The 6 leadership styles of emotional leadership
With this coaching guide you get as Executive An overview of different emotional leadership styles. But why is emotional leadership so important? As a manager, you work for your employees, not the other way around. This attitude is essential if you want to take advantage of this article.
Of course, the article in no way replaces coaching with an expert in emotional leadership, but it can still give you one or two inspiring ideas for implementation in your company.
Each and every leadership style has a deep impact on the emotions of the people they are applied to. It is all the more important that you as a manager understand and feel how your actions influence the feelings and opinions of your employees. Because one thing is certain: Happy employees make your life easier in many ways!
Goleman's 6 Emotional Leadership Styles
Emotional leadership is empathetic and always combined with a high level of self-reflection. You can also see to what extent the respective styles fit your own personality and how they can be implemented in a given situation! In addition to this coaching guide, professional coaching can provide support.
The Visionary Leadership
Visionary bosses give their Team one direction – one goal ahead, one vision! They give their employees freedom, which can be very motivating to find their way there independently.
Possible application / coaching at:
major changes in the company
Companies that need clear direction
The coaching leadership
The coaching leadership style focuses less on the whole Team and more on the individual strengths of each member. This style should be used carefully, as individual coaching can quickly create an imbalance in terms of the attention and appreciation of your employees.
Possible application / coaching at:
- High performance and competitive sport
- well-rehearsed performanceteams
The Democratic Leadership
The democratic style binds that Team involved in decision-making processes. Problems are discussed together and the strengths of the group are used to achieve better results.
However, overdoing the democratic style can lead to aimlessness. In some situations, bosses have to make decisions themselves.
Possible application / coaching at:
- Little ones Teams
- Situations that do not require quick decisions
- Building a solid, sustainable Teams
- Desired creative solutions
The demanding leadership
A boss who follows a demanding style expects from his Team high willingness to perform and exerts a certain amount of pressure. He aims high and is only satisfied with the best results.
However, if a boss exerts too much pressure in the long term, it can happen that the employees feel overwhelmed. This is bad for motivation and willingness to perform. In addition, employees quickly become immune to the pressure and look for "loopholes".
Possible application / coaching at:
- Relatively few situations must be used selectively for maximum effectiveness
- strong basis of trust and vision
Emotional leadership
Bosses who use the feeling-oriented style are open about feelings Team and focus on the emotional needs of employees. Through trust and respect, Team creates positive relationships. This style combines well with other leadership styles.
Possible application / coaching at:
- upsets in Team
- bad relationship between employees
The Commanding Leadership
The commanding boss gives his Team Instructions to be followed and not questioned. He likes to be in control and rarely gives up tasks.
Possible application / coaching at:
- Emergency and crisis situations that are associated with great time pressure (e.g. in the case of a difficult heart operation: the boss must be in such a situation Team under full control - everyone at the operating table must follow the instructions without questioning every decision)
Emotional intelligence and social intelligence as the basis for emotional leadership
Emotional intelligence and social intelligence are strongly related. The former is considered the ability to manage one's own emotions in order to function as desired.
The following questions serve for self-reflection and are aimed at emotional intelligence. The more precise and detailed they are answered, the more effective the results will be:
How do I deal with myself?
Am I aware of my feelings?
What are my passions and things that move me?
What do I need to be more efficient?
What things slow me down?
How do I deal with emotions?
Am I easily influenced by external factors?
How empathetic am I to recognize the sensitivities of other people and to understand how other people perceive problems?
Professional coaching can greatly promote this process, since the coach usually looks at the other person independently and from the outside. Thanks to his many years of experience, potential can be quickly discovered in coaching and worked out together.
Social intelligence, on the other hand, is reflected in how well people can empathize with other people. The higher the social intelligence, the more precisely the consequences of one's own actions can be assessed. If you have a high level of social intelligence, you can also strongly influence, develop and optimally support people.
One of the most important points for this are:
- Asking the right questions at the right time
- The ability to listen actively (summarizing what is heard creates clarity and trust)
- authenticity
Both emotional and social intelligence are essential for successful emotional leadership!
The influence of our emotions on decisions
We are driven by our emotions: when we are angry and annoyed, we are more likely to make bad decisions; with passion and positive feelings we can think clearly and our decision-making quality becomes significantly better.
Numerous studies confirm that emotional intelligence is related to leadership success!
Problem: Many executives are convinced that they have emotional intelligence. This statement does not always correspond to the opinion of the employees.
Solution: In order to compare yourself with reality, you should take a 360° REVIEW. This type of feedback is anonymous and makes it clear to what extent the self-image corresponds to the external image.
Can I improve my emotional leadership through coaching?
Many people ask themselves whether emotional intelligence, social intelligence and thus also emotional leadership can be learned through coaching! The answer is yes. The earlier we start doing this, the more sustainable the result will be. Targeted coaching can help to deepen one's own emotional intelligence and thus be an enrichment both in business and in private life.
These steps are a coaching guide of an iterative nature:
- First you should ask yourself the following questions: Am I motivated to improve my leadership quality? Am I interested in the topic?
- Get feedback (an external 360° evaluation paired with coaching can be very helpful here)
- Decision: which weaknesses do I want to eliminate and which strengths do I want to develop
- Consistent implementation with clear successes after a few months
- Systematic transfer or integration into the appropriate work environment
Coaching as potential development for sustainable, emotional leadership
If you want to go deeper than this coaching guide and would like to take advantage of coaching on this topic, you should first answer the two questions asked under 1. with "yes". The openness to initially approach strangers is a strength of character that can pay off many times over. Every coaching needs trust, which both sides develop in the getting-to-know-you phase.
Coaching is not always pleasant, on the contrary. Good coaching is exhausting and goes deep. A good coach acts like a mirror that reflects what is thrown at him in a nonjudgmental way. Over a period of about three months of intensive coaching, a previously unimaginable potential can be released and implemented. As a manager, are you ready to open up a new world through professional coaching? Do you say yes to coaching?