Emotional intelligence plays a vital role in leadership, as being a leader request to show a high level of EI in order to succeed and to stay in control. Emotional intelligence means the ability to control and manage your own emotions and those around you for a better achievement of a common goal.
“According to Daniel Goleman, Author of a bestselling book “ Emotional Intelligence” , EI includes five main factors, and in this article, I will give you a look to each one of them.”
Empathy
There cannot be a good leader who is not empathetic. Empathy is putting yourself in someone else’s shoes, so you can understand their feelings and problems. Empathy encourages loyalty and stronger relationship building and this is ensuring that you have a great team at hand which will help you in achieving your goals.
Empathy can be increased by interacting with your employees and getting to know them personally.
Self-awareness
It’s a key characteristic of successful leader. It means that one should know his strengths, and the most important to know his weaknesses, so he can hire the right subordinates to overcome it. Also, it’s very important for a leader to understand his values and behaviors, so he can understand and accept others.
Self-Regulation
Self-regulation is controlling one’s own behavior. When you are able to recognize your weaknesses through self-awareness, then self-regulation can help you to modify behavior to be effective and likable leader. Self-regulation will help you to stay calm in a stressful situation and Its helpful in avoiding impulsive decisions and hazardous actions.
Self-regulation can easily be enhanced by meditation and yoga which can help you stay focused.
Motivation
Successful leaders can inspire others because they are always motivated. Motivation is important to keep everyone focused and well directed toward the organization goal. Motivation can ensure a high-quality job and it will keep the workplace environment warm and open for new ideas.
Motivation can be strengthened by re-evaluating your role in the organization and analyzing how you can develop it. From time to time, as a leader, you need to remind yourself with your biggest achievements throughout your career in order to boost your energy and positive thoughts.
Social Skills
A very important factor of emotional intelligence is possession of good social skills. Social skills include good communication skills, conflict resolution skills and greater persuasion powers. A leader needs these skills for a better relationship with his subordinates, to be open for discussions, and to be able to give them their due share of recognition whenever needed.
At the end, to be a successful and inspiring leader, you must have a solid understanding of the above in order to positively influence the people around you, and also to guarantee a healthy work environment.