From a leader you ask for control. At operational or communication level, for example. However, a leader is also required to have control over his emotions. After all, it is the basis of the person under whom the responsibilities of certain projects are placed. In fact, an imbalance in the field of emotions can have serious consequences for the organisation or the project he leads. In other words, the emotional intelligence of the leaders will be a very important asset for each company, which should be one of the aspects taken into account when hiring for high positions.
But let’s go deeper. What is Emotional Intelligence?
The concept of emotional intelligence
In the context of Daniel Goleman’s book, called “Emotional Intelligence”, cited by several scientific articles, including Cary Cherniss’s in the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organisations, the first definitions related to emotional intelligence in the professional context emerged. The most popular and which might be summarised here points to a person’s ability to control their feelings so that they are expressed appropriately and effectively. Goleman, in fact, goes further and says that emotional intelligence is one of the main factors for success in the workplace.
This author divides emotional intelligence into 4 components: self-awareness, relationship management, self-management and social awareness. All of these will be explored throughout this article.
What is the role of self-awareness in the Emotional Intelligence of Leaders?
One of the ways of emotional control is to be aware of your own reactions. That is, to have the notion of their personality. To be aware of oneself. It is from here that emotional intelligence begins to be structured. After all, with awareness of what can trigger a hostile posture or a more irascible behaviour, the emotional intelligence of leaders becomes more effective. In other words, there is an action in a perspective of prevention that separates feelings from actions.
In the field of self-awareness, the communicational part of a leader also comes in. That is, their ability to show what they are feeling at a given moment, being able to perfectly identify the difference between similar emotions such as anger, hatred and even, in some cases, love. In this sense, there can be greater rationality in the professional sphere and, consequently, a space can be created for decisions to be made where logic prevails and not other external factors.
In other words, in short, the leader sees himself and manages to attenuate (because we imagine it is impossible to switch off completely) his feelings, displacing his emotions from the decision-making process.
Self-management in Leaders’ Emotional Intelligence
Self-management and self-awareness may seem like the same thing, or very similar concepts, especially looking at the specific field of leaders’ emotional intelligence. And the truth is that they are not very distant relatives, if we can put it that way. After all, Self-management points to the ability to control behaviour and feelings, managing them in a constructive way.
The major difference between both concepts is established at the root of emotion, present in the concept of self-management. That is, the reason why the person (the leader, in this case) will feel that way, something that is not considered in the concept of self-awareness.
Now, with a greater sense of what makes us feel a certain way, there is also room for this to be controlled and has the potential to keep workers focused on the project.
Relationship Management
One of the pillars in the emotional intelligence of leaders is also relationship management. That is, the way the leader interacts with those around him. Or, more broadly, relationship management refers to a leader’s ability to communicate clearly, maintaining good relationships with others, which may eventually generate profits for themselves and the company. After all, a well-connected leader can make your team feel good, thus generating productivity gains. Furthermore, this relationship management capacity may also extend outside the company, in contact with other cultures and other departments, and may eventually generate important synergies.
Also included in this field is the aspect of conflict management, which covers five management styles – competitive, accommodation, withdrawal, agreement and collaboration. The former involves a non-cooperative attitude where power takes precedence and which is opposed to the latter, where there is a renunciation of the interests of one of the parties involved. The withdrawal style is also non-collaborative, as it involves one party giving up. Finally, the agreement and collaboration styles are the most cooperative. After all, it involves compromises between both parties, finding a middle ground for both parties’ intentions. It is important to be clear about everything that is on the table. That is, it is not advisable to assume beforehand that the other party has agreed to something that the leader himself has set as a condition of the agreement.
Social Awareness
Finally, the 4th key pillar of leaders’ emotional intelligence – social awareness.
We are familiar with the concept of a mentalist, one who can read the minds of others in mysterious ways. Now, a leader has to be a bit like that. We wouldn’t say a quack mentalist, but perhaps someone with the ability to read… the situation. In other words, ‘read the room’, as they say in English. By having the sensitivity to notice what is happening at a given moment, the leader will be able to act accordingly and take care of the situation so that it does not escalate to levels that could be harmful to the company.
This concept also includes the ability to put oneself in the other’s shoes, which, let’s face it, is not only essential to the emotional intelligence of leaders, but also of all of us.