Why Emotional Intelligence Is Crucial to Effective Leadership

Wondering how to build better relationships at work and more effectively motivate your team? Start by considering how emotional intelligence (EQ) affects leadership for your small business.

An emotionally intelligent organization is a positive, productive workplace where teammates trust one another, freely collaborate, and feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and taking action

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence describes one's ability to identify and manage their emotions, as well as empathize with and manage others' emotions. Put simply, it defines your capacity to understand and express your feelings, while comprehending what motivates others and how to successfully collaborate with them.

High emotional intelligence can be a key trait for leaders in any business or industry.

The Four Categories of Emotional Intelligence

EQ can cover a broad spectrum that breaks down into four individual categories leaders can explore: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. 

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is the basic building block of emotional intelligence, speaking to the ability to understand your emotions, as well as the potential impact they may have on your work performance and professional relationships. 

Self-Management

Self-management is your ability to maintain self-control under duress, manage personal behavior and responsibilities, and adapt when faced with difficult situations. 

Social Awareness 

Social awareness is an ability to effectively read other people's moods and gauge their needs and concerns. 

Relationship Management 

Relationship management is your potential to lead, inspire, and influence others, plus successfully build work relationships and manage conflict and change, both personally and professionally. 

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership 

An emotionally intelligent organization is a positive, productive workplace where teammates trust one another, freely collaborate, and feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and taking action.

Similarly, an emotionally intelligent leader can relate to colleagues, motivate teams and individuals, skillfully resolve conflict, and inspire others to take positive action. The greater EQ a leader has, the greater potential there is to successfully bring groups of individuals and business divisions together to solve challenges thoughtfully and creatively.

Additionally, the more emotional intelligence you bring to the table for clients, the better attuned you can be to their needs and concerns, offering great solutions that build trust and strengthen your business.

Boosting emotional intelligence is also helpful for career development. Many leadership positions in today's market aren't going to those with particular academic pedigrees and training: they're going to professionals with higher emotional intelligence. Superior communication skills can go a long way. Leaders with strong emotional intelligence have the potential to create and maintain more effective, diverse teams.

The Takeaway

Emotional intelligence can enable a leader to lead more effectively and accomplish more in the workplace. With high emotional intelligence, a manager may be able to better perceive their own thoughts and feelings, along with their colleagues' thoughts and feelings. This allows leaders to act more intentionally, communicating with others in an engaging, empathetic way. This can help motivate the team and provide space for everyone's feedback in decision-making, yielding a strong team spirit and better results for a leader, their team, and their business overall. 

A version of this article was originally published on December 06, 2019.

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