The best leaders exercise emotional intelligence. The ‘father’ of emotional intelligence, Daniel Goleman, identifies these 12 traits of the best leaders:
- Emotional self-awareness: knowing your strengths and limitations
- Emotional self-control: calmness under pressure and ability to recover quickly from upsets
- Adaptability: agility in the face of change and uncertainty
- Achievement orientation: desire to strive for excellence
- Positive outlook: seeing good in all people, situations and events
- Empathy: taking time to listen and understand others
- Organisational awareness: read the emotional currents and dynamics within groups and organisations
- Influence: natural leadership; ability to engage and mobilise teams
- Coach and mentor: teaching, feedback and support
- Conflict management: resolving disputes and finding win-wins
- Teamwork: sharing the load, being a part of the team, helping others
- Inspirational leadership: setting the example, inspiring and guiding