Emotional Intelligence For Promotions

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Daniel Goleman, a Harvard-trained psychologist who has become famous as an advocate of emotional intelligence. He says that leaders may get hired for their intellect but they are often fired for a lack of emotional intelligence (see Daniel Goleman’s book, Emotional Intelligence).

How to get promoted and be successful once you get there?

An article in the Irish Independent News, April 10, 2008, asserts that the skills you need to get promoted into senior management have changed. The old style relied on using power and authority to command and control. The new style requires “…emotional intelligence – knowing and managing your own emotions, motivating yourself and recognizing and understanding other people’s emotions.”

The article emphasizes that “It’s all about building effective and responsive interpersonal relationships.”

Cognitive ability and business acumen is taken for granted at the senior level. It is emotional intelligence that makes you stand out. Or lack thereof, that makes you fall out.

In describing the problem with promotions into management, the article states, “But this new role will require a different set of skills from those the person possessed before securing the promotion. And that is the snag. The new management role calls for the ability to manage a team, communicate effectively and be able to make decisions, sometimes multiple ones, under pressure. This draws on the person’s emotional intelligence rather than on the cognitive ability they’ve used up until this point.”

How can you improve your emotional intelligence? You need guidance, practice, and feedback. Executive coaching can provide that in a supportive way.

Copyright 2009, by William R. Murray, President of Eagle Alliance Executive Coaching, LLC. Reprint rights granted to all venues so long as this article and by-line are printed intact with all links made live.

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