How to hone your emotional skills as a leader

What are the characteristics of the best leaders? Are those that boost team performance the most outstanding? Perhaps it’s the ones that command respect? Regardless of specific traits, it’s likely that well respected managers have become just that as they connect with people on an emotional level.

Reaching out to a people in a unique way is by no means easy, but here are the things to keep in mind if you want to get better at communicating with emotional intelligence:

Reflect

Emotional connection begins with self-assessment. In order to become the kind of manager that best understands the needs of the collective, you must first be absolutely confident in who you are.

Any situation that pushes you to the limit – especially if it saw you struggle to engage with others emotionally – must be thought on and used for reference when looking to be a more effective manager in the future.

Sense the atmosphere

While picking up on the signals of how another person is feeling in a one-on-one conversation may come naturally for some, having a sixth sense and being able to measure the mood and feelings of the wider workplace is a skill possessed by the best leaders.

Being understanding and having an awareness of issues that are likely to effect the morale of the company – such as any rocky periods for the enterprise – can help in trying to gain a better insight into the overall emotions of the team.

Show restraint

While learning more about the emotions of others is one thing, keeping your own in check can be tough.

The best leaders have the ability to remove themselves from any decision making and team management. This makes the difficult decisions easier to make and is a key tool in efforts to resolve any conflicts between individuals or multiple parties.