Every team needs their perfect leader to light the path. But what is your idea of the perfect leader? You might think of someone who has the complete trust of his/her staff, someone who never loses his/her temper no matter what problems he or she is facing. Another image of the perfect leader that comes to mind is someone who listens carefully to his/her team, someone who speaks kindly, is easy to talk to and always makes careful well-thought and informed decisions. All of these are some of the qualities and characteristics of a leader with a high degree of emotional intelligence.
Research carried out by Hay’s Group, a global management consulting firm that works with leaders, has shown that leaders who use their emotional intelligence engage their employees and inspire them to do their best. The study, which was conducted on 4,322 participants from 283 global clients from a range of organisations and sectors, clearly demonstrates that the key to performance is a strong self-awareness of emotions to drive the ability to respond to others with emotional and social intelligence.
Hay Group, McClelland Centre for Research and Innovation, defines Emotional Competence Inventory (ECI) as a 360º tool designed to assess the emotional competencies of individuals and organisations. It measures 18 competencies organised into four clusters: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management.
The Hay’s Group study report showed that leaders who have fewer than three ESCI strengths have a much more limited range of leadership styles to draw upon and tended to rely primarily on a coercive approach; issuing orders and expecting immediate compliance from their team members. Very few of these leaders used an approach that kept their teams involved in decision-making. Neither did they incorporate coaching and developing others in their repertoire. On the other hand, leaders with 10 or more ESCI strengths in their portfolio used a much wider range of leadership styles. Their typical behaviours included those who were more likely to engage their team members, providing long term direction and vision, creating harmony, encouraging new ideas and investing in their team members’ long-term professional development.
Leaders who are self-aware are persons who are aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. In addition to this, they are also aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their subordinates. David Goleman, an American psychologist, explained that people with high emotional intelligence are very self-aware. Hay’s Group research has shown that of those leaders demonstrating high emotional self-awareness, 92 per cent created positive climates. Only eight per cent had a neutral impact and none created de-motivating climates.
In sharp contrast, 78 per cent of leaders demonstrating low emotional self-awareness created negative climates and only 22 per cent had a positive impact. Finally, participants with low emotional self-awareness are much more likely to require development across a range of other competencies, particularly in relationship management, the study report has shown.
In order to improve self-awareness, the article in Mind Tools, a site that teaches leadership, team management, problem-solving, personal productivity and team-working skills, entitled “Emotional Intelligence in Leadership – Learning How to Be More Aware”, suggests that leaders keep a journal and spend some minutes each day to write down their thoughts which can move them to a higher degree of self-awareness. Another recommendation is that whenever leaders experience anger or other strong emotions, they need to slow down to examine the reason as for why they are feeling that way.
Goleman explains that there are other elements of emotional intelligence. These include: 1. Regulation; 2. Motivation; 3. Empathy, and 4. Social skills. The former is the ability to control emotions and impulses. People who self-regulate typically don’t allow themselves to become too angry or jealous, and they don’t make impulsive, careless decisions. They also think before they act. Characteristics of self-regulation are thoughtfulness, comfort with change, integrity, and the ability to say no. In order to improve self-regulation, Mind Tools recommends leaders to know what values matter the most to them in order to ensure that when they make a decision, they know they have made the right one. Other recommendations for improving self-regulation includes the ability of leaders to hold themselves accountable for when something goes wrong and to practise being calm.
Leaders with a high degree of emotional intelligence are perceived to be people with high motivational levels. They’re willing to defer immediate results for long-term success. They’re highly productive people, enjoy challenges, and are very effective in whatever they do. In order to improve motivation, the site Mind Tools, suggests that leaders reflect on why they are doing their job. The idea is that having looked at the root of the problem, one can look at the situation in a new way. Other suggestions include making sure that goal statements are fresh and energising and knowing where the leader stands, that is determining how motivated you, as a leader are. And finally, the site Mind Tools highly recommends all leaders to be optimistic regardless of the situation they are in, as motivated leaders are usually optimistic, no matter what they face.
The second most important element of emotional intelligence is empathy, which is considered an ability to identify with and understand the wants, needs, and viewpoints of those around you. Leaders with empathy are very good at recognising the feelings of others, even when those feelings may not be obvious. Because of this, these leaders are usually excellent at managing relationships, listening, and relating to others. They avoid stereotyping and judging too quickly, and they live their lives in a very open, honest way. In order to improve empathy, Mind Tools suggests that leaders put themselves in someone else’s position, so as to look to the situation from other people’s perspectives. Paying attention to body language and being able to respond and address another person’s feelings demonstrates that the leader understands the other person.
Finally, social skills are also a sign of high emotional intelligence. Rather than focus on their own success first, these leaders help others to develop and shine. Leaders with good social skills have the ability to manage disputes, are excellent communicators, and are masters at building and maintaining relationships. The website suggests that leaders learn conflict resolution, learn how to praise others, and improve communication skills in order to improve and build their social skills.
Emotional intelligence has become a crucial part of how today’s leaders meet the significant challenges they face. It is the key for leaders to tap into and release the full potential of their employees to inspire them to do their very best. Unfortunately, despite the fact that leading and managing people takes emotional intelligence, it is still something that is not fully embraced by businesses today when developing their leaders. By fully leveraging and understanding this key leadership trait, businesses will see that employee engagement expands and ultimately productivity and performance.
Ms Camilleri is a researcher at the Foundation for Human Resources Development (FHRD)