Intelligence

Beingaleader means you need intelligence. Different kinds depending on the situation. You need the ability to learn, understand, and apply knowledge. Without it, you will continue to make the same mistakes over and over.

There are lots of different kinds of intelligence, of course, including emotional intelligence (EI) where the understanding of your own or others’ emotional states become imperative to your success. Your own EI is really about self-awareness and the EI related to others is really applying your understanding with empathy to the situation that others find themselves in.

Being self-aware is knowing your current emotional state, how to regulate your emotions in the moment, and applying past learned experiences to navigate something new happening in your life. Emotions are tricky things. They flare up when least expected. They might not be logical or measured to the circumstances. So you need to know yourself. How you react to certain stimuli and how you can prepare for that before you get yourself into another situation like that. Being prepared is key to overcoming or at least navigating the emotion you are likely to experience.

Having empathy for others is key to understanding another’s situation and being able to guide them along the path to achieve whatever you have agreed that needs to be achieved. Empathy is not about feeling sorry for someone. It’s trying to understand how they feel in a situation. Not how you feel. But how they feel. How they might react. And then applying that intelligently to keep everyone moving in the right direction. Empathy will go a long way to keeping a team together and on track. And if you’re looking for a deeper connection or understanding, empathy is the way ahead.

Beingaleader means you need intelligence. Show some today.