How an organization directly performs is all based on how emotional intelligence is used by a leader. But what exactly is emotional intelligence? Emotional Intelligence, or EI, is defined as: The ability to understand and manage one's own mods and emotions and the moods and emotions of other people. (Defined by the text: Essentials of Contemporary Management). In more simple terms, EI is how a leader and the people around them thinks and feels, and how they use these feelings (emotions) to highlight how an organization is performed. EI is how we as individuals handle ourselves, and if we are aware of our emotions and how we handle them. How successful an organization is depends on the proper use of EI by the leader involved.
Most individuals think they have more EI than they actually do. So how exactly is EI measured, and how do you know how much you have? As noted in the video Social Intelligence and Leadership, posted on YouTube by Harvard Business with Dr. Daniel Goleman, the best way for a person to find out how much EI they have is to ask those whom they work with. Co-workers are a great EI reference because these people can tell someone what there strengths and weakness are, helping to make that person a more effective leader in the end. By talking with co-workers and getting their input on current situations, the entire organization benefits.
Most people confuse EI with personality, but personality is defined as: the sum of the total physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristic of an individual; the essential character of a person. (as per dictionary.com) EI is simply how ones' personality is perceived by others, and how one perceives other peoples personalities. Dr Goleman mentions in the video that EI is the emotional part of the brain that assess how we think and feel, and how we perform day-to-day tasks because of these emotions. It is stated that the level of a leaders emotional intelligence affects an organizations overall performance.
Dr. Goleman goes more into detail about another topic that is extremely important in terms of leadership, Social Intelligence. Goleman defines Social Intelligence as: being able to tune in to other people, to read them, to know how they're thinking about things and using that to communicate effectively with them. Goleman also states that as far as leadership goes, Social Intelligence is the most important aspect for success. Social Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence both deal with peoples feelings and how they are going to react to different things. Both of these skills help create different leadership styles, for example a charismatic leader would largely benefit from using both EI and Social Intelligence because their perception of others and how they are feeling helps the leader become more responsive to their needs.
Emotional and Social Intelligence are definitely an important aspect of being an effective leader. By having these skills, and using them properly for the right reasons, an individual is able to flourish and thrive in the position of leadership.
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