How Emotional and Cultural Intelligence Shapes Successful Leaders

How Emotional and Cultural Intelligence Shapes Successful Leaders

Leaders who cultivate emotional and cultural intelligence set themselves up for success in their careers. Amid Yale University president Peter Salovey’s accomplishments in academic administration lie yet more in the field of social psychology, including his pioneering the study of emotional—and by extension—cultural intelligence. Here, we discuss how these two traits can enhance the professional interactions between leaders and their coworkers.

What Is Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to be aware of, control, and express emotions in healthy, socially acceptable ways. Emotional quotient (EQ)—or measure of emotional understanding—is a combination of skills that can be taught and nurtured through training. Those with above-average EQ can build stronger relationships, reduce the stress of team members, defuse workplace conflict, and improve their overall job satisfaction as well as that of other team members.

A leader with high EQ is likely to experience more interpersonal success than someone without it because they’re able to better explain their thought processes when making decisions, show more empathy for others, and strengthen their personal and professional relationships.

Important elements that make up emotional intelligence include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.

Self-Awareness

Emotional self-awareness means that leaders understand their feelings about particular scenarios, but do not allow those feelings to complicate their decisions. Some individuals may initially find it difficult to self-evaluate, be objective, and understand their emotions, but if they practice self-awareness each day, over time they’ll understand the types of behavior and interaction that will be of most benefit to their organization. In turn, they can become better, more composed leaders.

Self-Management

When leaders exhibit self-awareness, they develop self-management skills. Self-management refers to emotional control, which helps prevent leaders from being influenced or making decisions based solely on their emotions. Leaders who self-manage are adaptable to change because they recognize how change makes them feel, and they can move forward and deal with those feelings. Their keen understanding of their emotions helps them to maintain a positive attitude and set meaningful goals.

As emotionally intelligent leaders practice self-management, they can experience more positive workplace interactions. Such a trait makes these leaders invaluable to organizations.

Social Awareness

Emotionally intelligent leaders show empathy for their coworkers. Because they understand their own emotions, these leaders can become more socially aware of the feelings of others. This social awareness may then translate to organizational awareness. This means that leaders with high EQ can understand how emotions impact other people, team dynamics, and the organization as a whole.

Relationship Management

Emotionally intelligent leaders understand the inherent value of each individual they work with. Studies show that emotionally intelligent leaders can more effectively gain the trust of employees and clients as well as foster repeat business. These types of leaders have a nurturing influence on employees, act as positive coaches and mentors, and inspire those they lead. In understanding their own emotions, they can more authentically strive to see from the perspective of others, which helps foster productive, fulfilling interactions.

Emotional awareness helps to build trust in relationships and is a predictor of team unity. When employees or clients feel that their emotions are heard and understood, they tend to entrust their leader with their opinions, concerns, and ideas.

Emotionally intelligent leaders are also experts at conflict resolution—they help their coworkers work out their emotions and issues with other employees. Their proficiency at empathy helps to facilitate good teamwork and problem-solving throughout the organization.

What Is Cultural Intelligence?

Cultural intelligence measures the ability to relate to others in culturally diverse situations. This diversity encompasses not only different types of work culture but also differences in an individual’s background, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and more. A leader with high cultural quotient (CQ) is prepared to effectively lead and work with diverse groups of people. CQ also measures an outsider’s ability to enter the culture of a workplace and fit in. For leaders coming into a new business or organization, CQ is key to helping them and their team members build trust among each other.

Drive

CQ starts with the drive to adapt to a culturally different environment. Leaders with this drive do their best to derive engagement and enjoyment from cultural differences, increasing their confidence in approaching different cultural settings. This drive helps leaders desire to fit in well to their particular workplace culture.

Knowledge

This element of CQ involves leaders understanding how culture shapes an organization and how culture can vary between teams and departments. Between being able to view cultures in different contexts—as well as understanding the general background of cultures—the knowledge aspect of CQ can enable leaders to develop skills in management and communication.

Strategy

CQ comprises the way that leaders strategize and prepare for cross-cultural scenarios. Culturally intelligent leaders carefully plan for these scenarios, remaining aware of cultural situations and checking in on how planned interactions and actual interactions compare. Leaders that engage in this type of strategy can effectively prepare for and then execute cultural interactions well.

Action

Culturally intelligent leaders act appropriately in every kind of situation. By doing so, they can accomplish their goals and gain the trust and respect of their employees. Leaders should consider both their speech and body language whenever they interact with coworkers—they may pick up on even the most subtle cues.

The Connection between EQ and CQ

• The benefits of emotional and cultural intelligence often overlap to improve the lives of leaders and professionals, including in the following ways:
• Having high EQ and CQ improves communication and interactions with others and leads to better self-awareness and relationship skills.
• At their core, EQ and CQ inspire adaptability—being able to adjust a given communication style based on the individual or situation. This "code-switching" ability is crucial for relating well across cultures.
• Developing EQ and CQ requires continual effort and a willingness to change behaviors and perspectives. The rewards of increased understanding and improved relationships make that effort worthwhile.
• Mastering EQ and CQ can lead to seamless shifting between communication styles without the need to consciously think about it.

How an Online Degree in Business Management Enables EQ and CQ

One way to develop stronger EQ and CQ is to earn an online business degree. Programs in business management, marketing, human resources, and similar fields usually offer courses that teach students the fundamental skills of EQ and CQ and how to apply them in a real-world setting. These courses might cover management and leadership, communication, business ethics, organizational behavior, and more.

The unique flexibility of studying online can also build effective adaptability and time management skills, which, in turn, foster emotional and cultural intelligence. As you immerse yourself in an online business program and engage with your instructors, mentors, and peers, you will master the nuances of putting a high EQ and CQ into practice.

Ready for the next step? Check out WGU’s online business management degree and other business programs, which are designed to help you attain greater emotional and cultural intelligence so that you can thrive in your career.