Leadership is often confused with position, and assumes that Leadership is a position to be authoritarian, giving instructions and all team members following what the Leader wants. Maybe decades or centuries ago, this condition could be effective, but with the rapid flow of technology and many people who are more knowledgeable, this style is not always effective. Effective leadership is much more complex and involves many skills, the focus of which is not on technical abilities but instead on soft skills and including the ability to understand oneself and others, and what is no less important is managing emotions.

In a conversation between team members, what is always discussed is no longer technical ability when discussing the Leader. Of course, what is always discussed is the ability to manage emotions, such as that your father is fierce, your mother is easily emotional, etc. In discussions regarding a person’s potential to advance to the next career level, what is certainly the subject of discussion is how a person’s behavior or emotional management is. What caused it? Because executive or managerial positions do not automatically make someone a capable leader.A leader is someone who can bring about change, is able to influence other people (not necessarily in an authoritarian way) and encourage a team or community to achieve greater goals. All of this can only be achieved if a leader is successful and has the ability to lead himself. Before someone can lead others, that person must be able to understand and lead themselves, which includes time management, self-discipline and decision making. This condition must start from the ability to identify one’s own personal strengths and weaknesses and use one’s inner potential to be more efficient and effective.Emotional intelligence is a critical aspect of Leadership. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions as well as the emotions of others. Emotional intelligence according to Daniel Goleman, a psychologist and author of the book Emotional Intelligence is divided into five elements, namely:

Self Awareness (Self Awareness)

The ability to recognize and understand emotions, weaknesses, strengths, inner values, self-motivation. Individuals who have self-awareness are usually more able to evaluate themselves objectively and feel comfortable because their level of self-confidence and feeling safe is not influenced by the surrounding environment.

Self Management (Self Regulation)

Ability to control and manage levels of impulsivity, disturbing moods and emotions. People who already have a high level of self-management have the skills to control themselves, self-confidence and adapt to all situations.

Motivation

People who have the ability to manage emotions tend to be more easily motivated to focus on goals without being easily influenced by external influences. They are also better able to face failures and challenges in achieving their goals and are quick to adapt to get back on their feet.

Social skills

Ability to manage relationships, build networks, sense and influence the emotional state of others. This ability allows someone to work together as part of a team, especially in an organizational structure.

Empathy

The ability to understand the emotions that arise from other people, and understand the dynamics that occur in relationships including the needs and feelings of other people.All of the Emotional Intelligence abilities above or the ability to manage emotions are important for a Leader to have. If we look at a person’s ability to understand and manage themselves, a person will easily recognize signs in their body and the organization they lead which will influence how a person or team can play a role in an organization.One example is managing one’s emotional condition, such as feeling angry and impatient with team members who find it difficult to understand a process. One of the clients I worked with, found it difficult to discuss with team members and he realized that very often the trigger was emotions that flared up very quickly, so that team members felt afraid to face him, and this affected the team’s level of trust and comfort in communicating. I invited the client to process and do self-reflection, and finally he realized that the signs of his rising emotions could actually be detected, and so far if his emotions had not escalated, he would have found it easier to empathize and be more able to manage himself. What he has to do is recognize the signs that his emotions are starting to rise, and before they reach the peak, he must quickly think to control them. Because when he reaches his peak, it will be more difficult for him to face team members.The conditions above illustrate how a person can carry out self-management and if this ability is possessed by a leader, team dynamics will be better maintained and will ultimately have an impact on the team’s productivity. Below are some of the impacts of a leader’s emotional management abilities:

Build interconnection between team members and other teams.

If a leader has maintained emotional abilities, the leader will be able to understand and connect well with everyone both in the team he leads and people outside the team who influence the progress or success of the team. This is because the relationship that exists is not based on fear or discomfort.

More effective decision making

Decision making that is not based on emotional conditions will more easily reduce the potential for impulsive decision making and is useful in the short term but also has an impact on the team’s progress and success in the future.

Reduce stress levels

Imagine that you are in a team or environment that uses a lot of emotions in communication, whether emotions of anger, sadness or fear, then you will feel the same way every time. And this condition will affect you in the long term because your mind, heart and body must always be awake. This can cause someone to feel stressed because they are uncomfortable with this situation. This was experienced by one of my clients who had to constantly be on alert for the worst situation, and without realizing it he had difficulty sleeping because he felt constantly anxious. This condition is a signal from the body that warns humans that something is affecting the body’s condition.

Maintain team morale

In the end, there will not be a conducive relationship within the team. The team will blame each other or even become suspicious of each other, both towards the Leader and fellow team members. What will happen is that the team will not be able to work together because everyone wants to save each other’s jobs or careers.The conditions above show that a leader MUST have good emotional management skills, to bring the team forward and achieve success. This is especially true in the corporate world. When someone gains the confidence to occupy a position leading a team, what they have to start preparing is not only technical knowledge, but what they have to start realizing is how they will prepare to build a team by recognizing their own emotions. Training to manage emotions can be done by doing a lot of reflection and also using more listening skills from those around you so that in the end you will be trained to recognize, understand and ultimately manage yourself and your team to achieve success in the goals you want to achieve.If you want to know how you can manage your emotions and for your team’s needs, you can contact the number listed on this website.