IQ and technical skills are important, but Emotional Intelligence is the "sine qua non" in leadership

The importance of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership.

Over the years, emotional intelligence—also known as EQ—has evolved into a must-have skill and is the strongest predictor of performance. Employees with high emotional intelligence are more likely to stay calm under pressure, resolve conflict effectively, and respond to co-workers with empathy.

Leaders set the tone of their organization. If they lack emotional intelligence, it could have more far-reaching consequences, resulting in lower employee engagement and a higher turnover rate.

While you might excel at your job technically, if you can’t effectively communicate with your team or collaborate with others, those technical skills will get overlooked. By mastering emotional intelligence, you can continue to advance your career and organization. 

THE FOUR COMPONENTS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Emotional intelligence is typically broken down into four core competencies:

1. Self-awareness
2. Self-management
3. Social awareness
4. Relationship management

In order to improve your emotional intelligence, take a closer look below at the four categories:

1. Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is at the core of everything. It describes your ability to recognize your emotions and the effect they have on your team’s performance.

2. Self-Management

Self-management refers to the ability to manage your emotions, particularly in stressful situations, and maintain a positive outlook despite setbacks. Leaders who lack self-management tend to react and have a harder time keeping their impulses in check.

3. Social Awareness 

While it’s important to understand and manage your own emotions, you also need to know how to read a room. Social awareness describes your ability to recognize others’ emotions and the dynamics in play within your organization.

Leaders who excel in social awareness practice empathy. They strive to understand their colleagues’ feelings and perspectives, which enables them to communicate and collaborate more effectively with their peers. Based on empathy and EQ they get the best out of their people and they create an excellent company culture.

4. Relationship Management

Relationship management refers to your ability to influence, coach, and mentor others, and resolve conflict effectively.

Some prefer to avoid conflict, but it’s important to properly address issues as they arise. Research shows that every unaddressed conflict can waste about eight hours of company time in gossip and other unproductive activities, putting a drain on resources and morale.

If you want to keep your team happy, you need to have those tough conversations “respectful treatment of all employees at all levels” is the top factor in job satisfaction and a very important contributor to your company culture.

IQ and technical skills are important, but emotional intelligence is the sine qua non in leadership