Learning to Lead

How emotional intelligence can help

Are you a leader? Or looking to become one?

Leading others is no easy task, with additional responsibilities added to your workload and a long list of people needing your time and attention.

So how can you learn to succeed?

Well, according to research, many leadership skills in the workplace require at least some degree of emotional intelligence and studies have established a link between emotional intelligence and effective leadership.

But how exactly does emotional intelligence help?

Self-perception –This area of emotional intelligence involves feelings of inner confidence, the pursuit of meaningful goals and an awareness of your emotions. Developing this area helps you to better understand yourself and what you are capable of as a leader and raises your awareness of how your behaviours and emotions impact the people in your team.

Self-expression – Self-expression includes communicating your feelings and opinions in a constructive way and remaining self-directed. This is important as a leader because it helps you to motivate others and increases the likelihood that you will take charge, use your initiative, and voice your opinions.

Interpersonal – This area of emotional intelligence focuses on building relationships with others in the workplace and being considerate of their feelings. Cultivating stronger interpersonal relationships improves communication, teamwork, and loyalty amongst those you are leading.

Decision making – Decision making refers to using both emotional and logical information when making decisions and being aware of how emotions can impact this process. This helps you to solve problems, even when emotions are involved, and reduces the risk of becoming overwhelmed or reacting hastily in emotionally charged situations.

Stress management – This area of emotional intelligence involves having coping strategies to deal with stressful and unfamiliar situations and maintaining an optimistic outlook in life. Developing ways to deal with stress is important in order to manage the pressures and demands associated with leadership in the workplace.

Developing your emotional intelligence can provide you with valuable skills to use as a leader and help you and your team succeed.

Find out more about developing your emotional intelligence here.