Leaders 1

Isn’t it strange that while some people tend to bring out the best in us, some others invoke the side of ours which we aren’t proud of!Well! Believe it or not, each one of us has a similar varying effect on people. So what’s at work here?

The fact is that we humans are open systems – continuously responding in interaction with our environment. For instance, in addition to our conscious attention, we all are subconsciously observing nonverbal behavior of people around us and spotting emotions continuously to profile our environment.

As a result, it is like each one of us has multiple buttons corresponding to different modes inside us. And our responses, with due respect to ‘free will’, are immensely regulated by the buttons being pushed.

This piece of knowledge is a prominent secret of leadership.Leadership is about acknowledging that people are not events, they are processes. They need to be continuously observed, understood and then properly attended to,while keeping in mind the superordinate goals.

However, it is not some superficial act of reading body language or mind molding. It is about a scientific skill at the root of all interpersonal skills – ‘Social & Emotional Intelligence’.Based on psychology and neuroscience, it is defined as the“Ability to adapt one’s behavior on the basis of awareness of one’s own emotions and attunement with others’ emotions”.

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This ability to understand emotions and create a resonance is at the heart of building teams, motivating members, channelizing efforts, inspiring belongingness and achieving results. As one of the Top-10 Future Work Skills according to The Institute for the Future (IFTF), it remains a key for success at future workplace.

Most importantly, it is not some inborn talent.It can be learnt, practiced and mastered –theall-important component of leadershipSocial & Emotional Intelligence.

 

Dr. Sandeep Atre (Founder-Director, Socialigence)

www.socialigence.net