The five components of emotional intelligence at work are self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills.
This is based on the work of psychologist Daniel Goleman, who came up with the framework for defining emotional intelligence in the workplace and in our personal life as well.
Contrary to IQ, EQ can be refined and improved upon. In an ever-changing world, the importance of soft skills is slowly overpowering the demand for technical skills.
In my 13 years of corporate career, I can count on my fingers how many emotionally intelligent people let alone leaders I encountered.
They had these characteristics:
1. They say ‘We’ instead of ‘I’:
At one of my part-time jobs during university, I had an amazing boss who was also very patient. Once I was in training and I made a mistake. She told me: I know what WE have done.
That made me feel less like a fool and more as part of the team, even though I was a novice.
An emotionally intelligent leader does not take all the credit: he or she shares the wins with the team irrespective of whether he or she did most of the grunt work.
