emotional intelligence

Author Daniel Goleman  likes to describes EQ as, "how leaders handle themselves and their relationships."  Here he refers to a leader's emotional task as being their "primary" task in managing both individuals and groups. 

Goleman describes EQ as "12 leadership competencies, outlined across 4 domains: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management."  Note, he adds, "these competencies are not innate talents, but learned abilities..."  Obviously, this is very important to the leadership development work we do for both individuals and teams.

In Goleman's application of the 4 domains, he promotes a system in which "self-awareness facilitates both empathy and self-management, and these two, in combination, allow effective relationship management.  EQ leadership then, builds up from a foundation of self-awareness."

Developing self-awareness is critical to leader success. Managers who don't succeed typically lack self-awareness!  Author Daniel Goleman and his associates made this proposition highly visible over the past 20 years.  In fact decades of research now point to EQ as the critical factor that set high performing managers apart from others.

Your path for developing EQ starts by identifying and tackling blind spots that typically show up in the form of interpersonal competencies.  Because blind spots identify things you may not be aware of that are important in your new role, you must be open to feedback, learning, and coaching.  Typically, a 360-degree survey is used to initially gather feedback from those who know you best: your peers, your direct reports, and your boss.  Once collected, the process calls for providing a debrief on the EQ competencies, identifying strengths and weaknesses.  Usually, this is done with the help of a coach in the form of a debrief.  Competencies described as weakness usually are targeted for development.