Patrick J. Psaila

Numerous research studies conclude that in order for us to become highly successful in our careers and other relational areas of our life, it is not enough to have sound technical know-ledge, effective organisational skills and good strategic thinking. We also need to be able to navigate the complexity of human relationships.

This is especially true when it comes to being effective in positions of leadership and management. We can easily think of examples of highly intelligent professionals who are considered technical or academic gurus and yet struggle to connect and communicate effectively with those around them.

In order to be truly effective in any position of influence, we need to be sensitive to the relationships we create with others, become aware of our own strengths and vulnerabilities, and be able to communicate with honesty, clarity, and openness. If we want to inspire and motivate others, we need to know how to communicate with the language of emotion and feel comfortable dealing with intense emotions created by anger, conflict, disappointment, failure and fatigue. In other words, effective leadership today requires high levels of emotional intelligence and the competencies associated with it.

In order to be truly effective in any position of influence, we need to be sensitive to the relationships we create with others

Emotionally intelligent leadership is now considered as the major factor that determines the extent to which employees are motivated to work well and feel proud and happy to be part of their organisation.

Since the 1990s, researchers have provided us with various definitions and measures of emotional intelligence. From an ability or competence perspective, it is the capacity to identify, use, understand and manage emotions in oneself and others in any situation.

The first two abilities are identifying and using emotions in oneself, that is, on an intrapersonal level. These are considered to be experiential skills in emotional intelligence and require a significant degree of self-awareness. This involves being connected to our inner state of mind in such a way that we can name the emotions we are experiencing at any point during the day. This in turn can enable us to use the data to inform our thinking, decision-making and actions. For instance, if we are preparing to meet someone who makes us feel uncomfortable, it is important for us to identify how exactly we are feeling prior to the meeting and how we are most likely to feel during the meeting. In this case, if we identify emotions of apprehension, mistrust and threat, this emotional data can help us understand that our perception of the person and the interaction during the meeting may be filtered and possibly distorted because of the way we feel about the person.

This may lead us to take a decision not to reach any definite conclusions during the meeting so that we can think things through and possibly discuss them with a trusted colleague before making a decision. This apparently simple process can increase the chances of a successful outcome.

Emotionally intelligent people recognise that no matter how hard they try to remain objective, their emotional state influences their perception and judgement. Therefore, they make sure that they allow sufficient time and engage appropriate mechanisms to process their emotions before taking action or taking significant decisions. This key ability can help us in all areas that require decision-making in our lives such as when we are making significant financial investments, embarking on new career paths, committing ourselves to long-term relationships, and major life decisions that have a strong impact on our future.

The next two abilities are understanding and managing emotions. These are considered to be strategic skills in emotional intelligence and involve knowing why we feel the way we do and how best to act in order to manage ourselves better. If we refer to the previous example, we may realise that the reason why the person we are meeting gives us feelings of threat and mistrust is because of a reputation this person has and not because of personal experience. This may lead us to postpone our judgement about this person and, while keeping our eyes open for potential deception or manipulation, we do not automatically conclude that this person is behaving in this way.

These four abilities can also be applied on an interpersonal level, that is, using our emotional intelligence to identify, use, understand and manage emotions in other people. For instance, we can identify that our team members are feeling demoralised and demotivated during a meeting, use that information by acknowledging how their emotional state could be influencing their judgement, understand why they feel that way, empathise with them, and take decisions and actions to help to raise their morale and increase motivation. This could simply take the form of encouragement, appreciation and praise, three behaviours that I like to refer to as the EAP of motivating others.

One common question that is often asked about emotional intelligence is whether we are born with this intelligence or whether it is something that we can learn over time. Scientists acknowledge that genetics are likely to play an important role in the development of emotional intelligence in individuals. However, geneticists also acknowledge that learning and experience have a significant impact in shaping our gene expression. There is a strong body of research that suggests that with serious commitment, sustained effort and proper training, social and emotional competencies can improve over a period of time. Moreover, studies in the field of affective neuroscience reveal that the brain circuitry of emotion exhibits a fair degree of plasticity, even in adulthood. These findings suggest that while it is unlikely that scores on an emotional intelligence test are going to differ significantly over a period of time, with effective training programmes and strong personal effort we can develop and improve our ability to behave in an emotionally intelligent way and as a result increase our effectiveness in our social, personal and working arenas.

This is one reason, for instance, why a highly successful company such as Google created a seven-week programme on emotional intelligence called “Search Inside Yourself” for all members of staff who assume any form of leadership position in the company. The programme focuses on self-awareness and self-mastery, attention training, compassionate leadership and influencing others with insight and is now attended by people from organisations all around the world.

Patrick J. Psaila is a registered psychologist. He has been working with organisations in the area of leadership development and human factors in business for the past 14 years. He is currently executive director with ThinkTalent Limited, a company that provides consultancy, training and development, coaching and personality profiling in organisations. He may be contacted at pjpsaila@thinktalent.com.mt and through www.thinktalent.com.mt.