Social Intelligence

Social and emotional competencies distinguish average performers from star performers. The more senior the leader, the more important emotional competencies become. Social intelligence measure’s one’s social awareness and refers to a person’s ability to understand and manage people and to act wisely in human relations. Social intelligence refers to the intelligence that lies behind group interactions and behaviour.

Social intelligence is closely linked to cultural intelligence which refers to an individual’s capability to operate in diverse cultural environments. It is a critical skill on multi-national organisations and projects. Humans have different attitudes, hopes, interests and desires thus having good emotional intelligence and social intelligence is what separates top performers from weak performers in the workplace.

Intelligence is a complex hierarchy of information processing skills underlying an adaptive equilibrium between the individual and the environment. An individual can change their social intelligence by altering their attitudes and behaviours in response to their environment. To be socially aware is to be community minded and socially active, which is looking for new things to learn. Socially aware people embrace learning as a way of earning a living. They have a positive attitude to progressive social issues and are open to new experiences.

Social intelligence is outwardly focused on the people you interact with. It relates to how effectively you interact with the organizational structure and by interacting and adapting the structure to your needs.

Social intelligence involves proficiency in managing relationships and building networks, as well as the ability to find common ground and build rapport, persuasiveness and effectiveness in leading change. This is coupled with expertise in building and leading teams. Being socially sensitive is a prerequisite to management success.

First by managing our emotions then connecting effectively with others we can influence their emotions and lead, motivate, inspire or calm the situation around us. Emotional intelligence and social intelligence have become increasingly popular as a measure of identifying potentially effective leaders and as a tool for developing effective leadership skills. Effective transformational leaders must possess social and emotional intelligence in order to be able to inspire employees and build strong relationship.