Emotional Intelligence Is Key to Our Leadership

I recently wrote an article about just how important emotional intelligence (EQ) is to our achievements, success and even happiness in both our business and professional lives.

Most people do not understand EQ, nor do they realize that it can be developed and improved.

If you’d like a copy of my article, just shoot me an email and I’ll email it back to you. However, more helpful would be a quick read, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, by PhDs Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves. 

This book is simply a very handy guide that explains EQ and offers advice as to how we can improve ours.  Improving EQ is especially critical today when we spend so much time on computer keyboards, iPads, iPhones, and conference calls.

In the preface to this book, Patrick Leccioni, author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, states, “It’s not education, experience, nor knowledge or intellectual horsepower that determines one’s long term success, it’s almost always emotional intelligence.”

As leadership is influencing others,in order to be a highly effective leader, it is very important that we are in touch with our own emotions and those of our team members,

I am particularly pleased by feedback I received from some who read my article. For example, the CEO of a very successful company emailed, “I loved your paper about emotional intelligence. How can I arrange for an assessment of my EQ?”  This is a leader who strives for continuous improvement and who, along with the senior leadership team, influences others within his company. Their collective humility is a sign of strength!

Then another email, “I completely agree with you on the importance of emotional intelligence. I think it is very important to be able to be able to pick up on the motivational and emotional cues of those around me. I work very hard at noticing the moods and needs of my team members to help keep them "up" and to help them maximize their potential.”  This is a person who leads with her heart. She cares about her team members. She is a servant leader!

I promise, reading Emotional Intelligence 2.0 serves us well. It is full of wisdom and insight. 

With a better understanding of our emotions and those of others, our effectiveness will greatly improve.