7 Characteristics of an Interpersonal Leader

 Have you ever played a game of charades? In the game, the leader relays a message to their team by acting the message out, and the team members try to guess what the message says — within a certain timeframe—just by looking at their team leader’s actions. The team who can guess the message the fastest within that period wins the game.  

If you are familiar with the game, I bet you know that this game is all about connection. If the leader does not learn how to connect with their team members, the team will have difficulty winning the game.  

The same principle applies with leaders and teams within an organisation. 

When a leader does not know how to connect with their team members, the organisation will have difficulty achieving its objectives. The reason is that an organisation is made up of different people, and an organisation’s success is not only be attributed to the leader, but is brought about by the efforts of the leader and the team members.  

Therefore, if you want your organisation to survive and stand out in this fast-paced, competitive business world, you, as the leader, need to build a healthy relationship with your team members.  

You can do this by developing your Interpersonal Effectiveness skills. 

Interpersonal Effectiveness: The Key to Effective Leadership
 

Interpersonal Effectiveness is defined as the ability to be tuned in to others. Having this competency will enable you, as a leader, to demonstrate compassion and sensitivity — putting others at ease and being able to relate to and build rapport with a diverse range of people. It will enable you to use diplomacy, tact, and interpersonal skills to ease transactions and relationships with others. Because of they can communicate and motivate those around them, people who scored high in Interpersonal Effectiveness become better leaders. 

According to research, leaders and managers are the ones who benefit the most from Interpersonal Effectiveness. This is because interpersonal leaders bring out the best in others through empowerment, inspiration and role modelling.  

In a study conducted by the researchers from the Corporate Executive Board, 50-70% of leaders, executives and managers fail within eighteen months of assuming a position. In most cases, these failures are not due to a lack of knowledge or technical skill but are a result of poor interpersonal skills.  

Conversely, leaders, executives and managers with strong interpersonal skills tend to be more optimistic, have better and more effective leadership styles, and connect positively with team members and employees. These leaders are also held in higher esteem and tend to achieve greater success. 

7 Characteristics of an Interpersonal Leader

Effective and successful leaders have excellent interpersonal skills. They effectively carry out their duties because they demonstrate the following characteristics: 

1. They empathise. 
 

Empathy is the ability to put yourself in the shoes of another person to understand their feelings, ideas, and behaviours and, ultimately, to imagine how they must be feeling. 

Knowing what your team members want and need, empathising with them, and taking an interest in their thoughts and feelings are all characteristics of empathetic leadership. 

Interpersonal leaders are empathetic leaders. They try to understand what situation their team members are in. They do this by frequently checking in with their team members. They listen carefully to what they are saying and use these conversations to assess their members' progress and, most importantly, their mental and emotional health.  

If you do not have this practice, scheduling regular check-ins with your most important employees, partners, and customers is a good idea to learn about their concerns and find out how you can best assist them. If you don't take preventative measures, you might lose key employees. 

2. They are genuinely interested in other people.
 

Interpersonal leaders are selfless leaders - they are others centred. They take the time to tune into other people’s feelings and figure out what drives them.  

Interpersonal leaders take a genuine interest in and are curious about other people; they want to know who the other person is, what they do, and how they think. Conversations with them are not all about them but are about getting to know the other person they are talking to.  

3. They are good listeners.

Interpersonal Leaders have exceptional listening skills. They listen without judgement. They listen attentively to what people are saying and what they aren’t. They are good are reading verbal and non-verbal cues.  

Ineffective leaders don't practice "listening." They may pretend to listen while they are actually thinking about themselves. Authentic listening involves listening for understanding and also look the other person’s body language and other nonverbal indicators to grasp what the other person needs even if they don't say it. 

According to a 2020 Emtrain survey, 1 in 10 employees do not trust their superiors to listen to a complaint, which impairs their performance. Deep listening improves employee satisfaction and performance. 

Authentic listening involves creating trust, paraphrasing to indicate understanding, and asking open-ended questions. 

4. They have great communication skills.
 

The secret to highly effective leadership is communication. 

In fact, studies show that three out of every four employees choose good communication as the most critical leadership quality. However, only one-third of respondents believe their leaders communicate successfully. 

Interpersonal Leaders are good communicators. They interact smoothly with others, even at the nonverbal level. They know others’ communication styles and relate to others using the optimal approach. 

They can communicate clearly in a logical and organised manner. They can speak the truth in love and be able to persuade others through their speech.   

They know how to engage and challenge people with their words. They know how to communicate the difficult stuff to other people appropriately. Their words are uplifting instead of demeaning and often bring out the best in people.  

5. They are great at managing conflict.
  

Since Interpersonal leaders have empathy and are good communicators, they are good at managing conflict. They know how to deal with both parties logically, and they know how to help conflicting parties arrive at a solution that is for the good of everyone.  

6. They respect others. 

Interpersonal Leaders value everyone. They treat people with genuine respect and regard, no matter their rank or status. They give others the respect they want to be given to themselves, knowing fully well the value of the saying that “respect begets respect. 

Interpersonal leaders respect their team members by speaking to them tactfully, valuing their opinion and treating them well.  

7. They bring out the best people.
 

Interpersonal leaders are not self-centred. They not only think of self-growth and development but also about the growth and development of the people around them. They think and come up with programs that will help their team members become their personal best not only in the workplace but in every aspect of their life. 

Developing Interpersonal Effectiveness 

How about you? Do you see yourself as an Interpersonal Leader? If you still feel lacking in this area, you can do the following tips to develop this competency: 

• Remember to put other people first. "Seek first to understand," according to Stephen Covey, is a habit of highly effective people.  
• Understand that people have diverse personalities. Learn to use many types of interpersonal skills, get to know and understand the individuals you interact with, and choose the interpersonal technique that is most comfortable for them, not you. 
• Take a 360-degree evaluation of your interpersonal abilities, or solicit honest comments from individuals you trust. Are you arrogant, insensitive, remote, unapproachable, impatient, too intense, too eager to get to the agenda or task at hand, or too busy to truly listen to others? 
• Take a listening course or read a book to learn how to listen to others properly - not only what they say, but also what they don't say. Listen for what inspires them, what they require from you at this time, and their emotional condition. 
• Take note of how others react to you. Do they appear uneasy? Do they take a step back, check their watch, or look aside in search of a way out? Do they seem anxious, stutter, or fidget with their documents or personal items? Work three times as hard to observe how others react to you. 
• Share information. Share the "why behind the what." Explain how you arrived at your conclusions and, more importantly, invite others to offer their thoughts and views. 
• Manage your nonverbals. Individuals who are smiling and serene, who nod while the other person is speaking, who speak in a pleasant tone, not too quickly or aggressively, whose body language and face show openness, and individuals who appear comfortable and welcome, receive more positive responses. 
  
  

Effective leadership is crucial for the success of any team and organisation. One of the hallmarks of a great leader is the ability to bring out the best in their team members and inspire them to achieve more than they ever believed possible. 

Interpersonal Effectiveness will help you do this. It will help you become a better leader, it will help your team become more empowered and engaged, and help your organisation stand out in this fast-paced, competitive business world. 

Become an Interpersonal Leader now! 

We Are Here to Help

At People Builders, we have a team of expert trainers and coaches who can help you in building you and your team’s Interpersonal Effectiveness and Emotional Intelligence. Contact us today for a quick chat to see how we can partner with you to train and coach you and your team.

If you are interested in becoming certified to be a trainer and coach in Social and Emotional Intelligence, Applied Neuroscience, or Extended DISC, go to our People Builders Institute website.