L7: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS FOR LEADERS

It is one of the basic ingredients for effective communications for leaders to have emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills, based on these others will judge the leaders how well they interact. Hence any organization’s culture depends on their leader’s emotional intelligence. Leadership styles are also categories in the 6 types:

1) Visionary

2) Coaching

3) Affiliative

4) Democratic

5) Pace-setting and

6) Commanding.

The way we dress, walk, carry ourselves, stand in relation to others how we use or hands, head, body all communicates and part of nonverbal communication. Developing a better understanding of nonverbal communication can help us in our communication with others and in our understanding of how they perceive our communications. Also listening is a part of effective communication as we receive most of the information from listening to others. There are various levels of listening such as: level 1 – “Empathetic Listening”, level 2 – “Hearing words, but not really listening”, level 3 – “Listening in spurts”.

Motivating and developing others tests a leader’s emotional intelligence. Our success as leader is often measured by our ability to motivate and develop others.

In conclusion, all of the leadership communications skills such as strategy, audience analysis, effective speaking, writing and emotional intelligence – are required to be effective as mentor and networking offers another way to connect with others and give back in our professional and personal life.  Hence leaders connect with others openly and honestly, they have emotional intelligence and display their interpersonal skills. They are sensitive to verbal and nonverbal communication around them. They are good listeners. They are receptive to being mentored and to mentoring others. They are sincerely interested in others and care about them.