983: Emotional Intelligence in Leadership: 5 Skills Most Leaders Skip | Leadership Strategies

983: Emotional Intelligence in Leadership: 5 Skills Most Leaders Skip | Leadership Strategies

From Shameless Leadership by Sara Dean

March 17, 2026 · 22 min

About this episode

Sara Dean discusses five essential emotional intelligence skills that leaders often overlook and how to develop them in practical situations.

Emotional intelligence is that thing that most people agree is important but few understand how to develop. It can feel tricky - and vulnerable. In this episode, I’m breaking down emotional intelligence skills in a highly practical way. Most leaders assume EQ means “stay calm” or “be nice,” but real emotional intelligence is far more active than that. It’s a set of tangible skills that help you build trust, create psychological safety, and navigate the inevitable tension that comes with people working together. I’m sharing five emotional intelligence skills that I see leaders skip all the time - not because they don’t care, but because no one ever taught them how to actually practice these skills in real moments. Listen in as I walk you through the difference between noticing emotions and naming them, suppressing reactions versus regulating them, and why reading the emotional undercurrent of a room matters just as much as managing the agenda. I share examples from my own leadership experiences, including moments when I’ve felt nervous before stepping on stage for a keynote and how I manage that in real time. I also talk about two of the more challenging leadership skills: holding…

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