Emotional Intelligence: The Key Element In High Performance Leadership!

  • By Andy Fox

Have you ever bought a major item, such as a car, home or even a mobile phone from a salesperson you didn’t quite trust or like? I guess not. And the reverse it seems, is always true – we buy things from people we like or trust.

Daniel Kanneman, a Nobel laureate and author of the best-selling book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, found through his study on psychology and behavioural economics that -  people would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than with a person they don’t,  even if the person is offering better products at lower prices.

Now, that clearly is a story where - people skills of a sales rep is winning the heart and mind of the buyer, even though ‘rationally’ one would reject the product as it was priced much higher than the regular rates. People skills which exudes confidence, composure, trustworthiness, likability and the ability to understand the buyer’s viewpoint and emotions. In other words ‘Emotional Intelligence’

Emotional Intelligence (EI), however is not just limited to the ‘sales’ scenario. Since Daniel Goleman popularised the terminology and the findings related to EI in 1995 through his book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, it has been a highly ‘sought after skill-set’ to have in new employees, team leaders, managers and  for those residing on much higher echelons on the leadership ladder, such as the CEOs.

Emotional Intelligence is defined as; "a form of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and action." 

Daniel says that IQ and technical skills may be required as the ‘entry level’ requirements for executive positions, but all exceptional leaders have high degree of Emotional Intelligence. 

He says, emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership. Without it, a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind, and an endless supply of smart ideas, but he still won’t make a great leader.” 

So what are these exceptional traits and characteristics that make us more ‘emotionally intelligent’? What are these special competencies that help great leaders enhance their performances and find consistent business success?

There are 4 core areas that come within the purview of Emotional Intelligence:


SELF-AWARENESS

Self-awareness is about knowing one’s own motivation and desires. It’s the ability to accurately perceive your emotions and be aware of them as and when they happen. This is a pre-requisite to developing EI skills, as it’s impossible to understand others when you cannot understand your own motivations and behaviours.


SELF-MANAGEMENT

Self-management is the ability to be aware of one’s emotions and behaviours and be adaptive and flexible enough to direct those emotions in a positive manner. It’s largely to do with competencies such as; emotional self-control, adaptability, achievement orientation and having a positive outlook.

People having strong emotional self-control manage to keep themselves composed and poised, even when faced with dire consequences. This is an important trait for a leader, as a team always follows the demeanour of a leader.


SOCIAL AWARENESS

This relates to how you can handle relationships and the awareness of others’ feelings, needs and concerns. It generally looks into competencies related to empathy, organisational awareness and service orientation.

Showing empathy for others’ feelings and perspectives, and building genuine interest in others’ concerns makes for a cohesive team culture and a team that doesn’t hesitate to go that extra mile. Social awareness also means assessing the organisation’s or the group’s emotional currents and power relationships, to make informed decisions. Service orientation refers to being able to anticipate and recognise your customers’ or clients’ needs, and meeting them with enthusiasm.


RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Relationship Management is related to having competencies that can induce desirable responses in others. The competencies under this area would be Coaching and Mentoring, which requires the skill to sense other’s development needs and then help bolster their abilities. Another trait would be Inspirational Leadership, inspiring your teams through your actions and guidance to perform and give their best in the job. Similarly Conflict Management and negotiation skills are key elements when it comes to resolving disagreements and fostering a culture of teamwork and collaboration to find shared goals.

Emotional Intelligence, as it turns out, is very distinct from one’s intellect (IQ). It's not possible to predict how ‘emotionally intelligent’ a person is, based on his/her IQ or how smart he/she is. Unlike one’s intellect, emotional intelligence is a set of skills that can be acquired and improved with practice.

As science has it, once we start to train our brain by repeatedly practicing new emotionally intelligent behaviours, the brain builds new pathways through microscopic ‘neurons’ (neuro plasticity) enabling us to trigger these desirable responses and habits when we’re faced with such emotional decisions and challenges.

If you'd like to know more on how emotional intelligence (EI) can work for you, take a look at the infographic below from Robert H Smith School of Business :

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Finally…

Researchers have time and again proven that Emotional Intelligence has as strong impact on personal and organisational performance. It almost accounts to 90% of success for people who move up the ladder, when IQ and technical skills are similar to their peers. 

In what ways do you think will help cultivate Emotional Intelligence for you and your team, to drive your business to the next level?

If you'd like further assistance or would like to discuss anything covered today, we'd love to hear from you.

Call Andy Fox (me) on (03) 5249 5570 or email andy@element7digital.com.au

Our Website is element7digital.com.au 

Andy Fox - Author

I have a firm belief there is only one great challenge in life… And that is… To be the best version of you possible. I have lived my whole life to this tune. I love that I am not perfect and I love that every day I get up and make at least one change in my life that makes it better, one change that takes me closer to my life’s goals.

More about me, visit: andyfox.com.au