Once you have self-awareness and the ability to self-manage, the third pillar of social awareness naturally comes up in emotional intelligence and leadership. In my opinion, I think this evolution flows perfectly because you work on being self-aware, self-managing, and now, you look to your surroundings to learn about your social awareness. So, what does social awareness mean? Social awareness means “the ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The ability to understand social and ethical norms for behavior and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.” OK, phew, that’s a long definition, so what does that mean to you and me?
In my opinion, this is the empathy portion of the program with emotional intelligence. I know, I know, I write and talk about empathy all the time. But, hopefully, you see now that it is completely woven into everything we do as people but especially, as successful leaders. To have a high EQ, we must be empathetic. How do we become empathetic? We have social awareness. Social awareness allows us to do exactly what we talk about with empathy. It encourages us to have the ability to understand people from a different sex, race, culture, age, you name it. Does this mean that you will ever really know what it is like to be them? No, not in my opinion but that’s not the point. It’s the ability to see and feel what it would be like for you. That’s the point and the power.
In addition, social awareness not only focuses on empathy, it allows and proves that you have the ability to understand the social things that are going on in your ecosystem. When this is applied to leadership, we are talking about your work environment. The more aware you are of these social norms or behaviors the higher your EQ. And why would that be important? Because as a leader, it gives you the ability to better navigate your organization in a positive and well-informed way to better serve your people (yes, as a servant leader).
I’m sure this all sounds great and idealistic, but you may be wondering, “how do I become a socially aware leader?” Or, maybe you think you ARE a socially aware leader, but you want to sharpen your skills even more which is great. In my opinion, all four of the pillars that I am discussing about emotional intelligence are areas that a great leader will continue to develop throughout her or his career. As we know, learning leaders are the best leaders as we never stopping listening, growing, and striving for more for our people and ourselves. So, how do we do this in the aspect of becoming more and more socially aware in leadership?
Listening is the greatest skill that you can sharpen to be socially aware. You have to have the ability to be a great listener to be a great leader because it allows you to be empathetic. It allows you to truly hear the other person or people around you. How will you ever understand someone if you do not truly listen? How can you truly put yourself in someone else’s shoes if you do not take in all he or she is saying? You absolutely cannot. Listening is a superpower that great leaders know and understand.
You want to be social aware. Practice active listening. Active listening is being truly present in the moment and acknowledging that you are hearing and understanding what the other person is saying. This can be practiced on a daily basis and you can get better and better at it. It’s one of my favorite exercises to practice with teams.
Aside from listening, awareness truly defines what you need to be doing as a leader to be a socially aware leader. As a leader, you must show your empathy actively or tactfully as some people say after you actively listen. Show your teams that you understand them. That’s social awareness. You show them through your words, actions, and trust. Ensuring that you also have a strong awareness of your organization, culture, surroundings, ecosystem, and how people are preserving you. Social awareness is about you as the leader being aware of the social aspects of your team, organization, and whatever else is tied to your business. But, there is also a mirror back at you as the leader. You must be aware of how you are perceived by the organization and show empathy, understanding, and have the ability to explain yourself effectively, essentially organizational awareness.
