August 21, 2025

“The Socially Aware leader asks, ‘ What is it like to be you?”

Jon Acuff, speaking at the most recent Global Leadership Summit, noted that, unlike other generations, leaders today lead the whole person. The best leaders have always been distinguished by their ability to lead the whole person across any generation. However, today’s leadership challenge in our current context lies in leading a growing number of followers who are technologically connected yet socially isolated. A lack of skills on the part of leaders compounds this challenge. This is due in part to a lack of Intentional leadership development in organizations that recognize the importance of leading the whole person and developing emotional intelligence. Developmental Dimensions International notes that since 2008, leaders rate the quality of their leadership at between 37%-40%. They also state that 83% of organizations acknowledge a need for intentional leadership programs, but only 14% have them. Gallup also reports that the failure to connect with followers and care for their well-being leads to record-low employee engagement and quitting. A 2019 Harvard Business Review blog, “How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence,” noted that “Today’s in-demand skills are increasingly technical in nature.” However, there’s a corresponding need for the uniquely human ability to work with and through others to accomplish important goals.

Enter emotional intelligence (EI), a set of skills that help us recognize, understand, and manage our own emotions as well as recognize, understand, and influence the feelings of others.”

The blog cites the work of Margaret Andrews, the former associate dean at Harvard University’s Division of Continuing Education and executive director at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

“Emotional intelligence is critical in building and maintaining relationships and influencing others — key skills that help people throughout their career and wherever they sit in an organizational structure,”
In this series on emotional capacity, emotional intelligence capacity has been described, first focusing on the most important person a leader must lead in their organization: themselves. Leadership is an inside-outside process of developing and refining learnable and refinable capacities, such as emotional intelligence. The first two articles in this series explored self-awareness, self-leadership, and emotional regulation. This Thursday’s article delves into how leaders utilize emotional intelligence to foster strong relationships, beginning with the development of social awareness. Social awareness will be defined and described. Secondly, what makes social awareness impactful in today’s organizations? Finally, five practices to learn or enhance a leader’s awareness are shared.

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What is social awareness?

Social awareness, a key component of emotional intelligence, is the ability to recognize and understand the emotions, needs, and concerns of others. It means reading the room, sensing the emotional climate, and accurately perceiving group dynamics. This involves being humble and curious, looking up, down, and all around, and understanding and considering the subtle cues in interactions. A key component of this social awareness is empathy. The Harvard blog noted above cited Jamil Zaki, a Stanford professor and author of The War for Kindness, who describes empathy as having three components: identifying what others feel, sharing this emotion, and wishing to improve their experience. Social awareness involves identifying what others think and learning to be attuned to the emotions of individuals and the collective.

Leadership is about uplifting others on the journey, and not just reaching the destination.

Why Social Awareness Matters in Leadership

Building Trust and Collaboration: Leaders with strong social awareness connect more deeply with their teams, which fosters trust. This trust, rooted in feeling genuinely seen and heard by a leader, serves as the foundation for open collaboration and psychological safety.
Navigating and managing change.

Socially aware leaders can utilize presence communication and coaching to initiate change processes, gauge progress, and make necessary adjustments.

Conflict Resolution: Workplace conflict is inevitable. Socially aware leaders recognize and appreciate multiple perspectives and the value of respectful, civil disagreement. This ability enables fair mediation and effective conflict resolution. Studies show that organizations led by socially aware leaders experience fewer conflict-related issues and are more productive.
Effective Communication: Social awareness helps leaders tune their communication style to suit the team’s needs—whether being assertive in a meeting, compassionate in one-on-ones, or open to feedback. This adaptive communication prevents misunderstandings and creates clarity.
Inclusivity and Engagement: By recognizing cultural and emotional nuances, leaders with social awareness foster inclusivity. When people feel valued, engagement and productivity soar. Research links high emotional intelligence in leaders with better decision-making and increased team performance.

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Five practices to build social awareness

1. Intentionally be present and aware. Socially aware leaders create opportunities to see those they lead in a variety of situations. Thasanda Brown Duckett, CEO of TIAA and one of the Time 100 most influential people in the world, spoke at the Global Leadership Summit. She noted that through Coffee with the CEO and by showing her humanity, she was able to see the same qualities in those she led and enhanced her ability to learn how things were going at all levels.
2. Intentionally learn to be a present listener, listening to one’s team members not just with your ears, but also by observing body language and tone. Seek to understand, not simply to respond. Remember to be a present listener; listening means being silent. This means being completely quiet, not preparing to answer or solve problems.
3. Intentionally seek diverse perspectives and feedback: Encourage your team to share their thoughts. Value and incorporate input and feedback from everyone to broaden your understanding.
4. Intentionally see to be fully present and observant: Stay attuned to unspoken signals—the energy in the room, shifting moods, or unvoiced concerns. Ask open-ended questions and practice mirroring to seek clarity. Social awareness enables you to proactively intervene when morale dips or celebrate achievements that deserve recognition.
5. Intentionally practice empathy in Action: Practice empathy daily. Ask yourself, “What is this person feeling? What do they need right now?” What is it like to be them? This mindset helps you deliver feedback compassionately, even when it’s constructive or challenging.

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Social awareness is not a ” bonus” for leaders; it’s a necessity. By intentionally honing this skill, leaders can work to achieve the final component of emotional intelligence, social management. This intentional practice will create more connected, engaged, productive, and resilient teams that foster learning. Without the intentional practice of social awareness, a leader “won’t know what they don’t know “and will struggle to build meaningful connections. Remember: leadership is about uplifting others on the journey, and then not just reaching the destination.

The Leadership questions for you then are

What two practices of the five above are you willing to practice this week

How socially aware are you?

How do you know?