Many leaders and chief executives are often frustrated by how their personal effectiveness is perceived by their teams. This frustration is amplified by not knowing how to take this hurdle.
Do you wish to know THE scientifically proven predictor of outstanding leadership?
Recently, I worked with a chief executive who had poor interpersonal relationships with his direct reports. He relied solely on intellectual knowledge and ignored all other resources available to him.
Above all, he was unable to see himself objectively. He was unable to observe both his own emotions and those of others.
What he urgently needed was to use his Cognitive Intelligence together with Emotional Intelligence. The combination of these two modes of understanding leads to outstanding leadership.
Why was this exposure to Emotional Intelligence necessary for this person?
His work with me enabled him to access his Emotional Intelligence. This, in turn, enabled him to use his body sensations to inform decision making.
He learned how to access his intuition. This enabled him to have better relationships with his direct reports. And overall, his level of Emotional Intelligence improved.
One year later, Human Resources reported much more stable relationships and higher levels of effectiveness for his organisation.
Scientific studies show that Emotional Intelligence makes up 80 percent of leadership competence.
A recent empirical study showed that the higher the rank of a person considered to be a star performer, the more Emotional Intelligence showed up as the reason for his effectiveness and a predictor of outstanding leadership.
So what is Emotional Intelligence?
What do we have to do to access it?
According to the leading authority on Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, the component parts are:
- Self-awareness,
- Self-regulation,
- Motivation,
- Empathy and
- Social skill.
It does, indeed, sound like a list of ingredients for baking a cake. And just like a cake, it requires a number of ingredients to bring it together. So let us look at how we can get a handle on Emotional Intelligence by exploring the first three ingredients.
Self-awareness. It is the key domain of Emotional Intelligence that enables all other aspects.
The competences required for self-awareness are
- Emotional awareness,
- Accurate self-assessment and
- Self-confidence.
What does the practice of Self-awareness do?
It enables you to achieve clarity within yourself by increasing your ability to see your emotions more clearly.
Self-awareness engages the thinking brain (the neocortex) in the process of emotion. The process of self-awareness charts the areas of the thinking brain that deal with self-focussed attention and language.
There are certain practices and exercises that you can do to bring about greater self-awareness, to create the conditions to see your thoughts feelings, emotions with greater vividness. When we engage in practices or exercises, which use that part of the brain, we take one step closer to gaining control over our emotional lives.
Self-regulation. This is like an on-going inner conversation that frees you from being a prisoner of your feelings.
We all have the ability to be the sentinel of our thoughts, feelings, emotions and moods. Being able to control and channel them in productive ways is what self-regulation is all about.
Self-regulation enables the gift of choice. It empowers you to choose appropriate reactions for the situations which arise in your life.
Picking your words carefully, formulating opinions wisely, managing physical reactions; all of these go a long way towards the practice of self-regulation.
This is the opposite of being volatile.
Why does this matter so much?
Well, have you ever met anyone who loves volatility?
By contrast, people who are in control of their feelings and impulses are often considered dependable, trustworthy. Research has shown that in business, this creates an environment where politics and infighting are sharply reduced. Top talent think twice about leaving if they have leaders who display calm and measured approaches.
Self-regulation also enables the ability to cope with ambiguity and change.
People who have mastered their emotions are able to roll with the changes which happen in work and life, often at a dizzying pace.
In a word, self-regulation leads to greater Resilience. Individuals are better able to suspend judgement, ask powerful questions, relinquish panic and cope with life in better ways.
Motivation is a factor of Emotional Intelligence. It is embodied by those driven to achieve.
Those who have a high level of motivation, usually know why they are engaged in doing something.
Leaders with a high level of motivation will oftentimes know their own higher purpose. They are driven to achieve beyond expectations, not necessarily because of external factors such as money and titles. Instead, they have a passion for what they do; they seek out creative challenges and take great pride in what their passion is asking them to express.
Interestingly, research shows that people with high motivation remain optimistic even when they face difficult times.
Those with high motivation plus self-regulation are better able to overcome the frustration and depression that accompany setback or failure. In actual fact, motivation appears to be a close relation to resilience.
Cognitive intelligence and technical knowledge play a huge part in enabling the work of managers and high level professionals.
However, these tools are primarily entry level requirements for leadership. Cognitive intelligence alone does not imply a level of personal awareness, nor self-regulation. It gives no insight into what level of relational competence a leader practices nor the competences required for leadership.
This is where Emotional Intelligence makes its entrance into the world of outstanding leadership and enviable personal and professional results.
Research continues to provide the numbers, which tell persuasive stories of outstanding leadership and organisational results.
Most importantly, Emotional Intelligence is trainable as demonstrated not only through empirical research studies but through direct personal experience of coaching a number of leaders.
If you want to know how Emotional Intelligence can lead to more effectiveness and outstanding leadership, call me on 07983 164 667, or click here to complete the contact form. I look forward to talking with you.
