How to Cultivate Emotional Intelligence as a Strategic Leader

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It's no secret that emotional intelligence is a valuable skill for business leaders. However, many CEOs struggle to cultivate it within their team. Read on as we discuss the benefits of emotional intelligence in the workplace and how to develop it to improve your leadership skills and business strategy.

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What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is "the ability to perceive, interpret, demonstrate, control, evaluate, and use emotions to communicate and relate to others effectively and constructively. Some experts suggest that emotional intelligence is more important than IQ for success in life", (Very well mind).

Using emotional intelligence can help facilitate open communication and strengthen relationships between leaders, managers, and employees, creating a better work culture overall. It is important for leaders to know not only how to foster emotional intelligence within themselves, but also how to foster it within their team.

Related: 5 Ways Emotional Intelligence Will Make You a Better Leader

5 pillars of emotional intelligence

In his bestselling book, Emotional Intelligence, psychologist and author Daniel Goleman develops a framework in which leaders can leverage five key traits to successfully implement emotional intelligence on work place. These traits are influenced by both experience and intuition. The five pillars are:

1. Self-awareness:

Our emotions don't just affect us, they also affect those around us. The ability to recognize your own emotional state and its impact on others is a skill that can be developed over time. For example, employees may be reluctant to ask for help if they see that their boss is already stressed out with other tasks. While you shouldn't hide your emotions, it's important to know how they show up to others.

2) Self-regulation:

While we can't always control our emotions, we can control how we react to them. Self-regulation (impulse control) is essential to maintaining good relationships in the workplace. Leaders who are able to control themselves before reacting are better able to handle difficult situations and are more respectable.

Self-regulation also promotes accountability, as it helps create a clear set of expectations for how to act in the workplace.

3) Motivation:

Goleman writes, "Leadership is not dominance, but the art of persuading people to work toward a common goal."

Motivating your employees is perhaps the most important action to achieve alignment within your team. When everyone on the team is motivated and focused on the same goal, you're more likely to achieve your goals. Motivate your employees by setting clear goals, celebrating gains and victories, and recognizing individual contributions.

4. Empathy:

Empathetic leaders are able to put themselves in the shoes of others and act with fairness. They are generally liked by employees because they are more understanding and able to build personal relationships. Having empathy doesn't just mean caring about others - it means being able to recognize other people's emotions even when they're unavailable and being able to lead conversations appropriately with people in mind. emotional state of the other person.

A study by the Center for Creative Leadership