This is an old article from the Harvard Business Review, but reading it again reminded me of how on point it still was. Written by Daniel Goleman, who first brought the concept of “emotional intelligence” with his book, this article is still incredibly relevant, if not more.
Goleman talks about the five components of Emotional Intelligence at Work:
1) Self Awareness: what’s interesting is that the hallmarks of self-awareness are self-confidence, but also a self-deprecating sense of humor. I recently saw a job posting describing the culture of the firm: one word they used that stuck out to me that you don’t see very often- humble.
2) Self-Regulation: the simple “think, before you speak or act”. He says “People who are in control of their feelings and impulses – that is, people who are reasonable – are able to create an environment of trust and fairness.”
3) Motivation – “a passion for work for reasons that go beyond money or status.” Phrasing this differently, the reasons can be for ideals bigger than you. Dedication to your company. Becoming a doctor because you lost a relative to a disease . The people who are really inspired and are inspiring work for something even bigger. Motivation that’s only about you doesn’t make you a leader. If you have to tell people that you do the right thing for the firm and that it’s firm first, you’re trying too hard. Most people who are motivated by something bigger than themselves never tell you what the reason is: it’s only by getting to know them that you find out.
4) Empathy: often this is misinterpreted as trying to make everyone happy. It actually means considering employees’ feelings before you act. You can still make hard decisions while being empathetic. Empathy isn’t an excuse for not doing the right thing.
5) Social Skills: this is why teamwork comes up so much when employees are assessed. These are people who know who to call, how to get people to help: they understand how to navigate the system. They know how to pull people together, not allow them to drift apart into self interested factions.
Can you succeed without emotional intelligence? Maybe. But wouldn’t you rather be a leader who has these traits?