How do you build out your organization’s leadership capabilities? How do you get your teams to perform at a higher level in constantly changing times? Why you must surround yourself with emotionally intelligent leaders?
I suggested that you might consider evaluating your current leaders and any you recruit in the future based on being emotionally intelligent leaders. I believe, and so do many of my best clients, that emotionally intelligent leaders are stronger leaders and they attract a higher caliber person to your organization.
So what leadership skills must your team possess if you hope to build a successful organization? The skills afforded by emotional intelligence provide the leadership capability required to succeed in a fast changing personal and professional environment.
My observations are based on the work of Dan Goleman and Cary Cherniss and my own extensive background in management consulting and executive search. I have interviewed over 16,000 senior leaders in my thirty year career.
What skills do emotionally intelligent leaders possess? I believe there are several interpersonal skills found in emotionally intelligent leaders.
Emotionally intelligent leaders are able to express their vision to others. They have the ability to tell a story that not only inspires their team, but everyone who comes in contact with their organization. These individuals are capable of transforming their industries and the world through the power of their vision.
Emotionally intelligent leaders are masters of influence both on the small and large scale. They understand there are many ways to reach people and have become masters of influence. As technology continues to change, these leaders embrace the different media to impact their key stakeholders in many different ways.
Emotionally intelligent leaders invest their time and money to develop others. They invest significant time developing others knowing that they are increasing the odds of success by producing other leaders to help spread their ideas. They are also developing others’ strengths and capabilities, many times seeing hidden assets even before the people themselves do. This capability permits them much latitude in developing the leaders around them.
Emotionally intelligent leaders are great listeners and ask powerful questions when talking with others. They are capable of moving people both emotionally and logically based on the needs of any given situation. This communications mastery provides them with a platform to drive change across a wide range of stakeholders. Their communication seems so personal; they build lifelong relationships with the people with whom they come in contact. This allows them to get many things done when needed more quickly than others can.
Emotionally intelligent leaders are able to serve as change catalysts within their peer group. They can take on challenging projects and get things accomplished more quickly than others. They are able to manage the conflict inherent in change while still creating significant success for others who are involved in working with them. Their ability to see others’ points of view provides significant connection when disagreements arise. They are able to de-escalate situations before they do permanent damage to either party in the discussions.
Emotionally intelligent leaders are great members on teams and work well as a leader or follower, based on the needs of the organization. They are capable of helping create breakthrough results with teams because of their strong collaboration skills. They are able to effectively help other leaders use their strengths to their greatest advantage. These skills have allowed them to get things done when others have failed.
We’ve covered a lot this week. Next week we will return to the topic of marketing when I talk about influencer marketing. You’ll want to be here!
See you next week.
This blog was originally published on Developing Serving Leaders
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