Last month I brought you an article about compassionate leadership and how the pandemic revealed the need (and benefits) for more humanity in the workplace. This month, Leah Kosatsky, a Business Coach with Home Care Evolution, sheds light on Emotional Intelligence (EI). Leah is one of the best listeners I have encountered. She exemplifies compassionate leadership and brings so much emotional intelligence in leadership to the table as well. I am delighted that she has agreed to share what she knows on this topic!
In a market that has become a job seeker’s haven, recruiting and keeping top talent is more challenging than ever. As a business owner, you can offer more salary, bonuses, and benefits, but nothing can compare to a work environment led by empathetic leadership. The way you lead will set you apart from other organizations and we as a society crave, now, more than ever, meaningful connection. In other words, empathetic leadership is a valuable skill that everyone from any vocation or background can use for their benefit and the benefit of their team.
Most of us think of a leader as someone with a great deal of education and experience in a certain area. While knowledge and experience are important, the ability to communicate and work well with others is just as important to being an effective leader.
Having a high degree of emotional intelligence (E.I.) allows leaders to inspire and motivate others to cooperate and accomplish shared goals. Emotional intelligence is a critical skill of successful leaders. There are several ways you can strengthen your emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is closely related to empathy, “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.” By doing so, leaders become more aware of the feelings and emotions of other people. Emotional intelligence is a critical skill of successful leaders.
Emotional Intelligence in Leadership Explained
The four elements that constitute emotional Intelligence are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. Each can help a leader respond to a crisis with lower levels of stress, less emotional reactivity, and fewer unintended consequences.
Try these methods to dramatically raise the empathy in your leadership style and accomplish more together:
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Increase your self-awareness
Self-knowledge is the foundation of excellence. Before you can lead and inspire others, you must first understand your own motivations and behavior.
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- Know your values and dreams. Trust yourself. Avoid compromising your values for short-term gain.
- Respect yourself. Know the limitations of your body, mind, and spirit and strive for a balance between your responsibilities in all areas of your life.
- Become aware of your flaws and limitations. Acknowledge your blind spots. Seek ways to improve yourself. Be open to feedback and change.
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Strengthen your discipline and self-management
Learning to be responsible for your behavior, attitudes, and actions can raise your performance level as well as help you to build trust and authority with others.
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- Seek the input of others. Ask how you can help them, or what you need to do differently to communicate more effectively and manage them better.
- Hold yourself accountable for your actions and performance.
- Don’t micromanage and don’t be afraid to delegate. Be confident enough in yourself to surround yourself with talented, qualified people.
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Develop your social awareness
Be aware of the impact you have on others and the power you have to motivate them.
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- Show genuine concern for others and learn how to actively listen (i.e. show compassion and try your best to walk a mile in their shoes). Doing so will create lasting bonds and a strong team that will work with you rather than against you.
- Give others a reason to support you and your vision. Let others know when they have done a good job and look for ways to openly recognize and reward excellence.
- Help others to increase their abilities and fully utilize their talents by providing opportunities for training, scholarship, and self-development.
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Emphasize greater relationship management
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- Learn how to bring out the best in yourself and others. Utilize everyone’s best qualities and minimize their limitations with an effective assignment of tasks and delegation of responsibilities.
Regardless of your education or experience, you can achieve more by learning how to use your people skills to fully harness the talents and energy of others. Taking the time to develop your leadership skills will increase the amount of success that you experience in all areas of your life. What’s more, these strategies will allow you to hone in on being a more compassionate leader and inspire others to follow your path.
About the author – Leah Kosatsky is a bilingual, certified business and personal coach with a proven track record in sales, international project management, business development, marketing, and communication. In her current work with Home Care Evolution, she coaches agency owners to strategically generate more income in their business through in-person and online networking, as well as shift their mindset and beliefs around sales and daily productivity. For more information on Business Coaching, contact Home Care Evolution at 848-444-9865 or visit www.HomeCareEvolution.com
