You have probably heard that teamwork is necessary to lead a chapter, but only that is not enough. This is where emotional intelligence comes into play. Emotional intelligence is a skill made up of many other capabilities that allow us to lead the chapter development process in a more enjoyable way. To work in a team there are several things to keep in mind, throughout this article, I will focus on the skills that make up emotional intelligence and how to use them to make the leadership experience more comfortable.

To begin with, I believe that in order to collaborate with the development of a chapter—from any position on the board or simply by being a member—it is crucial to understand the relationship between emotional intelligence and effective performance.

It is also important to understand that sometimes we have some skills more than others and that this should not be something to worry about, but an opportunity to develop our abilities.

From my point of view, it is good to start by knowing and managing oneself and then learn to know and work with others, that is why qualities such as self-awareness and self-regulation are essential to work on at the beginning. By working on these qualities, I could notice great changes. From starting to be more honest with myself to creating an environment of trust by controlling and channeling emotions in which high productivity is promoted.

Secondly, I think it is extremely important to focus on personal motivation as well as the motivation of the board or even the chapter, motivation generates commitment and when there is a commitment there is effectiveness. One possible way to motivate others is to ask them about their objectives and what they want to achieve. Moreover, during my experience, I was able to realize that when things are done with motivation and passion, they do not end up being so heavy.

Finally, there are two aspects of emotional intelligence that I would like to focus on when talking about teamwork; empathy and social skills.

Taking into account the emotions of those you work with to make decisions and understand their way of seeing things is a wonderful skill, as it allows you to understand and adapt to the needs of others. In addition, social skills open the door to lead a team, working together to take the chapter in the same direction.

To summarize, we could say that the 5 components of emotional intelligence: Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skill can give great results if they are put into practice in the right way, but they can also be worked on if you don't feel you have them enough!