The Case for Emotional Intelligence

How does the mood of the leader matter? I often ask this question in a leadership development session. As leaders reflect, there is recognition that emotions are contagious, creating a ripple effect across the team. Whether the leader is in a good mood or a bad one, it matters.  In fact, people often report checking in with the boss’s assistant before deciding whether or not to approach the boss. “How is she today,” they ask.  When are you that kind of leader?

The leader sets the tone for the rest of the team. How deliberate are you in setting the tone you want? And how would people describe your emotional intelligence?

According to the Center for Creative Leadership, Emotional Intelligence or EQ, is “the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict.”  That’s a tall order, for sure, but it’s a critical need for today’s leaders, and the good news is that it can be learned and cultivated.

Whether we are measuring leadership competencies, or the problems that can derail a career, emotional intelligence is an essential element.  Your level of self-awareness and your ability to build strong interpersonal relationships are central to effective leadership.

When you study human and organizational behavior, as I have for many years, you realize that although companies typically hire individuals for their IQ and experience, they often fire them for reasons that suggest a lack of emotional intelligence – things like relationship issues, alienating others, including their peers and direct reports.

The good news is that emotional intelligence – that ability to read the emotional and interpersonal needs of a situation and respond accordingly – is not fixed. Developing EQ can improve your interactions, your level of productivity, and the outcomes you get. 

The better news is that it’s possible to measure and increase your own EQ, as well as the overall emotional intelligence of an entire team, using a diagnostic tool called Everything DiSCâ Agile EQÔ

The improvement process involves understanding your own EQ style and strengths, and your particular needs, and how those affect others. Once you are able to recognize and value other styles as well, you can develop your own mindset and behavior to incorporate different responses required in different situations, so that you can become more effective overall.

When a team works on this together, they can take advantage of the strengths and insights from others who have different approaches in a given situation.

If you want to know more about how this may work for you or your team, let’s talk. I will help you to determine if the time is right for you.