Here's how you can boost your leadership abilities by developing your emotional intelligence as an executive.

You've got to be extremely critical of yourself to know your EI level. Its a conscious decision one needs to make, to improve as an individual and then as a professional. For each situation you face during the entire day, take a pause to notice your response - ask yourself if that's a 'response' or more like a 'reaction'? If you think its a reaction, decide what a 'response' should be, and then move ahead. Try doing this for a month and you'd be able to formulate some patterns. Then identify one or two type of response patterns and work on improving them. Achieve those 'small wins' every day to improve morale and push yourself further. I believe EI is probably more important than a lot of other skills which can be taught objectively.

Boosting your leadership abilities by developing emotional intelligence (EI) involves several key steps. Self-awareness: Start by understanding your own emotions, strengths, and weaknesses. Reflect regularly and seek feedback from others. Self-regulation: Manage your emotions by staying calm under pressure, practicing mindfulness, and being adaptable to change. Motivation: Cultivate a strong drive to achieve goals with optimism and resilience. Empathy: Enhance your ability to understand and relate to others' emotions. Listen actively, show genuine interest, and consider others' perspectives. Social skills: Build strong relationships by communicating effectively, resolving conflicts amicably, & inspiring and influencing your team positively.

Being empathetic in approach means alot in leadership and that can determine your leading a successful. Putting yourself in others shoes and understand the pain points from their experience can help you make better decision thorough emotional intelligence.

An extremely crucial trait to inculcate if you want to grow as a professional, and also be 'liked'. "practice putting yourself in your team members' shoes" -> I'd go a step further and suggest that one needs to empathize with the seniors up the ladder as well. In many cases, when you're empathizing with team members, you may come across as someone who doesn't understand or care about the big picture. I've learned this from experience, hence the suggestion. Its a small word with a huge impact. Once you start empathizing with your colleagues up and down the hierarchy, you'd notice that you're handling situations in a better, more matured manner. So, next time you face a situation, try empathy and you'd be amazed how you act differently.

D'après mon expérience, l'empathie est indispensable pour être un leader capable de rassembler ses équipes autour d'une vision commune et de les motiver à atteindre des objectifs ambitieux. Rarement innée, elle peut être développée grâce à 4 habitudes : 1. Pratiquer l'écoute active = écouter sans porter de jugement, poser des questions ouvertes, reformuler pour s'assurer de bien comprendre 2. Prêter attention au non verbal pour comprendre les émotions de l'autre = expressions du visage, langage du corps, ton de la voix 3. Essayer de voir son monde à travers ses lunettes = faire parler la personne de ses expériences, de ses valeurs, de ses émotions, de ses besoins 4. Accepter ses émotions et exprimer sa compréhension et son soutien

You'd only be able to communicate well if you can empathize with the other person and know the: --- subject matter, --- audience, --- problem at hand, ---- possible solutions according to you, ---- severity and urgency of the issue, ---- stakeholders involved, etc. Try to gather most of the above information and you'd be able to articulate your thoughts better. Empathy can improve your articulation as you'd be able to understand the audience's context, their situation and tweak your articulation. This way, you're telling the audience that you can relate to their problem and are trying to address it considering everyone's best interest. Just as you observe non-verbal cues of the other person, you should also learn to give such cues.

This is probably one of the toughest situations to handle for executives. In most conflicts, the emotions are high and both parties are trying to one-up the other which is their immediate goal. But, for leaders, the aim should be to identify 'what' is best for the organization rather than 'who' is saying it. In most cases, if the leader goes by 'who', then the decision may be biased and hence not the optimal one. While trying to resolve conflicts, asking questions to both parties keeping the long-term goal in mind will make them introspect, calm them down as they have to think of an answer, and hence generate a thought-through response. Leaders need to be neutral while resolving conflicts, which again is driven by their level of EI.

Leading by example can be best shown during conflict resolution. If you, as a leader, - are calm through the resolution process, - aren't biased, - are thinking long-term interest of organization, - are asking the right questions to reach resolution, you'd be demonstrating how your team should handle the next conflict. As a leader, you're bound to face tough situations frequently and each of these situations are chances for you to 'lead by example'. You may show your emotions momentarily - after all you're human too - but the way you control them is what your team will critically analyze. If you're able to manage through that chasm, they'd always want to work with. Help your team members through the process, and see the magic.

Social Skills: Work on your communication skills, conflict resolution, and the ability to build and maintain relationships. This can lead to more effective teamwork and collaboration. Mindfulness: Combine mindfulness practices with EI development to foster empathy and improve interpersonal abilities. Learning from Others: Be open to learning from the experiences and perspectives of others. For valuable insights and enhance your leadership style. By focusing on above, you can improve your EI, which is a crucial component of effective leadership. Remember, EI is not only about understanding your own emotions but also about how you connect with others and inspire them to achieve their best.