Most of us recognize the importance of self-awareness. If you’ve ever worked with someone who lacked it, you know only too well: They act impulsively, communicate poorly, and are wholly unaware of their blind spots. But self-awareness isn’t the end of the story. To be a good leader, you must also possess another key, albeit less talked-about, component of emotional intelligence: social awareness.
Social awareness includes the ability to “read the room,” to understand others, to have compassion and empathy. People with high social awareness can recognize, process, and adapt to shifting emotional information.