Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Skill and intelligence are important leadership tools, but these alone do not a leader make. As Forbes Contributor Meghan M. Biro writes, effective leaders go beyond the rational and intellectual in connecting with others. Like all other human relationships, leading requires engagement on an emotional level.
To cultivate that emotional connection, a leader must actively focus the relationship on his team members rather than himself. A good leader is one who has created an environment where others can confidently and creatively exercise their talents. That seamless dynamic arises when a leader has come to know his team members as human beings—recognizing their abilities, apprehensions and aspirations.
Leaders, too, are human beings who are learning and growing. Some innately possess greater emotional intelligence than others; however, all can—to a degree—hone the ability to inspire others on an emotional level. Biro highlights important tools such as honesty, kindness and respect, as well as the ability to contextualize a situation and to know when to let go and get out of the way.