ROLE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN LEADERSHIP

Many of us might have heard Emotional Intelligence and Leadership as soft skills training topics. Yes, Leadership and Emotional Intelligence are taught as separate topics. But in reality Leadership is a huge umbrella under which many such soft skills come.

In this article I, Sahil Kumar Nagpal, leadership trainer & life coach will shed some light on Emotional Intelligence.

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

So, the word Emotional Intelligence was first coined in 1964 by a social scientist called as Michael Beldoch in a research paper. Before him the qualities of EI were mainly referred to as social intelligence.

Before that, there was a widespread belief that to be successful in life, one needs to have a good GQ (General Quotient) and IQ (Intelligence Quotient). But in the research paper Beldoch explained how a person’s ability to understand the self’s emotions and other people’s emotions helps the person succeed in society.

Is EQ Better Than IQ & GQ?

This has been a subject of debate from a long time. No doubt, having intelligence helps you navigate various situations of life smoothly. Yes, having general knowledge always empowers you while making critical decisions.

But knowledge increases and decreases from time to time. There are so many things we learn, but we also forget so many things with time. At any given point of time what we know will always be less than what we don’t know. Intelligence is definitely important in problem solving but it not necessarily helps you to climb the social ladder.

When it comes to success in social life, one quality that is undisputed is your ability to deal with people. When I say deal with people, it includes:

-????????? Understanding Mindsets

-????????? Understanding Emotional States

-????????? Understanding Intelligence Level

-????????? Delegating After Assessing

-????????? Communicating Assertively

How an individual deals with people around him, will help the person be more or less valued among the tribe. Having people’s skills in today’s life is highly essential.

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

After Beldoch many people have worked on this subject but the most famous work is that of Mr Daniel Goleman. Goleman’s work is not only highly admired all around but also works on ground level.

The 5 pillars of Emotional Intelligence according to Goleman are Empathy, Self-Regulation, Self-Awareness, Motivation & Social Skills. You are one google search away from knowing about it more. So, I won’t go in much detail.

What Are Emotions?

Emotions in simple scientific language are motivators. Different emotions motivate us to take different actions. In simple language, emotions are the lens through which we see the world. If we can understand this lens and understand how it changes the reality of any given situation, we can handle situations at whole different level.

How EI Is Useful In Leadership?

A leader, be she a manager, team leader, president or CEO needs to deal with people on daily basis. A leader needs to motivate people, encourage people, convince people, de-motivate people from time to time. The better she does that the better she will succeed in leadership.

When a leader develops the ability to understand his or her emotions he or she will become more empathetic. This gives the leader an advantage of understanding other people’s state of mind. This empowers the leader to evaluate a person’s capability to conduct specific tasks.