The 4 Domains and 12 Competencies of Emotional Intelligence
Don’t shortchange your development as a leader by assuming that emotional intelligence (EI) is all about being sweet and chipper, or that your EI is as perfect as you are — or, even worse, assume that EI can't help you excel in your career.
Defining emotional intelligence sometimes only focuses on sociability, sensitivity, and likability. We are Then missing critical elements of emotional intelligence that could make someone a stronger, more effective leader.
EI is defined as comprising four domains:
- Self-awareness
- Self-management
- Social awareness
- Relationship management
Nested within each domain are twelve EI competencies, learned and learnable capabilities that allow outstanding performance at work or as a leader:
- Self awareness: 1. emotional self-awareness.
- Self management: 2. emotional self-control, 3. adaptability, 4. achievement orientation, and 5. positive outlook.
- Social awareness: 6. emphaty, 7. organizational awareness.
- Relationship management: 8. influence, 9. coach and mentor, 10. conflict management, 11. team work, and 12. inspirational leadership.
Simply reviewing the 12 competencies in your mind can already give you a sense of where you might need some development and what you are already gold at.
For example, if you have strength in conflict management, you would be skilled in giving people unpleasant feedback. And if you are more inclined to influence, you would want to provide that difficult feedback as a way to lead your direct reports and help them grow.
In order to excel, leaders need to develop a balance of strengths across the suite of EI competencies. When they do that, excellent business results follow.
Source: Goleman D., Boyatzis R.E., 2017, Emotional Intelligence Has 12 Elements. Which Do You Need to Work On?, Harvard Business Review, February 2017.
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