Week 4: Emotional Intelligence
Over the past three weeks, I have been challenged to find my voice as a leader. Those who know me can agree I have no shortage of intrinsic motivation, but being self-motivated and being able to bring out self-motivation in others are completely different skills.
To inspire our development into leaders, we’ve been assigned to read Daniel Goleman’s, Primal Leadership, highlighting the importance of Emotional Intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence is our ability to monitor and interpret emotions and use them to guide our thinking and behavior. It can be as simple as seeing someone smile, and being overcome with the desire to smile back.
Goldman says there are five pillars to a good leader; stress management, self-preception, self-expression, interpersonal skills, and decision making.
I think what spoke to me the most is concept of the “resonant leader.” In resonant leadership, employees perceive the business environment in the same manner that their leaders do. The moods, opinions, and actions of the leaders resonate to their employees and create the same feelings in them. It does not require a commanding or authoritative approach to get the job done.
Until next week,
S
