The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership
Productivity
It is the employees who drive the ultimate success, responsible for ensuring customer happiness in every interaction, conceiving products and services, managing sales and promotions, negotiating with suppliers, and strategizing, among many other functions. Therefore, the better the well-being of these individuals, the greater the results.
This shift has led to an increased appreciation for leaders with emotional intelligence. While there are multiple definitions surrounding this concept, it broadly encompasses the ability to understand, manage, and respond to both one’s own emotions and those of others.
Based on this definition, we can recognize that emotional intelligence is key for a leader to comprehend the underlying intentions behind each collaborator’s performance, resolve daily conflicts before they escalate, provide constructive criticism, and bring out the best in every team member. A person with this ability remains in control even in critical situations, capable of making rational decisions with awareness within the framework of complex problems (assessing and managing potential consequences) and never succumbing to fear, yet unafraid to show vulnerability.
Communication is a cornerstone in the puzzle of emotional intelligence within work environments: engaging in dialogue to resolve differences, calmly conveying ideas, acknowledging achievements, motivating when things don’t go as planned, and, most importantly, actively and genuinely listening to everyone, all the time. This way, the leader effectively connects with each team member and establishes themselves as a figure capable of guiding, inspiring, and teaching.
Emotional intelligence is also crucial in building and maintaining strong relationships, not only within work teams but also with clients, investors, other stakeholders, business partners, or members of the value chain. Therefore, the leader must disseminate this coherent and unified vision among all team members to reinforce the sustainable growth of the organization.
Daniel Goleman considered the ‘father’ of emotional intelligence, summarizes leadership success applied to this concept in twelve competencies divided into four areas:
- Emotional self-awareness.
- Self-management: includes emotional self-regulation, achievement, adaptability, and positivity.
- Relationship management: encompasses influence, coaching, teamwork, conflict management, and inspiration.
- Social awareness: empathy and organizational awareness.
To achieve their full potential, a leader endowed with emotional intelligence and soft skills can utilize technological tools that help optimize the company’s performance. One such tool is Workdeck, a service automation software that facilitates project management and daily tasks associated with team management, from task and project management to resource administration, absence control, and financial analysis, expenses, or purchases. With Workdeck, you’ll have more time to focus on nurturing employee well-being and thus add maximum value to your business.
