(upbeat music)
- [Cyndi] According to Dr. Daniel Goleman,
"A person can have the best training in the world,
an incisive, analytical mind
and an endless supply of smart ideas,
but he still won't make a great leader."
Emotional intelligence is a defining factor
in the difference between leading based on position
versus being a great leader.
Emotional intelligence
is awareness of one's own emotions and moods
and those of others,
especially when leading people.
The main four aspects of emotional intelligence
are self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness,
and social skill.
Let's start with self-awareness.
The most common aspects of self-awareness
are recognizing and understanding your moods and emotions,
and how they impact you, your job performance,
and your team members.
Let's say you get really stressed
when you have a deadline approaching
and you get really irritable when you're stressed.
You can use this knowledge to schedule your work well
before the deadline to reduce the stress
and the irritability that comes with it.
The next part of emotional intelligence is self-regulation.
This is the ability to think before acting.
It's suspending snap judgements and reactive behavior.
Self-regulation can help us make decisions
and take actions based on thoughtful consideration,
instead of emotional reactions.
Emotional outbursts reduce safety and trust.
So, practicing self-regulation improves the trust
that our team has for us.
Let's say, we weren't able to get work done
in advance of that deadline.
And we're working like crazy to get things done,
and we're stressed out and we're irritable.
Then, a team member approaches us
and request two days off the following week.
Probably, our first reaction
is something like, "Can't you see I'm busy here?
I don't have time to worry about your vacation."
Well, that's not the best response.
Using a little self-regulation,
we might choose to say something like,
"I'm up against a deadline right now
and I'm pretty stressed out.
How about we talk about this tomorrow,
so I can give you my full attention?"
I know it sounds pretty easy but in the middle of it,
it can be hard to find that presence of mind.
Now, let's look at social awareness.
This is being aware of other's viewpoints and emotions.
It includes being able to understand non-verbal cues
and displaying empathy.
Looking at awareness of nonverbal cues and emotions,
it's pretty obvious if you come across someone
that has their arms crossed
and they're looking down,
and they're not meeting your eyes.
They don't want to interact with you.
They may be angry or upset or sad,
but their body language
is definitely saying leave me alone.
But there are other more subtle cues as well.
A sigh, mumbling, speaking slowly without much intonation.
This can also communicate a person's mood,
but so can smiling, nodding, and gesturing.
As leaders, we should be aware of these cues.
We may even want to check in with our team members and say,
"Hey, is there something going on?
Do you want to talk about it? Can I help with anything?"
Pay attention to tone of voice, posture,
facial expressions, and gestures.
Last, let's talk about social skill.
Social skill is about leading and managing groups of people,
like project teams, building social networks,
and establishing rapport.
In this context, a establishing rapport
means building a harmonious
and sympathetic connection with others.
As project leaders, we rely on our ability
to create rapport with team members, functional managers,
senior management, and other stakeholders.
Regardless of our environment,
being able to apply social skill is critical
to successfully leading a project.
Now, we've talked through
the four aspects of emotional intelligence.
Let's now revisit this statement.
Emotional intelligence is a defining factor
in the difference between leading based on position
and being a great leader.
(upbeat music)