Build your emotional intelligence and become a better leader

Welcome

Here you'll find my infrequent musings and reflections on all things that impact our beliefs and potential.

29 June 2022

Long gone are the days where we think leaders are those with the best education or the most senior roles. It goes without saying that of course knowledge and experience are important but being able to communicate well and collaborate with others is just as (if not more) important.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is something that can be developed. It helps you build rapport, motivate others, and inspire them to achieve a shared vision.

There are several ways you can strengthen your EQ, and under the umbrellas of the four components of EQ (self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness and relationship-management) I’m sharing some of my favourite methods here.

1. Self-awareness. To lead and inspire others, you have to understand your own motivations and behaviour.

Get clear on your values and your dreams. Does your vision in life align with them? When you know and trust what’s important to you, you’re unlikely to compromise your values for a goal that isn’t aligned with them.
Learn what drives you from the inside. This keeps your inner spark burning far longer than any external reward. What are your passions? What keeps you pushing forward
You can’t pour from an empty cup. Learn to recognise where your energy is going. What fills your cup and what drains it?
Where do you need to develop? Understand the key areas to make improvements and be open to growth.

2. Self-management. When you take responsibility for your behaviour, attitudes, and actions, it not only builds trust and authority with others, but raises your performance level too.

Seek feedback. This is one of the most effective ways to learn what you need to do differently to lead your team more effectively and understand how you help them.
Don't be scared to delegate. You can’t do everything yourself and delegating builds trust between you and your team and enables them to develop. Just because they might not do something your way doesn’t mean it’s the wrong way.

3. Social awareness. Be aware of your own attitudes and the power you have to engage, disengage, motivate and demotivate others.

Build rapport with your team. Showing genuine interest, caring for them and learning how to listen properly (including to the things that aren’t being said), builds brilliant relationships.
Celebrate successes. Even the little things. Tell someone if they’ve done a good job. Look to give the positive feedback. Recognise good work and reward it. This helps grow engagement.
Involving people goal setting and planning helps them to buy into your vision.
Understanding your team members development needs, and providing opportunities to grow, whether through formal training, mentoring, coaching, self-development or other means develops trust and innovation through collaboration.

4. Relationship management. When you utilise people’s strengths and give them opportunities to develop, it helps people to feel valued and brings out the best in everyone.

It’s in our gift to develop our EQ and the benefits are clear to see. No matter your education or experience – EQ is free for us all.

Share this post:

Créer une ligne verticale en HTML