Is emotional intelligence the key to business success?
Emotional intelligence - it sounds like a ‘nice to have’ and not something that’s really talked about, or necessary, for business success. However, we’ve found that true emotional intelligence can be transformational in the way you lead and drive your business and in turn, this could be the magic you need to take your business to the next level of growth.
What is emotional intelligence and why do I need it?
What comes into your mind when you think about a successful leader? My first thoughts are a leader that listens and trusts, someone who makes well thought out decisions and responds positively to situations, rather than reacting. This kind of leader is highly emotionally intelligent and I bet when you think of the best leaders you’ve come across, they’ll all have this too.
Emotional intelligence (EI) is being able to both understand and manage your emotions, be aware of the impact of your emotions on others and understand people and how they are feeling. A high level of emotional intelligence means that you can stay in control in times of stress, you can listen and respond positively to your team, and you can make wise decisions (not based on reactions!).
In business,particularly for leaders, a high level of EI can make the difference between being a well-respected inspirational leader and being misunderstood, mistrusted and ineffective.
There are 5 key elements to EI (according to Daniel Goleman, who popularised his theory in 1995). The fantastic thing is that there are some really simple things you can do today, and every day, to start honing your EI skills and become the leader you want to be.
The elements are:
Self awareness
Self-regulation
Motivation
Empathy
Social skills
We’ve rounded up our top tips for starting on the journey to enhanced EI.
Self awareness:
Ask your friends or trusted colleagues how they see you. Choose people who you know can be honest with you and listen to them well. Ask them for their feedback on your strengths and areas for development; try to listen with an open mind.
Keep a thought diary. We all have automatic thoughts or reactions that seem to happen spontaneously. Make a note of when a thought or reaction pops up - what was going on before it happened? How did you handle it? What could you have done differently?
Mindfulness. There are lots of different mindfulness techniques and strategies to try, Have a look at this article to get more information about practising self awareness.
Self regulation:
Be accountable; when something goes wrong (or right) take time to think about how you process it. Do you blame other people? Are you able to face your mistakes and the consequences? It’s hard thing to do, but ultimately will make you feel better about yourself, others and the world around you.
Commit to your values; what are your boundaries? What’s most important to you? Right down your own personal values and let them guide you when you need to make a decision. When you stay true to your values, your decisions will happen a lot more quickly and easily.
Practice being present and remaining calm so that you’re able to respond to emotions and challenging situations, rather than reacting. There’s some great advice here on the things you can do every day to help with this.
Motivation:
Reflect on your purpose. Think back and remember what made you want to do the job you’re doing initially; was it your values? Need to succeed? Something else? If you’re struggling to get started, there’s a great tool here called the Five Whys. Once you’ve reconnected to your purpose, motivation will come easily.
Be optimistic. Practice gratitude, look for the good in situations and search hard for hope. If you can find small glimmers of hope in the day to day challenges of business, it will support your motivation and chances of success. Ask someone else to help with this as it can be hard to change your mindset on your own.
Empathy:
Empathy is crucial for leaders to help build up trust, respect and loyalty with their team. The ability to put yourself in someone else’s position means that you can develop your people and also challenge them much more effectively. How can you improve your skills?
Try and see all the different perspectives in a conversation or decision. Take time to challenge your own thinking and truly listen to what other people are saying.
Be aware of feelings. Listen out for the tones of voices, changes in body language and other cues that can give away how someone is feeling. Don’t ignore feelings; take time to explore them with your team to help them feel understood and valued.
Social Skills:
Good social skills are fundamental to ensure you can communicate effectively with your team; they’ll help you build trust, support and motivation with your people. How can your work on your skills in this area?
Think about your communication style. This quiz from MindTool will help you evaluate your own communication and start to put in place improvements in your style; it would be a good one to try with your team too, so that you can learn more about each other.
How do you handle conflict? If nobody on your team has effective conflict handling skills, it’s highly likely that issues will get bigger and bigger. Take a proactive approach; there are some great tips to get you started here.
