Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the capacity to recognize and regulate our own emotions, as well as identify emotions in other people, and utilizing that information to build and maintain successful relationships with them. This capacity requires a set of skills that does not always come easily to people. However, the necessary skills can be developed and improved upon. As leaders, we would be wise to place a high priority on developing and practicing these skills in both our professional and personal lives. Recognizing that EQ has a critical role in leadership can be the impetus needed to begin developing the skills essential to affect the depth and breadth of skills that can lead to success on myriad levels.
Emotional Intelligence
In his seminal book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman describes a model of EQ which encompasses four domains:
- Self-awareness
- Self-management
- Social Awareness
- Relationship Management
Each of these domains has key skills that provide opportunities for personal and professional growth, which is used in turn by leaders and coaches to help guide others to their full potential. But it’s important to note that these skills cannot be worked on piecemeal.
Because they work congruently and synergistically, optimal results will not be realized if only one EQ skill is chosen over another. For example, leaders can develop the skills that will allow them to motivate others (a competency from the Relationship Management domain), but without developing the skills to recognize what will motivate them (a competency from the Social Awareness domain), EQ will not be achieved.
The Value of Developing Emotional Intelligence Skills
Competency is defined as possessing the sufficient knowledge, skills, and behaviors to perform a job well. However, only with the addition of practice and experience does one become more than “adequately qualified.” The ability to demonstrate the competencies is what leads to greater success – simply knowing about the skills doesn’t necessarily do anything.
Just because a leader initially lacks development in EQ skills does not in any way mean these skills cannot be learned and developed. And when leaders cultivate and apply these skills, their companies have a greater potential to realize growth and there exists the probability that valuable employees are retained.
Empathy
We will be publishing content that covers the discrete EQ skills involved in each of the four domains. But for now, let’s quickly look at empathy and its critical role in being a successful leader.
Goleman says that empathy is basically the ability to understand others’ emotions. This ability often leads to empathetic actions, which involve determining, understanding, and responding to the emotional needs and concerns that underlie others’ behaviors.
By practicing empathy, we improve and facilitate positive communication. Among its many benefits at the level of personal interactions, empathy creates a buffer against contentious interactions, allows for more collaborative discussions to happen, and offers the space that can make critical feedback more effective. At the corporate level, empathy significantly contributes to fostering a robust, healthy, and inclusive company culture with more lively, creative innovation and the potential for higher employee engagement and retention.
We will devote more time to this integral attribute in future posts.
Leading with Empathy
As experienced executive coaches, we can help grow these key soft skills. We’d love to hear how we can help you build the necessary professional and personal skills and help create the change you wish to achieve.
