By: John Muller, MD Candidate
Leaders leverage social skill to apply emotional intelligence. Social skill can be broken down into eight 8 cmpetencies:
1) Influence
Wield the tactic of persuasion to fine-tune a presentation to appeal to your audience. Know your audience and tailor your pitch to fit their needs. Presenting to a group of executives calls for different tactics than if you were presenting an idea to your friends.
2) Communication
Strong communication requires clear and convincing messages. Emotional cues can drive a message home. Importantly, listen well, seek mutual understanding, and welcome sharing of information fully through open communication. Enter each conversation with curiosity. Communication is a two-way street.
Be receptive to bad news as well as good news. Bad news presents an opportunity for change and growth.
3) Leadership
Leaders inspire. Learn to articulate and arouse enthusiasm for a shared vision and mission. People love to feel as if they are part of the ideation process.
Also lead by example. Mop the floor. Put in the extra effort. Leaders manage, but everyone respects a leader they see tirelessly working toward the teams mission.
Don’t be afraid to lead. When an opportunity to lead arises, take it.
4) Change Catalyst
Initiate or manage change. Recognize the need for change. Identify barriers which may inhibit change. And remove any barriers that may be inhibiting change. Change is growth.
To be a change catalyst one must challenge the status quo. Be a champion for change. Enlist other in the pursuit of new ideas. Understand there may be initial resistance. But inertia to the same is preventing innovation. As your movement gains growth, others will become more receptive. And now your movement has the inertia.
5) Conflict Management
Resolve disagreements. Negotiate to minimize hard feelings and alleviate tense situations. However, don’t brush off conflicting ideas. Diverse opinions prevents group think and helps identify blind spots. Many times listening to differing opinions, and ensuring everyone feels heard strengthens interpersonal bonds.
In order to better manage conflict: encourage debate and open discussion, share ideas, and respect differences. Everyone’s ideas are valuable and may lead to win-win solutions.
6) Building Bonds
Nurture instrumental relationships. Learn to cultivate and maintain extensive informal networks and seek out relationships that are mutually beneficial.
Additionally, build rapport with everyone who comes into your life. Be a generous conversationalist. And integrate others in the loop.
Here we are seeing a recurring theme: no leader is an island and an extensive network is necessary to succeed and grow.
7) Collaboration and Cooperation
Work with others toward shared goals to achieve what you could not otherwise alone. The task at hand is important, but so are relationships. Maintain a balance of these two goals. Sharing is the key to success. Share plans, information, resources, time, effort, and anything else you can give to help the team succeed.
In order for collaboration and cooperation to occur, the leader with this competence will promote a friendly and cooperative climate and will spot and nurture opportunities for collaboration.
8) Team Capabilities
Finally, create group synergy in pursuing collective goals. Build a team culture that encompasses the qualities of respect, helpfulness, and cooperation. This allows for all members of a group to be drawn into active and enthusiastic participation as well as build a team identity, spirit, and commitment.
These eight competencies present eight opportunities to enhance your social skill. Learn them, practice them, and improve them, to grow as a leader and sharpen your emotional intelligence.