Emotional Intelligence
Introduction
Emotional intelligence is relatively new and gradually rising space of a natural process which has often caught the attention of vision of the public, scientific community, and the industrial word. This theory echoes with the modern look stressing the need for self-awareness and brainpower, restoring a perceived inequity between feeling and the mind within the lives of the collective western consciousness. This concept consists of several self-essential capabilities consisting of different competencies which include; self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skills. As a leader, it is crucial to understand the useful things to do to motivate, build culture, as well as set strategies in their line of duty (Goleman, 2000). However, no research has been able to prove that certain leadership behaviours result in constructive outcomes. Some of the components of emotional intelligence have though had a direct and unique impact on working environments of different corporations. Additionally, leaders with strengths in the serious physique of more emotional intelligence competencies are more effective as compared to their nobles lacking such talents. Having a highly developed emotional intelligence is an essential part of a leader’s skills. One of the best leaders uses different styles of leadership to which they are skilled at quite a few, and are flexible to shift between these styles when situations dictate. Goleman portrays how executives fail to appreciate how structural climate affects financial results. Moreover, he connects the administrative environment to styles of leadership hence providing a motivating atmosphere for direct reports, using information and collecting, making crucial decisions, and managing initiatives involved in change. The six leadership styles, Goleman further argues that they are derived from the emotional and intellectual competencies, and work better in precise circumstances and affect companies in different ways.
A coercive style is a demand form where a leader demands immediate compliance from the juniors. This type of method has adverse effects on a company, even though it best works during extreme situations of a firm’s crisis. Authoritative styles are when a leader mobilizes people towards a vision. The underlying emotional competencies here are; empathy, self-confidence, and being able to bring change. Besides, it is best used when change is needed and has positive effects on the company. The affiliative style of leadership creates harmony and build relationship bonds in place of work. It is best used when there is a division in an organization, or during the time of high stress to heal people which often has a positive effect. Democratic style prefers to forge consensus through participation. A leader might be driven by great ideas and standards more than the shared values. It is best used when there is a need for agreement building and when there is a need to acquire input from skilled employees. Pacesetting style sets high standards of performance and works best to get quick results from a highly motivated team. The overall effect turns out to be negative in most cases since the team might not be ready to keep up with the leader’s pace. Lastly, coaching leadership style develops people for future works. This style works best at helping employees to perform better and build their strengths which in turn results in a positive impact on the firm. The business environment keeps changing, and a leader must be able to respond kindly; hence, the more styles a leader has, the better he/she is.
Emotional Competencies as Strength
Emotional Self-Awareness
The first step in emotional intelligence is aware of emotions that reside within us and come to the surface when certain things happen. Self-awareness involves being aware of own emotions at any given time so as not to lose feelings. More so, it means that one can have an accurate self-assessment; not being too forgiving with yourself or to judging with yourself. There are times when one can go too far in either direction; for example, we have seen many leaders who don’t put enough responsibilities on their shoulders for problems that exist. Self-awareness turns to be one of my strengths as I often have a clear recognition of my personality, including my beliefs, strengths and weaknesses. Having self-awareness has aided me in understanding other people and their views towards my actions. This trait has manifested in me many times, for example, there is this one time I noticed that I was not doing or even completing assignments. I decided to pull myself aside for self-evaluation and solve what was happening. I was much worried about how my life will turn out since my parents were getting divorced. I realized that I was never having troubles completing my work, but I struggled with personal issues as well as comprehensive writing. As a result, I decided to fix the divergence and talked to my parents, who cleared the air that my life will not change much. In the past, I was not aware of self-emotions as I tackled things hastily with anger issues.
A good example is a previous relationship with my girlfriend, where I knew the root cause of the fights we had, but I never cared. To improve my self-awareness, I intend to create a life vision and mission which will keep on informing me on strategies and goals that gauge success. Also, I anticipate to writing regret letters of the things that are wished I knew before committing mistakes, which will enable me to be in touch with inner thoughts and be more self-aware in the future.
Empathy
Empathy is an essential part of emotional intelligence. It entails being able to understand, to relate to the feelings of others, to sense other people’s emotions, and to take an active interest in their concerns. Sensing people’s feelings allows a leader to respond quickly to employees in a similar manner to their emotions which often creates a rapport. Pacesetting leaders who might need to use an affiliate style of leadership ought to improve their levels of empathy. Compassion also involves responses to other individuals based on specific information. When someone senses the other’s sadness, for instance, it will likely affect how he responds to the individual.
Additionally, empathy helps people understand dynamics which affect social relationships, especially in workplaces. There are some kinds of empathy, and the first one is cognitive empathy; this means that I understand what someone is thinking about, and I can see things from their perspective. If you only care about yourself and not others, you can use that to your advantage. The second is emotional empathy; which is, I feel with you and your distress. It creates a sense of rapport among groups of people. These traits make leaders outstanding by helping employees better themselves professionally and life-wise. Empathy being one of my strengths, I often tend to understand people’s experiences and feelings; for example, I tend to feel excited with someone when they tell me of the success they have had.
Another example is where recently, my friend just had a bad breakup with his girlfriend. Even though I always saw their incompatibilities and their faults, I kept my opinions and judgement to myself and decided to listen to him and support him. I put myself into his shoes and contemplated with the feelings. In the past, I always had difficulties in showing empathy as I cared less about other people and only looked after myself. I intend to be more aware of how much I show compassion to my colleagues in the future and create a good rapport, even in class environments.
Developmental Needs
Self-Control
Self-control s the ability to keep disorderly feelings in check to maintain efficiency when under hostile conditions or stress. Nevertheless, it does not mean suppressing our emotions. This trait is essential in a leader’s tool kit since it is about understanding your role as a leader. The test of leadership is to be able to challenge yourself in situations and force yourself in things that you would never do otherwise, which in turn makes you a better conflict manager. Moreover, it aids in understanding the occurrences in our brains when we are not in control. Leaders who manage their emotions well often have positive outcomes, since in most cases, employees remember vibrantly negative encounters with their superiors which in turn weakens contacts in places of work. Being one of my weaknesses, I often show my anger, for example, in-class some times back, the tutor was collecting assignments, and I happened to have forgotten mine in the locker room. I explained, but she was not ready to tolerate me. I got so furious dropped my bag a went out hurriedly. To grow this trait into a better outcome in future, I intend to do more exercise such as aerobics, go for easy success and do small tasks, reframe evil thoughts situations into positive ideas.
Initiative
It is the readiness to seize opportunities which is a proactive behaviour. It is a skill learnt and developed in adulthood. It is an attitude that lies beneath us and stars in the conviction of freedom to choose our destiny. Additionally, it allows one to be visible in places of work and improves social network. In changing environments, it is an ability of survival and to overcome. Besides, to have initiative is the difference between optimistic and pessimistic, between active and passive, and between direct or being directed. A good example is apple founders who created their first product with wooden circuits. Their initiative guided them and their careers to embody their ideas. This skill allows one to change their personality and environment. It is crucial in times of change in an organization and is mostly in managers using the coercive style of leadership. I often find myself weak in taking the initiative in my life, for example, my mother always asks for someone to help in the garden, but I dismiss her quickly and become pessimistic. Even in school, sometimes, I regularly struggle with my weak initiative trait, and I intend to practice to improve in the future. Also, I will contact a mentor to help me maneuver through, starting small, for example, helping friends with their assignments, and being optimistic in everything. Furthermore, I will look at other tips from different reading materials and books as well as from friends, in the hope that my traits change. Different people may have diverse opinions on my strengths and weaknesses, and the majority of them would agree that my advantages surpass my fault. When I start treating people and act differently, for example, doing things without being asked to, will be one of the signs of improvement.
Summary
Like parenthood, leading will always never be a precise knowledge, and neither should it be a complete mystery to those practising it. Corporate climates are often changing, and leaders must be able to respond accordingly, by use of different leadership styles at the right time and in proper measures. Ignoring critical abilities will determine how well we do in life. Emotional intelligence is crucial in making better decisions. People who are good at managing emotions are good at bouncing back from setbacks in life. As a leader, it is essential to manage and handle relationships in place of work effectively. In my opinion, we can all be able to suppress and control our emotions with proper training and development. Even the hardest of feelings such as anger and resentment, can be controlled. Besides, if I am an aspiring leader and want to be excellent at it, the several discussed leadership skills will equip me better. To be successful, I believe that it is vital to understand and analyze your emotions. Also, it is crucial to identify the things that trigger your emotions, be it environment or people. Further, intelligence quotient (IQ) is no guarantee for success, virtue, or either happiness, but until Emotional Intelligence, we could only guess why.
References
Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership That Gets Results. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 78-90
(Goleman, 2000)>>intext