Emotional Intelligence Will Make You A Better Leader

Use The Power Of Emotional Intelligence To Advance Your Career

Emotional Intelligence (also known as EI or EQ “emotional quotient”) is the human ability to recognize and understand emotions in ourselves and others. Harnessing its power means using this awareness to better manage your own behaviour. It can also be a hugely successful tool to help you understand the relationships around you. And incredibly valuable in a professional setting.

By mastering EI you’ll be focusing on development in four key areas (don’t worry, we’ll come back to that). You’ll strengthen your ability to understand your emotions and their impact on relationships and job performance. You’ll learn how to better control your emotions and become more adaptable. The emotions and perspectives of others will become more clear to you. As a result your relationships with others will be more successful because you’ll establish meaningful connections and build stronger bonds (the foundation of all great teams).

Speaking of teams, for many careers, advancement means taking on a team leadership position somewhere along the way.

How can this self-awareness tool help you get unstuck if your next step is leadership?

While empathy and motivation are cornerstones for self-awareness, they are just two of the “bonuses” that come with being a better self-regulator. If a leadership promotion is what you’re looking for these bonuses are a must – you’ll need to show others that you’ve got both.

To prepare yourself for a leadership role, you’ll want to ensure that you’re truly ready to lead. EI can play a major role in this process, just ask the 75% majority of Fortune 500 companies who use Emotional Intelligence training to help their employees succeed (and lead) by example.

So what can YOU do to implement EI at work?

How Do You Begin Your Emotional Intelligence Journey?

While there are many ways to get started, one of the first steps you should take is to determine if you (or members of your team) truly do have a low EQ problem to solve.

Ask yourself if any of these “low EQ” indicators are present in your workplace:

  • Resistance to the opinions of others
  • Refusing to listen
  • Blaming others
  • Always playing the victim
  • Resistance to negative feedback or difficult conversations
  • Gossiping and general disrespect for the feelings of others
  • Inability to appreciate the efforts and accomplishments of others

If you spot them in yourself, you’ve got some reflecting to do. If you see them in your direct reports, it’s time to get your team on the right track.

Apply The Four Emotional Intelligence Elements

The Godfather of Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, used the following four key pillars in his EI model: Self Awareness, Self Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management.

I highly recommend that you do your own research on these pillars and use them to prop yourself up during this journey.

Emotional Intelligence will demonstrate to the world that you’re truly ready to take on a leadership role and develop others by showing that you can:

  • Read and understand your own emotions and moods.
  • Control your emotions, respond positively, and proactively.
  • Read other people’s emotions and understand their perspectives – respond with empathy.
  • Develop meaningful interpersonal relationships and communicate clearly with others.

I’ll be expanding on Daniel Goleman’s ideas on my LinkedIn page where I’ll be talking more about the four pillars in his model.

Use The STOP Technique

One of the easiest tools that you can add to your EI toolkit is the STOP technique. If you feel yourself having an emotional reaction at work this is easy to learn and easy to use.

First, you want to make sure that you “stop” and don’t react immediately. Next, “take” a step back and remove yourself from the situation for a moment to get your bearings. “Observe” what’s happening around you. What just triggered this response? Why did you react this way? Be sure to use your moment to reflect. Finally, “proceed” with a mindful approach while keeping your emotions in check.

Try to remain focused on finding a positive outcome.

Work With A Career Coach

I’m also ready and waiting to help you master Emotional Intelligence and use it to your best advantage.

If you’re already in a leadership role, these techniques will make a huge difference for you. If you’re not in a leadership role but seeking a way to better connect with others and add to your career toolkit, I can help you master these skills.

I can help you master the art of being emotionally aware so that you can be the best leader you can be.

In some ways, there is no better motivation for working with a coach than improving your relationship skills. By working with a coach you’ll automatically be working on building a new relationship – with me.

You can test some of your new skills in real time with a professional who will know and recognize when you’re applying them. Take your practice runs with a pro so that you’ll be unstoppable when you walk into your next performance meeting or job interview.

Remember, the most effective leaders are the ones who lead by example – always.

“Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.” – Tom Peters

Book A Coaching Session – Start Your EI Journey Today