Emotional intelligence has to do with one’s ability to both recognise and control their own emotions, while harnessing said emotions appropriately to have the most optimum reaction as situations dictate. It also has to do with one’s awareness of and sensitivity towards others’ emotions. Show Emotional intelligence is therefore an important characteristic for anyone at any level of an organisation but it is particularly important for those who occupy positions of leadership. A leader’s emotional intelligence can have sweeping influence over their relationships, how they manage their teams, and all in all how they interact with individuals in the workplace. What is emotional intelligence?Emotional intelligence or EI is the ability to recognise, understand and handle your own emotions, and those of the people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they are feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people. For leaders, having emotional intelligence is vital for success. Think about it: who is more likely to succeed at taking the organisation forward – a leader who shouts at their team when under stress, or one who stays in control of their emotions and those of others, and calmly assesses the situation? The original definition, as coined by the team of Salovey and Mayer (1990) is: emotional intelligence (EI) refers to the collection of abilities used to identify, understand, control and assess the emotions of the self and others. According to Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist who helped to popularize emotional intelligence, there are five key elements to it:
The more a leader manages each of these areas, the higher their emotional intelligence. Self-awarenessSelf-awareness means you are always fully aware of how you feel, and you understand the effect your feelings and your actions can have on the people around you. A self-aware leader maintains a clear picture of their strengths and weaknesses, and despite their position of authority and power still operates from a mindset of humility. Self-regulationSelf-regulation prevents you from abusing your privilege of leadership to attack and/or stereotype others and making hurried or whimsical decisions that compromise your values. It calls for you to keep control of your emotions and how they affect others as well as stay committed to personal accountability. MotivationSelf-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, motivate their employees and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work. They develop a healthy emotional connection to the results they seek from their efforts, harnessing them to drive them forward without being obsessive. EmpathyEmpathy is what allows you to put yourself in other people’s shows and consider their unique perspectives. Tis is very important when it comes to successfully leading a team or organisation. Leaders with empathy actively support the career and personal growth of their team members, offer criticism without crushing the recipient, and solicit regular feedback from their employees. Such leaders are what it takes to motivate employees to perform above expectations. Social skillsLeaders with good social skills are great at communication, which comes in very handy when it comes to getting their team pumped about a new project or objective. They are emotionally intelligent enough to receive both good and bad news with the same clarity of mind and this makes their subordinates confident enough to update them on anything. Leaders with good social skills are also great at planning, effecting and overseeing major changes in the workplace as well as resolving any arising disputes fairly and promptly. What happens when leaders are emotionally intelligent?Leaders who are emotionally intelligent foster safe environments, where employees feel comfortable to take calculated risks, suggest ideas and to voice their opinions. In such safe environments, working collaboratively isn’t just an objective , but it gets woven into the organisational culture as whole. When a leader is emotionally intelligent, they can use emotions to drive the organisation forward. Leaders often have the responsibility of effecting any necessary changes in the organisation, and if they are aware of others’ possible emotional reactions to these changes they are able to plan and prepare the most optimal ways to make them. Furthermore, emotionally intelligent leaders don’t take things personally and are able to forge ahead with plans without worrying about the impact on their egos. Personal vendettas between leaders and employees are one of the commonest hindrances to productivity in many workplaces. What happens when leaders aren’t emotionally intelligent?Leadership is a naturally stressful mandate, being responsible for the fate of hundreds or even thousands of other people can take its toll. Leaders who are low in emotional intelligence tend to unravel in stressful situations because they fail to handle their own emotions and this might manifest as verbal attacks on others and being passive aggressive. This can create an even more stressful environment, where workers are always walking on eggshells trying to prevent the next outburst from happening. This often has disastrous effects on productivity and team cohesion because the employees stay too distracted by this fear to focus on work and bond. Not being emotionally intelligent hinders collaboration within the organisation. When a leader doesn’t have a handle on their own emotions and reacts inappropriately, most of their employees tend to feel nervous about contributing their ideas and suggestions, for fear of how the leader will respond. However, a leader who lacks emotional intelligence doesn’t necessarily lash out at their employees. Not being emotionally intelligent can also mean an inability to address situations that could be fraught with emotion. Most leaders deal with conflict, and a leader who isn’t clued into others’ emotions will often have a difficult time recognising conflict in the first place let alone dealing effectively resolving it. In SummaryAll the great leaders know there is a lot power in their emotions so they make sure to learn how to identify, understand and manage them, and also go ahead to teach those they lead how to do the same. This is referred to as having emotional intelligence and is one of the most important traits for any leader in any modern day organisation to have. Director of Influenceo Global Inc., leadership strategist, speaker & personal mastery expert helping professional women excel. getty 2020 will forever be remembered for its extraordinary degree of uncertainty, where leaders faced uncharted territories: navigating repeated pandemic outbreaks, growing geopolitical tensions, social injustices and complex economic consequences — all of which impacted workplaces and the people within them. When it comes to effective leadership during this time, it goes without saying that emotional intelligence, which directly affects how a leader perceives, uses, understands and manages their own emotions and the emotions of others, is extremely important. It’s no longer just a nice-to-have skill, but one of the World Economic Forum’s Top Ten skills to thrive in the fourth industrial revolution (and it arguably underpins the other nine). Perhaps a better way of phrasing emotional intelligence is the "intelligent use of emotions." This skill supports our capacity to work effectively with others, to make better decisions and to purposefully advance toward our goals. Almost a decade ago, the Harvard Business Review concluded in this article that "In hard times, the soft stuff often goes away. But emotional intelligence, it turns out, isn't so soft.” And still today, a large body of research indicates that emotional intelligence is a critical leadership skill that yields significant bottom-line results. If you’ve been fortunate enough to have worked directly with an emotionally intelligent leader during tough times, then you would have likely seen some, or all, of these qualities that define this type of leadership. Emotionally intelligent leaders are aware of their impact on others. They are conscious of how their emotional state is highly influential on their team’s decision-making, cognition and performance. They use their capacity to selectively generate emotions to energize their team or to inspire confidence. These leaders benefit from the powerful effects of "emotional contagion" and "empathetic matching" to skillfully steer the emotional pulse of the team to drive positive outcomes. Emotionally intelligent leaders strategically use their emotions to help them achieve outcomes. Leaders with emotional intelligence have the self-awareness to determine what emotional self-regulation strategies are best suited to help them manage their own emotional states. They understand that emotions contain valuable data, and they are open to capitalizing on this information to facilitate problem solving and creativity. In short, they welcome the full spectrum of emotions, redirect and prioritize their thinking on the basis of associated feelings and strategically guide their state to best suit what’s required for optimum performance in a given task. For example, if they’re feeling down but know they need to think creatively in an upcoming workshop, they might adopt strategies to guide themselves to a more positive, high-energy state for optimal creative performance. Emotionally intelligent leaders are both cognitively and emotionally empathic. These leaders are highly attuned to the states of others and understand that empathy involves both a cognitive component (understanding what others are going through) and an emotional component (feeling what others feel). If you’ve worked with an emotionally intelligent leader, you’ll likely have found that when they ask, “How are you doing?” they genuinely want to know what you’re experiencing and have a keen interest in identifying opportunities to support you. If you respond with, “I’m fine,” they might come back with, “No, really, what’s going on for you?” They’re sensitive to the emotional pulse of a group, exercise empathic perspective-taking, pay attention to the human side of business and demonstrate genuine care. Emotionally intelligent leaders pay attention to both what’s said and what’s unsaid. Since these leaders are skilled in perceiving what others are experiencing, they’re able to pick up on nuances in non-verbal communication, including facial expressions, body posture and voice. They have the ability to "read between the lines" to synthesize what they know about a situation and a person, as well as the emotional and behavioral components, and to derive a clearer picture of what’s really happening. They often pick up on irregularities and avoid jumping to conclusions when there are any discrepancies, instead choosing to investigate by asking questions and making an effort to understand underlying motivations. Emotionally intelligent leaders maintain a positive team climate. Understanding the role they play in shaping the culture of the team, these leaders focus on encouraging positive emotions which are critical to performance, decision making, conflict resolution and group dynamics. By increasing the flow of positive emotions, emotionally intelligent leaders also create a culture that is open and inclusive, where people aren’t afraid of making mistakes, and they bring their whole selves to work. By fostering psychological safety, it encourages the release of the neurotransmitter oxytocin, reinforcing trust and connectedness. Emotionally intelligent leaders have a rich emotional vocabulary. These leaders understand the complexity of emotions, what causes them, and why people respond the way they do. Their richer and more nuanced emotional vocabulary means they’re able to consciously reflect on and navigate their emotional experience in the moment. Research involving fMRI scans has found that simply labeling an emotion disrupts the amygdala (the brain’s fear center) and decreases emotional reactivity to negative events or interactions — a strategy popularised by author and psychiatrist Dan Siegel when he coined the phrase, “name it to tame it.” Emotionally intelligent leaders are open to developing their EI skills. Recognizing the huge influence emotional intelligence plays in their own leadership, they are open to the ongoing development of their existing capabilities. They proactively seek out discomfort to challenge themselves and further develop their perspectives and approach. They also approach each day with an excitement to make a positive and valuable impact on the lives of their team and their organization as a whole. The real, tangible, bottom-line benefits of emotional intelligence are undeniable. Enhancing the emotional intelligence of your leaders might be the most impactful company investment you make. Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify? |