Any team or organization's level of leadership directly affects its functions and its fate that whether it succeeds or fails. In today’s day and age, it is a given about the importance of the need for emotionally competent leaders.  Leaders stoke the emotional climate of an organization.

An excellent illustration of this is how a leader's poor interpersonal skills may quickly filter down the organizational ladder, creating toxic interactions and a hostile work atmosphere that will almost certainly result in low employee engagement and high staff turnover.

As a result, social and emotional intelligence, particularly that of leaders, is critical to the steady expansion of an organization.

What is Social and Emotional Intelligence? 

The capacity to manage oneself and one's relationships while being aware of one's own feelings as well as those of others is known as social and emotional intelligence. People with high levels of emotional intelligence are aware of their feelings, what they signify, and how they could affect others.

For leaders to make well-balanced judgments, foster a "can-do" attitude, and plan for the future, they must have strong emotional intelligence. We can find innumerable instances of both emotionally intelligent leadership and, regrettably, less emotionally intelligent leadership everywhere we turn.

Without the aid of pricey exams, in-depth studies, or numerical scores, our political and commercial leaders set daily examples of their self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. High and low levels of leadership and Emotional Intelligence are being revealed by life, crises, and change, and their effects on everyone's lives.

Leaders who want to excel in their position must possess emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is the best predictor of performance, according to research. Nearly 90% of what distinguishes top performers from colleagues with comparable technical skills and knowledge is emotional intelligence.

The four main abilities of social and emotional intelligence are commonly used to categorize it:

• Self-Awareness

• Self-Management

• Social Awareness 

• Relationship Management 

A leader's emotional intelligence will increase as they grow in each of these areas. Therefore, it's crucial to comprehend what each core competency comprises if you're a leader who wants to raise your emotional intelligence.

The four central quadrants are shown in further detail below:

1. Self-Awareness 

Having a comprehensive understanding of your personality, including your traits, values, beliefs, motivations, and emotions, is known as self-awareness. Knowing yourself better enables you to comprehend others, their perspectives of you, your attitude, and your in-the-moment responses to them.

Leaders who have high Emotional Intelligence are very aware of their values and goals. They are aware of who they are and the motivations behind their actions. Their good Emotional Intelligence behaviors are built on a foundation of understanding their underlying beliefs and directing their behavior in accordance with those values. In this turbulent moment, leaders who make decisions in accordance with their beliefs and the values of their organization are building a foundation of stability for their team members and clients. 

Employees understand and believe the justification for "next moves" once that foundation has been laid and the leadership team is firmly grounded in their beliefs. Leaders with high emotional intelligence are aware of their assets and areas for improvement, and actively manage them. Contrary to conventional assumption, Emotional Intelligence leaders allow their feelings to influence their reign rather than letting them rule them.

As Emotional Intelligence leaders figure out ways to get employees out of the workplace and into the safety of their homes, even if it has a negative impact on output, this is where the value of "people over profits" begins to take root. 

2. Self Management 

In order to foster a climate of safety and trust for others, Emotional Intelligence leaders manage their emotions and impulses. Self-managing leaders often avoid being too enraged or envious and refrain from making rash, sloppy, or emotional decisions. They deliberate before acting. They provide their people with quick expressions of respect and trust by assuming the best intentions of others.

Trust is something that Emotional Intelligence leaders believe needs to be lost rather than earned, which enables staff members to feel in control, appreciated, and secure—even in times of crisis. Being open and vulnerable while still being sympathetic, brave, and kind is an emotional balancing act that currently produces an environment where consumers and employees may feel truly protected. Self Management is depicted when leaders that are able to control their emotions will build real support among their team members and clients.

3. Social Awareness 

Emotional Intelligence leaders show a sincere concern for the vulnerabilities, concerns, and suffering of others. People can feel appreciated and personally bonded to their leader(s) when they exhibit this conduct. Leaders with strong social awareness can relate to and comprehend the needs, wants, and perspectives of others around them.

While Emotional Intelligence executives may not be able to resolve or remove every issue that their company and employees are currently facing, they do feel a need to be innovative in order to effectively address as many problems as they can. To be socially conscious, one needs empathy. Leaders today are demonstrating their empathy through managing employee safety and long-term employment as well as recognizing employee stress, domestic duties, and economic anxieties.

4. Relationship Management 

Strong relationship management capabilities are frequently associated with team players and servant leaders. Instead of concentrating on their own accomplishment, they assist others in growing, achieving success, and shining. They are masters at establishing and keeping relationships, have good communication skills, and manage conflicts successfully. Today, it appears that these are the leaders who are going above and beyond to maintain public safety, wages, and work-life balance. These executives prioritize the needs of their team and the community over their own.

Leaders at organizations like Facebook, Google, and Starbucks, to name a few, are providing internal safety support and external community support through free services, financial assistance, and significant donations to front-line employees and non-profit organizations' respect and concern for their employees. 

Making relationship management their first "production" commitment is an example of emotionally intelligent leadership—deciding to "give" in any capacity.

To Conclude - 

The corporate environment that we were familiar with before COVID-19 will have dramatically changed after this global crisis is finished. One of the most noticeable changes will be in how workers assess their bosses' level of respect and trust. The choices and actions that leaders make regarding how they treat others are building a leadership Emotional Intelligence scorecard that will have an impact on politics and business well beyond Covid. Emotional Intelligence wasn't a need for leaders yesterday; it was more of a nice-to-have soft skill for leaders. Today, we have definitely come a long way.