What Is Emotional Intelligence?
What Is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence or EI is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they’re feeling, what their emotions mean, and how these emotions can affect other people.
For leaders, having emotional intelligence is essential for success. After all, who is more likely to succeed – a leader who shouts at his team when he’s under stress, or a leader who stays in control, and calmly assesses the situation?
According to Daniel Goleman , an American psychologist who helped to popularize emotional intelligence, there are five key elements to it:
- Self-awareness.
- Self-regulation.
- Motivation.
- Empathy.
- Social skills.
The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let’s look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.
