While many can be good at leadership, great leaders are those who have the ability to excel in the workplace with emotional intelligence (also called EQ). Emotional intelligence in corporate leadership allows an individual to better deliver feedback to their team, manage stress in the workplace, and understand and empathize with their colleagues. The term “emotional intelligence” first made its big debut in 1995 when author and psychologist Daniel Goleman wrote a book about this very concept. Goleman researched and wrote about almost 200 corporate businesses whose most effective leaders were those who had high levels of emotional intelligence.
These are four of the qualities that make up an emotionally intelligent leader:
- Self Awareness
- Social Awareness
- Empathy
- Motivation
Self Awareness
Being aware of one’s own emotions and feelings is a big part of EQ. We all can recall a time when a boss or manager’s negative reactions or attitudes placed a large emotional toll on a workplace environment. Self-awareness isn’t just pretending to have a good attitude all the time, but understanding that one’s emotions have an effect on your peers. By increasing your own self-awareness, you connect with your own emotions, strengths, and weaknesses.
Social Awareness
The key factors in social awareness are being able to read the emotions of others around you. It is of no surprise the importance this quality makes in corporate leadership. It is valuable when delivering big news or constructive criticism to a team member. It’s also incredibly vital to effectively communicate and build relationships with others to maintain a positive work environment.
Empathy
Building off of Social Awareness is the ability to practice empathy. While reading the room is one important talent, being able to understand the emotions of the room is equally important. This skill helps leaders determine how their team is handling emotions like stress, anger, and contentment when it comes to their work culture or with relationships between people. If you have high levels of empathy, you can see areas that need improvement within the workspace.
Motivation
Leaders with high levels of EQ are able to motivate others and their team to accomplish goals by more than just fear tactics and monetary rewards. Emotional intelligent leaders will be able to more efficiently lead teams by preparing and mentoring them to reach their professional & personal goals.
Ways to Improve emotional intelligence in the workplace
- Find a mentor – Likely there is someone you know who has all the qualities we just discussed and a bonus would be if they were in the same workplace as you! Being able to discuss emotions, challenges, and responsibilities is valuable to building your EQ.
- Give yourself space – develop a good routine to give yourself time to destress and realign with goals
- Practice mindfulness. Listen to your own emotions and the emotions of others around you.
- Enroll in a workshop or class online to work on developing a higher level of EQ.
In the last two decades, there has become an intense want and need for leaders to be able to nurture and facilitate a healthy workplace environment. Being a leader of a team is a responsibility and soft skills are evidently becoming of more importance. Emotional intelligent individuals foster a more positive and motivating work environment that retains happy employees while reaching their own professional goals.