4 Human Leadership Skills that Your People Will Love You For
Great leadership demands developing necessary skills. In 2020 alone, companies invested $163.5B in leadership training in the US.
When we think of leaders, skills that often come into our mind are:
Decisiveness. Creativity. Strong communication skills. Strategic thinking. Strong charisma.
These are traits that people may admire you for; however, there are other great leadership skills that are equally important but often overlooked. They are usually soft skills that can help not only during your day-to-day operations, but also at times when you’re leading through change and uncertainty.
Here are 4 human leadership traits that your people will love you for:
1. High Emotional Intelligence
A leader with high emotional intelligence (EI) can recognize, understand, show and manage not only their own emotions, but other people’s emotions as well. Research conducted by the Institute for Health and Human Potential that included over 10,000 global leaders revealed that leaders with high EI have a solid level of self-awareness about their relationships among their behavior, how it makes others feel and, more importantly, how it makes their people perform.
Emotionally intelligent leaders can relate better with people and are better at recognizing stress and driving change. They are empathetic leaders. When leaders show empathy and compassion, they are rewarded by their people with loyalty. According to Professor Shimul Melvani from the University of North Carolina’s Fliegler School of Business, compassionate leaders have increased levels of engagement and have more employees willing to follow them.
Developing empathy is like developing muscle: you have to use it for it to become stronger. To cultivate empathy in the workplace, leaders must know how to listen intently, leave judgment at the door, show true interest in the aspirations and needs of their people and be authentic and transparent.
Leaders must not be afraid to admit mistakes and show vulnerability when necessary too. This trait of human leadership encourages honest communication among employees. They won’t be afraid to open up if they feel overwhelmed…
