When employees leave their jobs, poor leadership is often cited as the reason. Indeed, most of us likely have an example of when a bad manager caused us to seek a role somewhere else. For leaders, employee retention is crucial. Not only is backfilling roles time-consuming and financially detrimental, but losing good talent can impact the business in many other negative ways. 

A key characteristic of all great leaders is emotional intelligence. Leaders who focus on developing their own emotional intelligence and manage their teams in an emotionally intelligent manner are often the ones we remember as effective managers. 

What traits constitute emotional intelligence, and how can you identify its absence in your team members? This blog will explore these questions, delve into the significance of emotional intelligence in effective leadership, and provide practical tips on how to cultivate it.

The four components of emotional intelligence

In his 1995 book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, psychologist Daniel Goleman argued that there are four main components of emotional intelligence. Below, we explore each of these and what they mean.

Self-awareness

Self-awareness describes a person’s ability to understand their own strengths and weaknesses. It also describes the ability to recognise how your emotions affect other people. In the workplace, a self-aware leader can understand that their actions and emotions have an effect on the team they’re leading.

To bring out the best in a team you lead, self-awareness is essential. Leaders can gain insights into their behaviour and how they’re perceived by completing 360-degree feedback to evaluate their performance and reflect on the opinions of their boss, peers and reports.

Self-management

Self-management is the ability to manage your own emotions and maintain a positive outlook, particularly in stressful situations and despite setbacks. Leaders with emotional intelligence are more able to manage their impulses and reactions, and have better self-regulation.

Rather than automatically react, emotionally intelligent leaders intentionally respond, taking the time to pause, breathe and collect themselves first.

Social awareness

Social awareness describes the ability to know how to read a room, and recognise the emotions of others and the dynamics within your work environment. Leaders who are good at social awareness lead with empathy, and work to understand the feelings and perspectives of others through effective communication skills and collaboration.

DDI, a global leadership consultancy firm, reports that empathetic leaders perform more than 40% higher in coaching, engaging others, and decision-making.

Relationship management

Effective leaders with good interpersonal relationship management skills are able to influence, coach, mentor others, and have more effective conflict resolution abilities.

Managing relationships and addressing issues as they arise puts a drain on resources and morale – research suggests unaddressed conflicts can waste hours of company time. Leaders with emotional intelligence prevent this, leading to more employee engagement and more productive employees.

Signs that indicate a lack of emotional intelligence

If you believe you can develop your emotional intelligence and incorporate it into your leadership style, here are some signs indicating areas for improvement.

• You blame others when things don’t go to plan.
• You’re quick to respond and are prone to outbursts when things go wrong.
• You’re easily stressed.
• You have difficulty handling criticism. 
• You have difficulty asserting yourself.
• Your conversations with employees feel stilted.

When a leader lacks emotional intelligence, workplace conflicts and misunderstandings are common. To connect with coworkers, it’s important to cultivate your social skills and practice empathy at all times.

What is emotional intelligence in leadership?

When leaders make emotional intelligence part of their business practice, they are able to recognise and solve their team members’ problems more easily, and manage more effectively by communicating and leading with empathy.

Employees with emotionally intelligent leaders feel more able to share ideas without judgement, resulting in better teamwork and collaboration, a more positive work culture, and better job satisfaction.

The importance of emotionally intelligent leadership

Research in Harvard Business review by organisational psychologist Tasha Eurich found that working with colleagues who aren’t self-aware can cut a team’s success in half, and lead to increased stress and decreased motivation.

Empathy in leaders also relates positively to job performance, and those who practise empathy with their direct reports are viewed as better performers by their bosses. 

How to develop emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence isn’t an innate skill, and everyone has the ability to increase it within themselves. Some ways leaders can work on this core skill set include:

• Active listening: Listen closely to reports without judgement and keep an open attitude so employees see you as a safe space for sharing their ideas and opinions.

• Connect on a personal level: Show direct reports you care by helping employees and recognising their efforts, understanding each individual’s strengths and weaknesses, and coaching in a supportive way.

• Understand employee’s experiences: By getting to know an individual’s motivations, you’re more able to help them achieve their full potential.

• Get to know yourself better: Pay attention to how you respond to situations, and work on developing your understanding of yourself and your impact, deepening your self-awareness.

Prepare for leadership roles in your chosen industry

Become a more effective leader with sought-after high emotional intelligence by studying the University of York’s 100% online MSc in Innovation, Leadership and Management.

In this degree, you’ll work on competencies in core business topics and will get a thorough grounding in all areas of an organisation such as operations management, finance, and innovation, while developing soft skills in active listening, critical thinking and problem-solving.

Taught part-time, you’ll be able to fit your studies around your current role, developing your practice as you gain a degree from a prestigious Russell Group university. You’ll be able to apply what you learn to your current job and develop your emotional intelligence, putting you in good stead for progression when you graduate.