Strategic Growth Increases Emotional Intelligence

Self awareness is woven throughout many of our lessons because the better our self-awareness the more strategically we can grow. Self-awareness is a crucial component of emotional intelligence.

According to Positive Psychology.com, a leader lacking self-awareness may struggle to understand and manage their own emotions, as well as those of their team members. This can result in difficulties in communication, collaboration, and relationship building, which can lead to a breakdown in the organization.

Emotional Intelligence, or you may have heard this also referred to as EQ, is considered by many to be the key to success in life. 

Although the concept of emotional intelligence gained popularity in 1990,  really coming about in 1990, a tremendous amount of content has been written on this topic since then. 

In the book “Emotional Intelligence 2.0” by Travis Bradberry, a chapter titled “The Impact of EQ” highlights some statistics that emphasize the importance of emotional intelligence:

“How much of an impact does EQ have on your professional success? The short answer is: quite a lot! It’s a powerful way to focus your energy in one direction with a tremendous result. We’ve tested EQ alongside 33 other important skills and found that it subsumes the majority of them, including decision-making and communication. Your EQ is the foundation for a host of critical skills - it impacts most everything you say and do each day. EQ is so critical to success that it accounts for 58 percent of performance in all types of jobs.”

I’ve read a few books and numerous articles over the last several years that provide answers to the question Why is Emotional Intelligence Important? When I read something suggesting that emotional intelligence, or EQ, accounts for 58% of performance in ALL types of jobs, I can’t argue it’s importance! The challenge I’ve run into with nearly everything I’ve studied has been a lack of specific, immediate action steps I can take to intentionally develop my own level of emotional intelligence…

But one of those action steps is to grow your self awareness so we will visit that too and take a deeper dive.

While you can access our complete lesson titled, An Emotionally Intelligent Approach to Improving Your Culture & Bottom Line, I’ll share some key areas here where strategically growing your emotional intelligence will impact your leadership growth.  

Daniel Goleman, says “The most effective leaders are all alike in one crucial way, they all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. It is not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They do matter but they are the entry level requirements of executive positions.” 

Let’s look at the areas of emotional intelligence.

Self awareness - the first thing a leader has to work on. You must become a student of yourself.  

Self regulation - Think before you react. Control your impulses

Empathy - Recognize the feelings and emotions of others.

Social awareness - Handle relationships and let others shine. 

What actions can we take right away?

Adopt a teachable mindset.  Teachable leaders have a certain humility about them, they value others more than themselves, and they are open to learning from others.

Develop a quiet confidence in your own performance. The more emotionally intelligent we become, the more quiet confidence we will have. Leaders with quiet confidence prioritize others and allow them to shine without seeking the spotlight for themselves.