The idea of emotional intelligence has been around since the 1990s. Made popular by psychologist Daniel Goleman, it describes a person’s ability to recognise and regulate their own emotions, identify other people’s feelings and show empathy towards them.
In the workplace, leaders with emotional intelligence tend to be highly regarded by their managers, peers and direct reports. In this blog, we’ll delve into the reasons why high emotional intelligence makes you a more effective leader and helps create a more productive, open and engaged team culture.
For more detailed analysis of this subject, download our free practical guide to leading with emotional intelligence.
What happens to a team when their leader is emotionally mature?
When a team leader exhibits the traits of high emotional intelligence it can have a transformative, infectious effect on their team. Emotional intelligence is an easily learned behaviour, meaning if a manager acts with emotional maturity, their team are more likely to do so as well.
Let’s examine some emotionally intelligent leadership behaviours and their potential impacts and outcome for a team.
Communicating clearly and effectively
When a manager is aware of the impact of their words on someone else’s feelings they tend to communicate clearly and choose their messages more carefully. They will make sure their team understands their expectations and regularly check in with updates and further directions, actively listening to what their team has to say in response. This creates a reciprocal team culture of listening and communicating openly and honestly. It means each member of the team understands the vision and strategic direction of the business, and how their team contributes – with complete confidence and certainty.
Managing change and uncertainty
Emotionally intelligent leaders are more adept at managing change and delivering difficult messages, for example during a period of organisational change. This is because they consider how people might think, feel and react to their messages before they deliver them. Skills in relationship management tell them when to step in or step back from tricky situations and the ability to self-regulate equips them to deal with unexpected news in a calm and controlled way, such as accepting an employee resignation with empathy and understanding. This, in turn, has a calming and reassuring effect on their team.
Handling conflict
Emotionally intelligent leaders are well equipped to manage conflict and disagreements. Their innate strength in listening and the ability to stop, pause and consider how to react (without judgement) before getting involved all help to resolve conflict effectively. At the same time, they know how to remove their own emotions from a situation in order to diffuse it and disarm the individuals involved. Team members will watch, learn and adopt these valuable skills to use themselves.
Team health and wellbeing
Emotional intelligence comes with a high level of human intuition. Leaders understand that every employee is a person with a life outside the workplace, and that not everything revolves around work. Being able to spot when a team member is having a bad day, noticing when someone is struggling, and recognising the signs of burnout are three examples where an emotionally intelligent manager would intuitively know to step in and ask after that team member’s wellbeing. Active listening skills allow them to understand the situation and work out what actions they can take to help.
Prioritising team health and wellbeing helps to build resilience and encourages every member to look out for each other’s wellbeing as a matter of course, which makes for a friendly, caring workplace.
Emotional intelligence builds a stronger, more effective team
According to the Center for Creative Leadership, a higher emotional intelligence quotient is linked to greater employee engagement. As we know, employee engagement is linked to satisfaction with a range of factors, including effective communication, empathetic leadership, trust and pride at work – all of which stem from having an emotionally intelligent manager and role model.
Teams that are led by self-aware and socially aware managers develop stronger, more personal connections between them. Employees understand each other better. They know their opinions are valued and their wellbeing is prioritised and cared for. They feel motivated to achieve more because they are clear on their priorities and how they contribute. This breeds contentment, satisfaction and motivation across the team.
Over time, those teams will also become more successful thanks to their leader’s ability to recruit the right people for their team. By understanding the team dynamic and recognising each person’s skills and personality, they can look to bring in people who will add to their strengths and complement, not conflict with, other personalities within the team.
The learning and development factor
We’ve talked a great deal in this blog about the infectious aspects of emotionally intelligent leadership, however this assumes that leaders already possess the required characteristics to pass on to their teams. Many leaders are new to role and might not have had opportunity to develop in this way. Others might need to work on improving skills such as self-awareness, self-recognition, empathy, managing conflict and relationship management.
Emotional intelligence is not something you have or don’t have. Such behaviours can be learned and developed as part of your personal development plan. If these are skills and behaviours that you or other managers in your organisation would benefit from enhancing, please get in touch and ask us about our leadership development training. We help build effective leaders by giving them the necessary tools and insights to navigate challenges, inspire and guide their teams, and achieve your organisational goals.