“Emotional intelligence: The Hidden Strength of a Good Leader”

What is emotional intelligence?

Why is it important?

How does it affect the way leaders lead?

These are just a few of the many questions that naturally come to mind when we come across the word emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is now being recognised as one of the most crucial qualities that define great leaders. In fact, in today’s dynamic and emotionally complex environments, a leader’s true strength often lies not in their authority but in their ability to understand, connect, and respond to the emotions of others.

What is emotional intelligence?

The ability to recognize, understand, and manage your own and others’ emotions.

This is what we find on Google when we go and search for what emotional intelligence is. But have you ever taken a moment to truly think about what emotional intelligence really is? Have you read articles on it, or just sat quietly and pondered – why is it so crucial? Why does someone have to be emotionally intelligent in the first place?

-Here’s why someone needs to be emotionally intelligent

Being emotionally intelligent makes it easier to make good decisions. It helps you improve your relationships, solve problems without unnecessary stress, and communicate with others confidently.

Nowadays, many people stress over small things and lack the confidence to talk openly about their problems. Take the example of a student: if they are not emotionally intelligent and lack confidence, how can they ask questions or express their concerns? This not only affects their learning but also their overall growth. Emotional intelligence empowers individuals to understand their feelings, manage anxiety, and speak up when needed – skills that are essential in both academic and everyday life.

THE FOUR COMPONENTS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

-Self-awareness

-Self-management

-Social awareness

-Relationship management

SELF AWARENESS

Self-awareness is at the core of everything. It describes your ability to not only understand your strengths and weaknesses, but to recognize your emotions and their effect on you and your team’s performance.

To bring out the best in others, you first need to bring out the best in yourself, which is where self-awareness comes into play. One easy way to assess your self-awareness is by completing 360-degree feedback, in which you evaluate your performance and then match it up against the opinions of your boss, peers, and direct reports. Through this process, you’ll gain insights into your own behavior and discover how you’re perceived in the

-SELF MANAGEMENT

Self-management refers to the ability to manage your emotions, particularly in stressful situations, and maintain a positive outlook despite setbacks. Leaders who lack self-management tend to react and have a harder time keeping their impulses in check.

A reaction tends to be automatic. The more in tune you are with your emotional intelligence, however, the easier you can make the transition from reaction to response. It’s important to pause, breathe, collect yourself, and do whatever it takes to manage your emotions – whether that means taking a walk or calling a friend – so that you can more appropriately and intentionally respond to stress and adversity.

-SOCIAL AWARENESS

While it’s important to understand and manage your emotions, you also need to know how to read a room. Social awareness describes your ability to recognize others’ emotions and the dynamics in play within your organization.

Leaders who excel in social awareness practice empathy. They strive to understand their colleagues’ feelings and perspectives, which enables them to communicate and collaborate more effectively with their peers.

By communicating with empathy, you can better support your team, all while improving your individual performance.

-RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Relationship management refers to your ability to influence, coach, and mentor others, and resolve conflict effectively.

Some prefer to avoid conflict, but it’s important to properly address issues as they arise. Research shows that every unaddressed conflict can waste about eight hours of company time in gossip and other unproductive activities, putting a drain on resources and morale.

If you want to keep your team happy, you need to have those tough conversations. In a survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, 72 percent of employees ranked “respectful treatment of all employees at all levels” as the top factor in job satisfaction.

HOW TO STRENGTHEN YOUR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

-Journaling: Record and reflect daily on how your emotions influenced your decision-making, interactions, and meetings – whether positive or negative – so you know what to repeat or avoid in the future.

-Undergo a 360-degree assessment: Actively seek feedback from your manager, colleagues, and peers while also undergoing an individual self-assessment. Comparing the results will surface any blindspots or leadership gaps.

-Practice active listening: Put away distractions, focus on what the speaker is saying, and show you’re engaged by paraphrasing and using non-verbal cues like nodding.

-Pay attention to your emotions: If you start feeling a particularly strong emotion, reflect on why you’re feeling that way and what prompted the strong emotional response. This will help you become more aware of your emotions and better understand your colleagues’ feelings and perspectives.

-Take an online course or training: Dive deeper into emotional intelligence through a flexible online program, such as HBS Online’s Leadership Principles course, which provides a 360-degree assessment to help you better understand your strengths and weaknesses.

HOW EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAN MAKE LEADERS MORE EFFECTIVE

Leaders set the tone of their organizations. If they lack emotional intelligence, it could have more far-reaching consequences, resulting in lower employee engagement and a higher turnover rate.

While you might excel at your job technically, if you can’t effectively communicate with your team or collaborate with others, those technical skills will get overlooked.