If you’re a leader, chances are good you’ve been reading and hearing about emotional intelligence more often than normal lately. Emotional intelligence goes beyond empathy and listening to others. These qualities, while important, are not by themselves going to make you an effective leader. You need self-awareness, courage, the ability to tell people what they don’t want to hear (but need to hear) in the right way, assertiveness and influence. If we have high EQ, not only do we tend to have more self-awareness and mastery of our own emotions, but we also have more social awareness and can adapt our communication style and language to suit our audience and build relationships.
