How to Spot Emotional Intelligence in a Leader

Emotional Intelligence is one of the most sought-after qualities in a leader.

It is a known fact that many of us suffer from recognizing certain types of emotions at work. Even though we diligently work and always manage to hit deadlines, we still sometimes fail at emotional levels. We see so many of our co-workers being emotionally unstable despite excelling in their professional careers. Isn’t that unsettling? How does brilliant work matter if we horribly lose ourselves to a trap that brings along depression?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, control and regulate several emotions we experience in our everyday lives. It not only brings us closer to success but also gives us ways to understand our emotions towards our co-workers. Although it is imperative to understand our employees for the betterment of the organization, building solid emotional stability for self-development is indispensable.

Emotional Intelligence in Leaders

This quality of being emotionally intelligent has now become one of the traits of leadership. There is no denying that many organizations thrive on settled and organized processes; this includes having leaders who are emotionally sound. An emotionally unstable but excellent staff member with remarkable work ethics may lose his career because he has low or no emotional intelligence at all.

All of us would agree that the work-stress wheel keeps us caught up in a vicious circle of instability. But many organizations have leaders who excel at understanding emotions of their own and others pretty well. A leader who possesses this skill of emotional intelligence stands out and certainly attains success.

We have managed to decode three accomplishable ways to recognize emotional intelligence in a leader. And once we successfully identify this in a leader, we can begin to put these into action to mark our journey towards leadership. So, without spending any more time, here they are:

1. Communication

It is of no use of your ability to only recognize emotions and do nothing about it. Communication at work or anywhere, in itself, is a prized skill but when it comes to talking about emotions, many shy away. A leader who is able to let it out in a confined circle understands the art of communication. But it’s not a good practice to talk about everything with everyone at work.

Another way to spot communication is to see if any of the employees are going through a personal crisis; he is willing to ask for help or just talk about it with you as a leader. This doesn’t have to be a rule; but if you extend a hand of support, it says a lot about your leadership. Many of us don’t have expert communication skills, so all we can do is just lend a helpful ear and that will do the job.

2. Empathy

A good leader will show empathy towards an employee if he sees him going through an emotional trauma. Compassion is one of the best qualities of an emotionally intelligent person. Showing empathy for our own self is usually neglected unknowingly, which is not the ideal scenario. In the quest of achieving professional success, we make our lives so difficult that we shun every other emotion that we experience. We think that it’s best to just shut it down, but an emotionally intelligent leader knows that giving time to those emotions will allow him to refresh and rise above hardships.

3. Self-assessment

This is a no-brainer. If we fail to understand our own abilities or skills, how would we ever work on them! It is critical that we give enough time for self-analysis in order for us to assess and modulate our emotions. Take anger, for instance. Many people become a victim of anger and get mad for unjustified reasons. This is nothing but amplification of an unnecessary emotion, which clearly shows a lack of emotional intelligence. If we can’t alter our anger and channel it towards something constructive, we have yet to master emotional intelligence.

For our workplaces to become healthier, we need more leaders who are experts in emotional intelligence, which can help take a company on the path towards success.