Emotional Intelligence is a critical skill and is foundational for leaders, along with being self-aware and mindful. In fact, combined, the three skills, when practiced regularly, can help leaders not only lead their people in authentic ways, but allow for essential learning on the job. Every interaction, whether by email, in-person, or online, holds an amazing opportunity for co-creating a workplace culture of happy and productive people.

Human-centric leadership is a must-do if you want your organization to succeed in an ever-changing marketplace. Those who work toward being self-aware and authentic while valuing, encouraging, and supporting others’ contributions, will create a thriving culture led by a purposeful leader.

Today’s leaders are being called upon to be more and do more to make workplaces more human-centric. It all starts with your ability to bring out the best in your people, to make it your mission to uncover their strengths and give those strengths wings. When you treat your people like people, you will help elevate them and the organization to higher levels of success.

In 2023, the role of the leader will be less about making decisions and calling the shots, and more about having the skills to foster inclusive decision making, offering autonomy and bottom-up innovation and collaboration. Are you and your organization on track to start next year ahead of the curve?

Creating a culture that fosters innovation also means supporting your team to bring their own ideas to the table. In order to build a thriving organization, you must lead by example and then let others do their best work. It's the only way to have any kind of success, with everything from employee engagement, retention, customer service and bottom-line results.

It's long been a trend that employees are looking for "more" in their jobs - being valued as people, being heard without judgment, and given the choice to contribute their own special skills to not only their job but the entire organization. When leaders create a culture of this kind of inclusivity, they essentially are building blocks of high performance teams.

Today, inclusivity is more important than ever. Strong leaders must deliver on being inclusive in order to help organizations succeed. Allowing a sacred, judgment-free space for your teams to openly bring their ideas and feedback to the table, not only allows for transparency, respect, innovation, and improved productivity, but important personal growth on their career paths and yours. It’s all about being of service to others - the hallmark of a self-aware, mindful leader.

Being mindful and self-aware are the hallmarks of a strong leader. And this trickles down to all the minutia you deal with every day. Everything from high level, fast-paced decisions to running meetings and supporting your team in their day-to-day tasks. In order to be successful, you must be intentional about how you use your time. How you do that will be reflected throughout the organization.