Understanding Emotional Intelligence - part 1

Have you ever wished for a work environment where communication flows easily, conflicts are resolved with minimal stress, and mutual respect is the norm? Emotional intelligence is the ingredient that makes this ideal work environment possible. 

So what is Emotional Intelligence? It's more than just being "in touch" with your feelings; it’s a blend of self-awareness, self-management, awareness of others, and relationship management.  

Let's explore these four key areas:  

1️⃣ Self-awareness is the cornerstone.
How do we react to challenges? Why?? Knowing our emotional triggers and understanding our strengths and weaknesses allows us to navigate situations with greater clarity. 

2️⃣ Self-management is about how we control or redirect our impulses, moods, and emotions.
It's important for wellbeing and creating productive working relationships. Where do you need to flex, and when do you need to hold your line? How do you add to the mood in a room, or drain it? 

3️⃣ Awareness of Others can also be understood as empathy, and understanding the emotional makeup of the people around us. 
What’s their perspective? We don’t have to agree to show empathy. It can hugely help increase understanding and decrease barriers.  
Organisational Awareness is about understanding the bigger picture. What decisions is your organisation making, and why?  

 4️⃣ Relationship Management: this is the external application of emotional intelligence.
How do we build strong bonds, foster collaboration, manage conflicts, and inspire people to follow our lead? Effective relationship management often stems from the first three components. 

Why is Emotional Intelligence so Important? 

Emotional intelligence isn't just a 'nice-to-have'; it's essential for our success as leaders. 

How Does Emotional Intelligence Benefit Us as Leaders? 

🧠 Heightened Self-Awareness: When we understand our emotions, we’re aware of our impact on others and can lead with greater focus and authenticity. 

👥 Elevated Team Engagement: We can cultivate a stronger sense of trust and loyalty within our teams, thus elevating overall engagement. 

🎯 Astute Decision-Making: We can leverage our emotional intelligence to consider the wider impact and implications of our decisions, leading to more balanced and effective outcomes. 

🗨️ Clearer Communication: Our ability to communicate clearly and understand the emotional context of conversations can reduce misunderstandings and promote collaboration. 

⚖️ Robust Stress Management: Recognising our emotional triggers allows us to manage stress more effectively, which in turn benefits our teams. 

🕊️ Effective Conflict Resolution: Our emotional intelligence enables us to navigate the emotional layers of conflict, leading to better resolutions. 

Questions to consider:

Given these insights, how can you further develop your emotional intelligence?  

Who do you know who has high levels of EI? What do they do? What can you learn from them? 

These are issues that clients often work on during leadership coaching or in our Effective Leadership Training programmes. If any of these resonate and you’d like to discuss this with me, please message me. 

Kate Jennings

References: 

Andrei, F., Siegling, A. B., Aloe, A. M., Baldaro, B., & Petrides, K. V. (2016). The incremental validity of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue): A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 89(3), 522-546.