Why We Need More Emotionally Intelligent Leaders – Tal Shnall

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At a recent seminar, I covered the topic of social competence of emotional intelligence. The social competence of leadership demonstrates that the leader has empathy and social awareness, such as proficiency in managing relationships and building networks. Leaders who understand relationships and are effective in social intelligence have something beyond business skills that help organizations succeed to improve their performance.

I was recently asked if we need more emotionally intelligent leaders not just in business but on a national level?

I think we all can agree that emotional intelligence can help improve our relationships across party lines and overall the top leadership of every branch of government. After all, leadership can only be demonstrated by a good example. So far, we have not seen a whole a lot of good examples in that arena. Can our institutions be transformed?

Emotional intelligence has become the greatest predictor of leadership and personal success, especially at the highest level of every organization. After the release of Daniel Goleman’s book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ in 1995, the principles of emotional and social intelligence became more mainstream and are now widely recognized as being an important factor in a person’s professional success.

Technical skills, financial acumen, and industry knowledge are important to success as well. It would be unrealistic to suggest that these (and other competencies) are not critical to the success of today’s business environment as a whole. As Bill George succinctly put it: 

“I have never seen leaders fail for lack of raw intelligence but have observed […] more than a hundred who have failed for lack of […] Emotional Intelligence.”

In today’s fast-growing, dynamic global business culture, leaders need an additional set of skills that impact leadership effectiveness, an organization’s culture, Relationship Management and ultimately business performance: The challenge, from a traditional business environment, is that most of a company’s value consists of relationships – internal and external. Those skills are tied to Emotional Intelligence. Not everyone is born with it, but you can improve your emotional intelligence with a coach or a facilitator.

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Successful organizations today are not those shaped by the charisma and drive of senior leaders, but those that can unleash the untapped potential of all of their employees, partners, and customers. With these different challenges a new kind of leadership is needed – more focused on communication, relationships and interpersonal skills.

What Does Emotional Intelligence Look Like For A Leader?

According to Daniel Goleman, there are 5 EQ competencies: Self-awareness, Self-regulation, Motivation, Social skills, and Empathy. These competencies are essential to being a successful leader at every avenue of life. They are demonstrated through leadership behaviors. Think about the very best leader you can – what makes them such a great leader? Certainly not their position or title. When I ask participants to do this in my leadership seminars, typical responses include:

Leaders Influence, walk the talk, inspiring, resilient, focused and driven (motivation). Leaders build trust, honesty, direct, consistent (self-awareness) Leaders are clear, decisive, straight forward, intuitive (self-regulation) Leaders are effective communicators, approachable and listen to others (social skills) Leaders are empathetic and develop others. (Empathy)

We know these traits go well beyond IQ and raw knowledge. The best leaders show these traits through their words and actions, demonstrating their emotional intelligence with their teams.

How do leaders use Emotional Intelligence Effectively?

Successful leadership is about being effective in three ways: leading yourself (personal competence), leading others (social competence), and leading the organization or community.

#1. Leading Yourself

Self-awareness is foundational to high emotional intelligence. When you truly know your strengths and weaknesses, what your tendencies are and what motivates you, you can quickly make sense of your emotions at any given moment. Most importantly, it’s an honest self-reflection of your values and blind spots. Leadership begins with accurate self-awareness, requiring the ability to understand ourselves while consistently learning, growing and reflecting how we can improve as leaders.

#2. Leading others

The abilities to perceive accurately people and situations, meet others where they are and recognize their needs and emotional responses are hallmarks of social intelligence. Socially intelligent leaders listen first, allowing others to be heard. They are open-minded, give thoughtful consideration to other perspectives and are nonjudgmental in their responses. Open communication and establishing trust by nurturing long-lasting relationships is essential to teams’ success. Connecting with individuals cross-functionally and within other locations and geographies should be expected and encouraged in today’s global business environment.

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#3. Organizational Intelligence

Leaders need to build strong relationships with boards, partners, stakeholders, employees and even competitors to reach organizational outcomes. They demonstrate political astuteness, recognizing that power and influence in organizations do not work in neat hierarchical lines anymore. They are able to connect and inspire others to see the big picture, core values and the purpose of their culture.

To develop your leadership skills, you don’t need to be a machine and turn your emotions off, but rather develop interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. Being an effective leader is about technical skill, strategic thinking, and knowledge. Being a great leader also requires the effectiveness of your emotional intelligence.

Tal is a Customer Service Trainer and Speaker, with more than 20 years’ of hotel guest operations. He has facilitated training programs for several hotel brands such as Marriott, Hilton, Starwood and Intercontinental Hotel Group. He adds value through Customer Excellence Training, Leadership Development, Corporate Training, and Executive Coaching. Connect with him on Linkedin

Kelechi Okeke
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