Mark was a natural leader who exemplified emotional intelligence for leaders. For as long as he could remember, he had an uncanny ability to read others and respond accordingly. He took pride in his clear communication skills and endless supply of empathy. And he was especially adept at remaining calm under pressure – regardless of his emotional state, he knew how to present a poised and serene exterior to the world around him.
With a keen understanding of Mark’s strengths as a leader, his supervisor asked him to manage a group of IT consultants hired to overhaul their agency’s website. After his first meeting with the brilliant technologists, Mark realized he had his work cut out for him. While the IT consultants brought valuable expertise, some appeared to struggle with social interactions, self-awareness, and demonstrated limited openness to perspectives that differed from their own.
Mark found himself wondering, “Can these skills be taught?”
Mark’s experience is a common one. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is one of the most prominent interpersonal skills heralded in leadership development today. Some people are born with high EQ, and some are not. Just as coordination is helpful for someone training to be a dancer, so too EQ gives leaders an edge. But dancers can be trained. And so can leaders.
Emotional Intelligence Basics
Emotional intelligence for leaders is the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.
EQ is commonly understood to include four dimensions: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. One’s interaction with these components is depicted via the below matrix.
What I See |
What I Do |
|
Self-awareness
|
Self-management |
|
Social awareness
|
Relationship management |
According to research by emotional intelligence expert Travis Bradberry, high EQ is important for the following reasons:
- 90 percent of top performers have high EQ
- EQ is responsible for 58% of your job performance
- People with high EQ make $29k more each year than their counterparts with low EQ
For organizations that want to focus on leadership development as a competitive advantage, assessing and training for EQ is a smart place to start.
Emotional Intelligence Training for Leaders
As is the case for many soft skills such as communication and interpersonal capabilities, it’s not easy to teach emotional intelligence to leaders. But it is possible. Here’s how.
Get to know yourself
It’s difficult to identify the emotions you are experiencing if you do not understand what makes you tick. Personality assessments can provide an illuminating context for your behaviors.
For more information on these tools, check out Brighter Strategies’s assessment solutions.
Practice mindfulness
Building the awareness components of EQ is all about observation without judgment – in other words, mindfulness. Become more mindful, and you will become more emotionally intelligent.
Set goals
It’s important to set small goals when working on your EQ skills. Behavior-based improvement must be measured frequently to encourage a sense of accomplishment toward a somewhat intangible end.
Find a coach
Soliciting guidance from a trained professional who is unbiased and objective will propel you toward greater EQ more quickly.
A coach can ask the right questions to uncover barriers to your personal and interpersonal growth. He or she can also customize a development plan based on your current abilities in each of the four quadrants.
It’s important to hire people with strong EQ, but don’t give up on those who don’t (yet) show it. If you’re interested in incorporating an EQ emphasis in your leadership development programs, Brighter Strategies is here to help. Contact us today to learn more about emotional intelligence for leaders.
