It is believed that emotional intelligence in leadership provides a new paradigm to measure and monitor their employee’s performance. A model that encourages growth, innovation, and creativity in leadership. When you think of a “perfect leader,” what comes to mind?
You might picture someone who never lets temper get out of control, no matter what problems they are facing. Or you might think of someone who has the complete trust of staff, listens to team, is easy to talk to, and always makes careful, informed decisions. These are qualities of someone with a high degree of emotional intelligence.
Why emotional intelligence is so important for leaders and how you, as a leader, can improve yours.
What Is Emotional Intelligence?
So one may ask, what is emotional intelligence or EI. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they’re feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people.
Why emotional intelligence is important in leadership
For leaders, having emotional intelligence is essential for success. After all, who is more likely to succeed – a leader who shouts at his team when he’s under stress, or a leader who stays in control, and calmly assesses the situation?
How to improve emotional intelligence in leadership?
Let’s look at the key elements that can improve emotional intelligence in leadership:
- Being self-aware.
- Self-regulation.
- Motivating the team.
- Empathy towards others.
- Social skills.
As a leader, the more you manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence will be. So, let’s look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.
Being self-aware
If you’re self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you’re in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with humility.
Self-regulation
Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control. Know your values. Do you have a clear idea of where you absolutely will not compromise? Do you know what values are most important to you? Spend some time examining your “code of ethics.”
Motivating the team
Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work. Re-examine why you’re doing your job. Be hopeful and find something good – Motivated leaders are usually optimistic, no matter what problems they face. Adopting this mindset might take practice, but it’s well worth the effort.
Empathy towards others
For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else’s situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.
If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathetic.
Social Skills
Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They’re just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they’re experts at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.
