“Leading by feel” By Rashid Bahritdinov

Emotional intelligence explains a lot of the questions people have about leadership. Are leaders

born or are they made? Can we change and grow as leaders or are we doomed based on

personality type and behavioral preferences? Emotinal intelligence answers those questions

using science as the basis for the explanation.

Emotional intelligence is very important for law enforcement officers, as they tend to interact

with many kind of people on a daily bases. Emotional intelligence can be gained through life

experience as we grow older, or through work experience. All officers, regardless of their

functioning, possess some level of emotional intelligence; however, some are more skilled in

these competencies than others.

For example, officers with high emotional self-awareness are able to convey their own feelings

to appropriate causes, so setting good self-awareness. They can discern emotions and are

capable of understanding how and why emotions change. They also have the ability to blend

emotions appropriately. These officers have an understanding of how and why others affect

them and are able to express these emotions and feelings in a positive way. They know what

they are feeling and why. They can read other people; similarly, they allow others to read them

clearly. They are able to prevent simple incidents from growing out of proportion and to bring

calm to a chaotic situation. Law enforcement officers strong in emotional self-awareness are

able to withstand and adequately deal with different kinds of work related traumas.

One of the most usefull emotional intelligence components for law enforcement officers is

empathy. Empathy is the ability to be aware of, understand, and appreciate the feelings of

others. Officers who demonstrate a high level of empathy can read other people’s emotions

and pick up on social cues, which allows them to show concern for others. The importance of

this competency is the ability of officers, husbands, fathers, wives, mothers, coworkers, and

friends to make and build personal and emotional relationships. Officers lacking in empathy
often fail to understand the feelings of others and have difficulties in relating to and with

others, resulting in the misinterpretation of social cues and surprise reactions from others. With

that being said, there is also a danger in being preoccupied with, or overusing it. For example,

law enforcement officer overemphasize the emotional intelligence competencies of empathy,

they can trust anyone talking to them, believe their “made-up” stories. They need to have

balance in everything.