Emotional Intelligence for Leaders

Who are the Best Leaders?

The best leaders are good people!

They are kind, compassionate, and EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT.

But what does “emotional intelligence” actually MEAN?

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) is:

• The ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you.
• People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they’re feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people.

Five Keys to Being Emotionally Intelligent

Emotional intelligence for leaders: There are five essentials elements of emotional intelligence.

1. SELF-AWARENESS: understanding your feelings and how your actions affect others.
2. SELF-REGULATION: the degree of control you have over your mood swings and impulses.
3. MOTIVATION: passion and drive to work towards a goal.
4. EMPATHY: the ability to understand and respond to others’ feelings.
5. SOCIAL SKILLS: the ability to build and manage relationships.

The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these five areas, the better your emotional intelligence, and the better your results will be within your organization!

Think about it for a moment: Which kind of leader is more likely to succeed?

• A leader who flies off the handle (i.e., a leader who is not emotionally intelligent)?
• Or a leader who keeps their cool (i.e., a leader who displays emotional intelligence)?

11 Tips for Improving Emotional Intelligence for Leaders

You likely have strengths as well as weaknesses in these areas of leadership. How can you improve your self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills, and be a more emotionally intelligent leader?

There are some simple (thought not always easy) things you can do.

1. 1. Do not compromise on your values! Be yourself and people will know you.
   2. Hold yourself accountable!
   3. Always look to yourself first.
      • Don’t blame others if you can start with your own responsibility in a situation.
      • Start with an apology if warranted.
      • Always, always, always, stay calm.
   4. Know your “why”, your own motivation.
   5. Have goals and a vision to look forward to and focus on.
   6. Keep a vision board.
      • Post your goals publicly where you and your team can see them.
      • Commit to spend 90-seconds or less on any problem.
   7. Don’t dwell on the problem any longer than necessary.
      • Spend the rest of your time on TAKING ACTION and on SOLUTIONS.
      • Respect your team, and be compassionate.
   8. They will feel safer, trust you, and respect you.
      • In general this means that they will work harder, for you and for themselves.
      • Communicate clearly; say what you mean, and mean what you say.
   9. Keep your word, always.
   10. Be the kind of person who is “easy to be around.”
   11. Work on improving yourself as a person, not just as a leader.
       • Read personal development books.
       • Ask for feedback, and act on it in a positive way.
       • Participate in continuing education opportunities for your industry.

Effective leaders have a comprehensive understanding of how their own actions and emotions affect their team. The better a leader is able to relate to and work with others, the more successful she or he is likely to be.

Learn how to have amazing growth in your business, by working on your leadership!

If you feel you need some help developing your emotional intelligence, contact TMH Business Coaching today for a confidential, free, no-obligation consultation to propel you forward. Also, please feel free to add yourself to our weekly coaching tips email!