The 3 Secrets of the World’s Most Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
Knowing Thyself is just the beginning.
The mark of every great, emotionally intelligent leader is this: they know themselves in a very meaningful way. Their self-awareness is off the charts. They understand their values, their purpose and how they’re going to succeed. They understand what motivates them, and in turn how to motivate the people they lead. They are masters at building lasting relationships and leading with empathy.
I think back to my first job in management consulting, actually the man that hired me. He let everyone on his team know that he cared about them. He had a very kind, unassuming demeanor, but you always knew that he had your best interest at heart. He had a way of communicating that made you feel relaxed and at ease. He behaved this way toward everyone, never using his title to get his way.
I think of this now in leaders that we see like Satya Nadella at Microsoft. One of the first things that he did when he took over Microsoft in 2014 was to buy his senior leadership team a book called, Nonviolent Communication, by a psychologist, Marshall B. Rosenberg. The goal was to diffuse some of the acrimony and in-fighting at the highest level at Microsoft.
