Emotional intelligence is extremely important and will help individuals with a variety of skills, such as the ability to manage relationships, have better social relationships and to influence, inspire and motivate not only yourself but also others.
Effective leaders need a high level of emotional intelligence. This will influence efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, team work and success. Emotional self-awareness and self-control are important because this will help individuals and leaders to recognize their strengths and weaknesses. This will help them to improve on emotions that obstruct healthy relationships and will help you to handle conflict better and address problems in the right manner. Emotional self-awareness will also make people aware of their feelings and how to manage those emotions.
Self-control will let you reflect on thoughts before expression. This is very important in any job, because your bad emotional actions can have big implications on your job.
Effective Communication: What is the benefit of emotional awareness and management if you are unable to clearly express your thoughts? Luckily, individuals with emotional intelligence also have the skill of effective communication. They are able to clearly convey directions and know what to say in order to inspire and motivate others. An important skill for leaders, communication can be a deciding factor in whether the team listens or not. Social cohesion and team functioning: This helps you to be tuned to the emotions of others and are able to pick up on what is going on around them.
With good social cohesion and team functioning you will be able to sympathize with others by putting yourself in the employee’s shoes and giving helpful feedback. Social cohesion is critical, to inspire and motivate a team. Leaders with emotional intelligence are equipped to handle conflicts and provide resolution.
Leaders can use their emotional intelligence to develop a more effective workplace. Strong organizational awareness will help you to see the organization and its people in a different light. It’s also important to be a servant leader, to put other people’s interests high on the ranking, to give without expecting back and to do things without looking for the rewards.
Market research specialist at Altech
Johannesburg Area, South Africa