Is emotional intelligence important in leadership?
Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you. According to psychologist Daniel Goleman, whowrote an article on HBR about what makes a leader, he claimed:
“The most effective leaders are all alike in one crucial way: they all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. It’s not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They do matter, but…they are the entry-level requirements for executive positions. My research, along with other recent studies, clearly shows that emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership. Without it, a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind, and an endless supply of smart ideas, but he still won’t make a great leader.”
Emotional intelligence is typically broken down into five core competencies:
a. Self-awareness: The ability to recognize your emotions and the effect they have on you and your team’s performance.
b. Self-regulation: Controlling or redirecting the disruptive emotions and adapting to change circumstances in order to keep the team moving in a positive direction.
c. Motivation: Leaders who are self-motivated work consistently on their goals and have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.
d. Empathy: The skill of relating to and connecting with others people.
e. Social Skills: Leaders who are good on social skills listen to their teams and finds ways to support them.
Why is emotional intelligence important in leadership?
According to a poll on Cosmoleadership’s page on LinkedIn, in 46 votes, all of the voters believed that emotional intelligence is important in leadership.
Emotional intelligence in leadership is important because it contributes to the creation of safe environments, where employees feel comfortable to take calculated risks, suggest ideas and voice their opinions.
Leaders who are emotionally intelligent use emotions to drive their organizations forward. Moreover, they move ahead with plans without worrying about the impact on their egos.
To sum up, an effective leadership needs leaders who are emotionally intelligent. Emotional intelligence is a key skill that drives leaders and their teams to success.
