Want to Succeed as a Leader? Cultivate your Emotional Intelligence!

We’ve all experienced them. Those bosses who are incredibly good at the business or technical side of their role – be it finance, sales, technology or whatever their expertise –and who are painfully lacking when it comes to dealing effectively with the people around them. The constantly closed door. The blow up in meetings. Communicating via email vs. face-to-face. The total disregard of others’ feelings. It’s all about the business! The human connection is missing.
Sound familiar? If you can’t think of an example in your office, think about the recent incident when AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong fired his creative director in front of 1000 employees. Although he apologized later, clearly he had checked any people skills he has at the door that day.
For many years the trend has been to promote people to leadership roles because of their domain expertise or bottom line results regardless of how many bodies they may have left in their wake. Thankfully, things are changing. In fact, Emotional Intelligence (EI), the “human” skill set, is becoming as important, if not more important, than the “hard skills” in determining leadership success. According to a TalentSmart study, EI accounts for 58% of a leader’s job performance. And among top performers, 90% of them rank high in Emotional Intelligence. But what exactly is EI?
Emotional Intelligence, as defined by EI expert Dr. Daniel Goleman, is the capacity for:
1. Knowing your emotions
2. Managing your own emotions
3. Motivating yourself
4. Recognizing and understanding other people’s emotions
5. Managing relationships, i.e., managing the emotions of others
How does this translate into the workplace and leadership? People with Emotional Intelligence are able to quickly build rapport and connect with others. They listen. They have the self-awareness to know how they’re going to respond in certain situations and can self-manage to direct their behavior positively. They can disagree without being disrespectful. They have empathy. They control their emotions. Great leaders recognize that human relationships and connecting with others is as important as their domain expertise in order to be successful.
Some people come by these capabilities naturally. For others, the skills must be learned. Wherever you are on the spectrum, it’s essential to understand that you can no longer succeed on expertise alone.

Till next time,
Karen