Emotional Intelligence

In the last byte, we looked at Charismatic Leadership. In today's byte, we begin our discussion on emerging issues in Leadership, specifically: Emotional Intelligence.
 

Emotional Intelligence is important for leaders to be effective. Emotional Intelligence refers to the ability of an individual’s to recognize and manage emotions of one and in others. Emotional Intelligence is equally if not more important than Intelligence or technical skills of a leader.
 

Emotional intelligence is assumed to be composed of the following competencies:

1. Self-awareness
2. Empathy
3. Adaptability
4. Self-confidence.

It is common to develop emotional intelligence as one grows old, but however it could be learnt.

Emotional Intelligence affects the way leaders make decisions. In conditions of higher stress, leaders with higher emotional intelligence tend to keep their cool and make better decisions, while those leaders with lower emotional intelligence make poor decisions and lose their effectiveness.