Why Emotionally Intelligent Leadership is Crucial

Emotionally Intelligent Leadership is known to correlate with job satisfaction, employee performance, organisational performance and lower levels of employee burnout. Emotional intelligence grew out of a 20s definition of ‘social intelligence’:the ability to act wisely within human relations. By the 80s psychologists had recognised multiple intelligences, including intrapersonal and interpersonal.

Daniel Goleman,an American psychologist, defined fivekey areas of emotional intelligence:

• Self-awareness

• Self-regulation

• Motivation

• Empathy

• Social skills

Emotional Intelligence and leadership

Goleman believed that to be a great leader, a person must have a high degree of emotional intelligence. He suggested that IQ accounts for only 20% of the factors determining a person’s success, whereas Emotional intelligence likely accounts for the rest.

Six Low emotional intelligence behaviours

Poor self-awareness makes leaders less likely to understand their inner drivers and anxieties and their origin. After a disruptive and stressful year, agility, flexibility and resilience (grit) have become essential organisational behaviours mindsetis more likely to have become pessimistic and even embraced victimhood in the face of setbacks.

Minimal self regulation

Poor self-regulationmeans an inability to feel, process and manage emotions before they become overwhelming. It can lead to overreaction, impulsive action, ignoring risk or reverting to control strategies that hinder performance. Without stress management skills,low EIleaders, are more prone to outbursts or meltdowns, and their flying off the handle is exactly what employees don’t need as they manage the uncertainties and stresses of their own lives

Low empathy and social awareness

It’ simportantthat leaders can read the emotions of their teams. Lacking the skill to recognise the emotional and social dynamics at play within their teams and organnisations, they will be far less effective at using them as a resource in strategic decision-making and goal setting

Low empathy leaders are unlikely to recognise the impact of their own behaviour or look very far beyond their own experiences and needs. Judging, lecturing, interrupting or telling people to ‘snap out of it’, rather thanlisteningand empathising with people’s issues won’t help.In fact the added invalidation will damage confidence, morale and trust, and inevitably diminish focus and productivity.It’s well known that people tend to leave bosses more frequently than jobs.

Rigidity and control

Low EI leaders are more likely to have reverted to old school control-based forms of Leadership. Struggling to shift perspective and navigate the bumpy emotional terrain, they may have turned to lean on the rules: to rigid policy and procedure.

This inflexibility will have likely failed to meet the differing needs of team members during the pandemic, stifled innovation and creativity, and diminished their team’s emotional investment in their work.

Poor relationship management

Low EI Leaders tend not to prioritise relationship-building and collaboration. More self-centred and lacking humility,They are less likely to welcome the suggestions and expertise of others, nor readily accept help, nor seek out and incorporate alternative perspectives.They’re generally less open to being constructively questioned or challenged, and as a result, their people can feel creatively and intellectually stifled and resentful.

Have limited skill in listening to, mentoring and coaching their people, or mediating or resolving conflict. Naturally this has a knock-on impact for workplace culture. We’ve all been in meetings where no one is willing or able to listento one another.

Leading togenerally lower levels of trust, inclusion and collaboration in the workplace, with knock on effects for performance and productivity

Poor communication

As Purposee merges as one of the defining features of business in the 21st century, it’s increasingly important for employees to find meaning in their work, and participate in a positive, nurturing work culture. Communicating a clear vision and purpose for their team and organisation is one of a leader’s crucial roles

Low EI Leaders tend to communicateless authentically and emotionally, and therefore have less power to influence and inspire their employees. Unable to get behind a well communicated shared purpose and vision, people’s emotional buy-in to their work and organisation fades -a lose-lose for everyone.

The good news: EI can be learned

Research has demonstrated that emotional intelligence training boosts productivity. You can not only learn EI, but continually develop and refine it

• Emotionally intelligent leaders and team’s practice

• A clear shared vision and purpose that unites and inspires.

• A culture of trust, mutual support and collaboration.

• Higher levels of focus and productivity

• An ability to harvest emotional information and combine it with reasoning within decision-making

• Conscious Leadership -in service rather than command

• Resilience in the face of setbacks, uncertainty and change;

• Effective problem-solving.

• A creative and innovative culture of learning and co-evolution.

• Higher job satisfaction.

• Burnout awareness and avoidance