sleeping, using truck and helmet lights sparingly as rewards to keep their spirits up, and honking vehicle horns every hour in the faint hope that someone might hear them. They told stories and even played practical jokes to lighten the mood and provide moments of emotional release.

Team EQ doesn’t require heroic acts from everyone involved. Instead, each team member contributing to the small things makes a difference, and improves the team’s response to the emotional challenges that inevitably surface in the face of crisis. Whether they knew it or not, each miner’s contribution ensured that the intense emotions of fear, panic, shock, and despair didn’t derail the group’s survival efforts.