Have you recently secured your dream job and assumed the role of team leader, or have you recently received a promotion to a leadership role? Your skills undoubtedly contributed to your current position, but do you have the emotional intelligence required to lead?
Many previous leadership development courses focused primarily on the interviewing process and expanding your skill set, with only a brief mention of the relevance of emotional intelligence as part of a larger instruction on leadership ability. However, in recent years, we’ve come to recognize the value of emotional intelligence in leadership, to the point where it now accounts for a significant portion of leadership training.
Many people find themselves in leadership positions but lack the necessary emotional intelligence to lead effectively. While there are numerous characteristics that contribute to excellent leadership, emotional intelligence is so crucial that many employers list it as one of the major considerations when deciding who to promote to a leadership position.
What is emotional intelligence?
Almost all of us have worked under a terrible manager, and we couldn’t understand how he rose to his position in the first place. While he may have had many outstanding technical skills or knowledge of the sector or firm, this boss was neither a good “people person” nor a coach, but rather a dictator.
These are the managers who are the most difficult to work for; they lack certain understanding and empathy, tend to criticize rather than encourage, and are unfamiliar with some of the most fundamental management and leadership theories. These are the bosses who may say, “Why do I have to coddle someone emotionally? I am the leader; they will do as I say, and this concludes the discussion.”
While the expectation is for everyone to act professionally and to the best of their abilities at work, the wise manager recognizes that human beings have specific psychological needs within the social groups they operate in.
As a result, emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability to comprehend and control one’s own emotions, as well as perceive and influence the emotions of others. Researchers John Mayer and Peter Salovey invented the concept in 1990, but psychologist Daniel Goleman popularized it later on.
More than a decade ago, Goleman emphasized the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership, telling the Harvard Business Review, “The most effective leaders are all alike in one critical way: They all have a high level of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. It is not true that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They are important, but they are the entry-level criteria for executive roles.”
Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management skills are some of the defining characteristics of good emotional intelligence. Self-awareness allows us to comprehend and recognize our own strengths and flaws, as well as find opportunities for improvement and strengthen our social skills. Self-management allows us to regulate our emotions in a healthy manner, act correctly in stressful or strained situations, and retain a positive outlook in the face of adversity.
Social awareness is the ability to recognize and respond appropriately to the emotions of others. This emphasizes nonverbal communication, such as body language and tone of voice, as well as the capacity to identify meaning. Relationship management refers to the ability of leaders to coach, mentor, and counsel people who report to them in a positive manner.
Effects of Low Emotional Intelligence
Prioritizing emotional intelligence is not only critical for the employees’ mental well-being, but also for the organization’s benefit. If a corporation has numerous managers with low emotional intelligence, it may face a number of avoidable problems. A boss with low emotional intelligence will be impatient and may even lose his temper with his employees, creating a toxic workplace, culture, and fear. This conflicts with work-life balance and employee job satisfaction.
A manager with poor emotional intelligence may struggle to understand his employees’ motivations or to sympathize with any external events in their personal lives that may be influencing their professional performance, such as the death of a loved one or domestic stress. On a smaller scale, these are the managers who are unsure what to say when an employee confides in them about an emotional issue that is affecting their work product, may have tense conversations with subordinates, or blame subordinates for their own shortcomings when projects fail.
Under these conditions, any organization’s workflow suffers, potentially leading to high employee turnover and an unstable workplace climate, making it difficult to retain qualified staff or recruit fresh talent.
Good Emotional Intelligence
Now that we understand the value of emotional intelligence, how do we use it? It is crucial to remember that leaders frequently set the tone for their organizations; as the old phrase goes, “attitude reflects leadership.” If a leader lacks emotional intelligence and interpersonal abilities, it will reflect negatively on the entire organization. Leaders with great interpersonal skills, on the other hand, improve the company’s reputation, attract talent, and result in more employee engagement and lower attrition.
A leader may have all of the technical abilities required for a position, but if they are unable to manage the workforce effectively, technical talents will be of little use. Managers who believe that all they need is position authority and the technical abilities required for the job are unlikely to remain long in leadership positions.
Conclusion
The days of managing a staff under dictatorial bosses with poor interpersonal skills are over. We are increasingly understanding the relevance of leadership philosophy, in which the manager is a coach and mentor rather than a dictator with strong interpersonal and technical abilities who encourages people around him. Organizations look at technical capabilities when hiring new leaders, but emotional intelligence is just as crucial, if not more so in some cases. The wise manager aims to improve both emotional intelligence and technical competence.
Have you recently secured your dream job and assumed the role of team leader, or have you recently received a promotion to a leadership role? Your skills undoubtedly contributed to your current position, but do you have the emotional intelligence required to lead?
Many previous leadership development courses focused primarily on the interviewing process and expanding your skill set, with only a brief mention of the relevance of emotional intelligence as part of a larger instruction on leadership ability. However, in recent years, we’ve come to recognize the value of emotional intelligence in leadership, to the point where it now accounts for a significant portion of leadership training.
Many people find themselves in leadership positions but lack the necessary emotional intelligence to lead effectively. While there are numerous characteristics that contribute to excellent leadership, emotional intelligence is so crucial that many employers list it as one of the major considerations when deciding who to promote to a leadership position.
What is emotional intelligence?
Almost all of us have worked under a terrible manager, and we couldn’t understand how he rose to his position in the first place. While he may have had many outstanding technical skills or knowledge of the sector or firm, this boss was neither a good “people person” nor a coach, but rather a dictator.
These are the managers who are the most difficult to work for; they lack certain understanding and empathy, tend to criticize rather than encourage, and are unfamiliar with some of the most fundamental management and leadership theories. These are the bosses who may say, “Why do I have to coddle someone emotionally? I am the leader; they will do as I say, and this concludes the discussion.”
While the expectation is for everyone to act professionally and to the best of their abilities at work, the wise manager recognizes that human beings have specific psychological needs within the social groups they operate in.
As a result, emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability to comprehend and control one’s own emotions, as well as perceive and influence the emotions of others. Researchers John Mayer and Peter Salovey invented the concept in 1990, but psychologist Daniel Goleman popularized it later on.
More than a decade ago, Goleman emphasized the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership, telling the Harvard Business Review, “The most effective leaders are all alike in one critical way: They all have a high level of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. It is not true that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They are important, but they are the entry-level criteria for executive roles.”
Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management skills are some of the defining characteristics of good emotional intelligence. Self-awareness allows us to comprehend and recognize our own strengths and flaws, as well as find opportunities for improvement and strengthen our social skills. Self-management allows us to regulate our emotions in a healthy manner, act correctly in stressful or strained situations, and retain a positive outlook in the face of adversity.
Social awareness is the ability to recognize and respond appropriately to the emotions of others. This emphasizes nonverbal communication, such as body language and tone of voice, as well as the capacity to identify meaning. Relationship management refers to the ability of leaders to coach, mentor, and counsel people who report to them in a positive manner.
Effects of Low Emotional Intelligence
Prioritizing emotional intelligence is not only critical for the employees’ mental well-being, but also for the organization’s benefit. If a corporation has numerous managers with low emotional intelligence, it may face a number of avoidable problems. A boss with low emotional intelligence will be impatient and may even lose his temper with his employees, creating a toxic workplace, culture, and fear. This conflicts with work-life balance and employee job satisfaction.
A manager with poor emotional intelligence may struggle to understand his employees’ motivations or to sympathize with any external events in their personal lives that may be influencing their professional performance, such as the death of a loved one or domestic stress. On a smaller scale, these are the managers who are unsure what to say when an employee confides in them about an emotional issue that is affecting their work product, may have tense conversations with subordinates, or blame subordinates for their own shortcomings when projects fail.
Under these conditions, any organization’s workflow suffers, potentially leading to high employee turnover and an unstable workplace climate, making it difficult to retain qualified staff or recruit fresh talent.
Good Emotional Intelligence
Now that we understand the value of emotional intelligence, how do we use it? It is crucial to remember that leaders frequently set the tone for their organizations; as the old phrase goes, “attitude reflects leadership.” If a leader lacks emotional intelligence and interpersonal abilities, it will reflect negatively on the entire organization. Leaders with great interpersonal skills, on the other hand, improve the company’s reputation, attract talent, and result in more employee engagement and lower attrition.
A leader may have all of the technical abilities required for a position, but if they are unable to manage the workforce effectively, technical talents will be of little use. Managers who believe that all they need is position authority and the technical abilities required for the job are unlikely to remain long in leadership positions.
Conclusion
The days of managing a staff under dictatorial bosses with poor interpersonal skills are over. We are increasingly understanding the relevance of leadership philosophy, in which the manager is a coach and mentor rather than a dictator with strong interpersonal and technical abilities who encourages people around him. Organizations look at technical capabilities when hiring new leaders, but emotional intelligence is just as crucial, if not more so in some cases. The wise manager aims to improve both emotional intelligence and technical competence.
){kind=link}