Question

Emotional Intelligence (EI) includes both personal and social competence. In the personal realm, a person with EI is self-aware, able to accurately assess his or her own strengths and limits and act in a self-confident way. This is a person who can control his or her own emotions and keep destructive emotions in check. The social aspect of EI involves the ability to accurately perceive and interpret the emotions of others, leading to an ability to develop health relationships. In both the personal and social realms, the emotionally intelligent person uses this information to guide his or her thinking and actions (Abraham, 1999). Emotional learning is quite unlike "book" learning. Rather than occasionally noticing and remembering facts and the relationships between facts, the emotional part of the brain learns through practice, shaping itself through repetition of "proper" responses (Reber, 2001). The communicator who wishes to develop EI is thus urged to practice emotional skills. Accurately perceive emotional expressions in oneself and others; Select socially appropriate responses to situations and others emotions; Self-regulate ones' own emotional state; Arouse or effect the emotions of others; Use emotional knowledge to solve problems. Ho do leaders apply the key skills of EI listed above in the organizational setting? Use some examples to highlight your response.

Answer 1

There are 5 key skills of an Emotionally Intelligent leader in an organizational setting, as mentioned in the article.

• Accurately perceive emotional expressions in oneself and others (Self-awareness) - Being self-aware in a leadership position means having a clear picture of your own strengths and weaknesses, as well as that of others in the organization. And it means behaving with humility because you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you.
• Select socially appropriate responses to situations and others emotions (excellent social skills) - Emotional intelligence are great communicators owing to their people management skills. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're expert at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project. They are good at managing change & conflict resolution in a just manner. They're never satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they also don't just sit back and make everyone else do the work. They set an example with their own behavior.
• Self-regulate ones' own emotional state - Self-regulated leaders rarely attack others verbally, or make emotional decisions in a hurry, stereotype people, or force them to compromise their values. They are always in control of the situation at hand.
• Arouse or effect the emotions of others - Emotionally Intelligent leaders are self-motivated to do quality work, as well as they motivate others to do the same. They are adept at mentoring their subordinates about the value of the work they do.
• Use emotional knowledge to solve problems - For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.

In order to get a deeper understanding of the importance of EI, let us also explore some situations where lack of EI could prove to have a negative impact on both the organization and the leader:

• Stress - Leaders who are low in emotional intelligence tend to lose their cool in stressful situations because they’re not able to manage their own emotions. They may be prone to rude practices such as yelling, blaming, and being excessively aggressive at times. This can create an even more stressful environment, where workers are always cautious about what they do, trying to prevent the next outburst.

• Lack of contribution - When a leader doesn’t know how to handle his own emotions and reacts inappropriately, most of his employees tend to feel nervous about contributing their ideas, for fear of how the leader will respond. They will start keeping problems and suggestions to themselves, and only work upon the minimum expectations to keep the leader happy.

• Ignorance - Not being emotionally intelligent can also mean being ignorant or unable to address situations that could be fraught with emotion. There is always conflict, and a emotionally unintelligent leader has a difficult time recognizing those conflicts and dealing effectively with its resolution.