To be successful at any level of an organization, a leader should have many different skills, but one is fundamental: emotional intelligence.

But what it is? Why is it important? How can it be developed?

The concept of Emotional Intelligence was first conceived in 1990 by Professors Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer in their article  “Emotional Intelligence”, where they define it as the ability to feel, evaluate and express an emotion, the ability to access feelings and/or create them when they facilitate thoughts, the ability to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth.

Psychologist and writer  Daniel Goleman analyzed the topic further in his book “Emotional Intelligence”, where he identifies 4 main aspects of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.

Goleman investigate competence models used in 100 different companies in order to observe the role and the importance of emotions in work performance. Results of his research showed that for jobs of any kind and at any level, factors belonging to emotional intelligence were extremely more important than mere cognitive skills. The higher the level inside the company, the more they are important.

What does this mean? Developing these competences may help you become a better leader, that adapts more easily, manages conflicts better, and has more success.

How can we develop emotional intelligence?

Mindfulness meditation is a very powerful tool to develop competences related to emotional intelligence, especially self-awareness.

Many studies showed that regular meditators benefit from many advantages in their daily life, as well as in the workplace. First of all, in fact, meditation increases attention while decreases distractions and office chatting. Employees also experience a reduction in physical tension caused by muscular tension, fast lunch breaks or inactivity. Moreover, regular meditators are more likely to exploit mental resources better and find greater creativity in problem solving tasks. Researches also found that meditation helps reduce frustration caused by one’s or team’s lack of progress.

These benefits, which related to a single person, can however contribute to improve the overall workplace: employees will be more prone to accepting their situations, interpersonal relationships will be more positive, also thanks to a lower egotism of a single worker and a greater ability to keep calm (alone or with the others) in complex situations.

Discover more on our Mindfulness program and its benefits for your company!