Recent research indicates that emotional intelligence (or EQ as it is commonly referred to) plays an integral role in effective leadership. Just like with any other skill, people who have higher levels of EQ are more likely to succeed in leading others towards a common goal or vision.

Specifically, studies show that being able to identify and understand emotions in others is one of the most important qualities for leaders to possess. This is because human beings process information through both verbal and nonverbal cues, and someone who can recognize and interpret these messages may not even know what they’re talking about, but they’ll sure try to influence you by them!

Luckily, there are some simple ways you can develop your own EQ so you’re better equipped to be a leader that knows how to motivate, inspire, and empower their colleagues. In this article, we will discuss seven behaviors linked to high EQ that apply directly to aspiring leaders.

Held accountable
-- like saying goodbye to a friend after knowing he/she lied to you
-- like returning something you bought that no longer fits
-- such as dropping a friend off at the airport on his/her way home from vacation

These are all examples of what we call self-monitoring skills. When you do things like check up on yourself or hold yourself accountable, you're demonstrating a sense of responsibility and integrity.

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Relationships between emotional intelligence and leadership

Developing your emotional literacy or EQ is important to leading anyone else, and there are many different types of skills that make up this domain. Among them is understanding relationships – how people relate to each other, and what kind of interactions you should have with others.

As we know, effective leaders build strong relationships with those around them. They understand that not everyone will agree with every decision they make, nor will everything go their way all the time, but they remain friendly and supportive.

They recognize that being friends is more productive than being colleagues, and play an integral part in someone’s life outside of work. This helps them maintain personal connections even when they don’t see each other at the workplace.

Furthermore, effective leaders establish clear goals for themselves and others, and keep track of promises made. They appreciate change and acknowledge it as something that needs to happen for things to stay interesting.

The impact of emotional intelligence on leadership

Over the past decade, there has been an explosion in interest in what is now referred to as “emotional literacy” or “EI.” Some refer to it as “The New Frontier of Psychology,” while others describe it as the “New Imperative for Leaders.”

Whether you are aware of it or not, your emotions play a significant role in how successful you will be in life. As such, understanding your own emotional regulation skills is important if you want to achieve success.

This article will discuss some of the ways that emotional intelligence impacts leadership. However, before we get into specific examples, let us make one thing clear: being able to identify and understand your feelings is a very basic part of emotional intelligence.

You should be able to recognize your feelings when they occur. This is called “theory of mind.” You also need to be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and think about why they might feel a certain way. This is called “other-oriented thinking.”

Both theory of mind and other-oriented thinking are fundamental parts of emotional intelligence. Without them, you will never truly comprehend the effects that people’s actions have upon you.

Ways to improve your emotional intelligence

Developing your emotional literacy is an excellent way to enhance your EQ. While there are many theories about what makes up our general sense of empathy, one theory that has gained traction is referred to as “theory of mind.”

The term comes from early psychologists like William James who described it as understanding how other people feel. We all have this intuitive concept of minds in ways we could not explain, but only children seem to fully develop it.

As you grow older, your ability to understand others’ emotions diminishes. This is because you experience less variability in their expression and therefore, fewer opportunities to learn something new.

However, emotional literacy can be learned and improved. In fact, research suggests that enhancing your EQ is just as important as developing your logical or analytical skills.

Handling difficult situations

A leader cannot always control what happens in the workplace, but they can manage their reactions to these events. When someone does something that makes you angry or hurt your feelings, how you respond is important.

They are likely trying to do something that benefits them, not necessarily for you. It may be because of who they think they know you are, it could be due to personal bias, or it could be because they don’t like you.

Whatever the case may be, work hard to put those aside when addressing the issue. Don’t get distracted by the reasons why this person made the choice they did.

Focus only on solving the problem at hand and helping them fix it. If you keep thinking about the other things all day, it will end up hurting you more than helping you.

Emotions have a natural function in our lives, which is to motivate us towards good actions. By learning how to regulate yours, you can better focus on achieving your goals and moving forward.

Be authentic

Being authentic is more than just saying what you want people to believe, it’s also about believing what you say. It’s being true to yourself, and your morals. And while some may consider that as an easy way to lead, it can have disastrous consequences if you don’t know who you are inside.

Research has shown that emotional intelligence (or EQ) plays a significant role in how well someone leads. The number one predictor of leadership success is whether or not others trust the leader.

If they don’t feel like they can depend on you, then they won’t follow you. You will lose confidence in your position quickly. Plus, they might even start doubting your own leadership ability which could be the end of you.

On the other hand, if someone knows you well, they will likely agree with your assertion and thus give you credit for having strong leadership skills.

So, how do we develop our emotional intelligence?

We must learn how to identify and understand our emotions. We must recognize them and why we’re feeling them. Then, we must figure out how to reduce their intensity and influence how they affect us.

Most importantly, we need to work on changing how we respond to those feelings so that they no longer control us.

Be consistent

Consistency is one of the most important qualities in leadership. Leaders who are consistently good show the same level of performance over time, which makes you trust them to do their job well.

Consistent leaders also understand that what they did earlier today will make a difference later this day. They prepare for future tasks by leaving themselves enough time to complete current projects, but also have contingency plans ready.

When someone reports back to you about something that didn’t go as planned, you can assume it was because you were not consistent with your actions. You showed up either very early or late every morning, and left at night without saying goodbye or communicating anything significant.

On the days you worked, you spent the time mostly talking about yourself, showing no interest in others. When people had questions, you avoided answering them, sometimes ignoring requests completely.

If you ever noticed a drop off in engagement, motivation, or productivity, it was probably due to a lack of consistency. People may have even asked to speak to you directly, only to be ignored or met with an excuse.

Make decisions based on what you know

Most successful leaders make good decisions by using two important factors: knowledge and intuition. They rely heavily on both of these to achieve their goals.

As human beings, we are influenced not only by those who have similar strengths as us, but also by those who do not. This is why some people are more charismatic than others – they possess qualities that appeal to other people.

In fact, there’s an entire field called influence theory that looks at how easily we can be persuaded.

So while emotional intelligence may help you manage your own emotions, it also helps you understand the emotions of others. You will therefore be less likely to get swayed in frivolous ways due to irrational feelings.

On the contrary, if you lack emotional intelligence, you may find it difficult to control your reactions to certain things, which could hurt your career or friendships.

You might even avoid taking risky actions because you fear losing your temper. But unless you are willing to take chances, growth will come to a halt.

Be realistic

A lot of leadership theories put too much emphasis on being tough or having self-confidence. Both of these are very important, but they can be overstated.

Being strong is great, but not everyone has that kind of strength inside them. We’re all different!

It also sounds like you need to be confident in yourself before you can lead someone else. But what if you never feel confident in your own abilities?

You would probably fail as a leader long before anyone ever worked with you. You might even succeed for a short time, but then things would go wrong and you wouldn’t know how to deal with it.

That could hurt your team, your organization, and yourself. You would be lost when there are more capable people around you.

Emotional intelligence (EI) is something other researchers have studied about leadership. They found that it makes no difference whether you believe you’re intelligent or not, which is good news because most of us think we’re pretty smart.

However, whether you actually use your intelligence to motivate others and help them achieve their goals does matter.

This article will talk about some ways that emotional intelligence helps leaders. But first, let’s look at why it’s so important.