Emotional Intelligence For School Leaders
Emotional Intelligence For School Leaders
In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, school leaders are tasked with navigating complex challenges that extend far beyond academic instruction. Now, more than ever, they need to foster a supportive and inclusive environment where students can flourish socially, emotionally, and academically. Emotional intelligence plays a pivotal role in achieving this.
STAR Factor Coaching introduces, “Emotional Intelligence For School Leaders”
This profoundly insightful work by Dr. Janet Patti and Dr. Robin Stern advocates for the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL) as an integral skill set for K-12 school leaders. The authors offer coaching and guidance on the integration of emotional intelligence into leadership practices.
Drawing upon modern research from psychology and education, along with their combined 40 years of experience in the domains of SEL and leadership training, Patti and Stern illuminate the myriad benefits of SEL-focused professional development for superintendents, principals, and aspiring school leaders.
Research shows that SEL not only leads to improved academic performance but also contributes to healthy well-being, safe school environments, and positive lifetime outcomes. Therefore, integrating emotional intelligence into educational leadership is not just beneficial, but essential.
Emotional Intelligence for School Leaders outlines key SEL skills, such as mindfulness, self-management, relationship building, and conflict resolution, and details how each can be applied in a leadership context. The book features case studies of numerous successful educational leaders who incorporate positive psychology into their work, providing insights into the strategies they employ to cultivate and utilize their SEL skills.
Janet and Robin hope that this book will provide an avenue for school leaders to be inspired by the colleagues they meet on its pages. The more school leaders come on board, the greater the potential of impacting the course of humanity’s future.
Dr. Patti has an extensive background in education. As a former member of the Collaborative for Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), she has contributed significantly to the field of SEL. Her journey includes turning around her own school in the early ’90s by implementing comprehensive school-wide SEL. Later, she served as a professor at Hunter College of CUNY, where she continued to promote emotional intelligence in education. Today, she stands as the CEO of STAR Factor Coaching, leading the charge in developing emotionally intelligent school leaders.
Dr. Robin Stern brings to the table her deep understanding of human emotions from her extensive work as a psychoanalyst.
She is the Senior Advisor to the Director at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a co-creator of the RULER Approach to Emotional Intelligence for schools. Her expertise in understanding and managing emotions provides a unique perspective to the educational leadership approach of STAR Factor Coaching.
Robin continues to consult with many different organizations, schools, and events about the importance of emotional intelligence.
“Having been in the leadership research and development field for over fifty years, I am seldom awed. This book is a ‘wow’ experience. I felt like Charlie finding the golden ticket to enter Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory! I wish the faculty and administration at my university would read this book!”
“This is a comprehensive guide to an indispensable and often overlooked element in leadership development. Understanding the historical, current, and purposeful context of emotional intelligence and how it influences and impacts every aspect of a school leader’s role and ultimate success is key to highly effective leadership.”
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The Leadership Crisis No One Wants to Talk About (But We Need To)
Every school leader has said it. “I’m fine.” It’s the automatic response-to staff, to district officials, even to yourself. But behind closed doors? You’re exhausted. The emails, the staff conflicts, the constant crises… it never stops. And no matter how much you push through, the weight never lifts. Here’s the truth no one wants to admit: You didn’t take this job just to survive it. But that’s what’s happening. Leaders aren’t just leaving the profession. Many are still in it… but emotionally checked out. The Cost of Emotionally Unaware Leadership In my work coaching school leaders, I see it all the time: A principal who “keeps emotions in check” but whose staff avoids them because honesty doesn’t feel safe. A superintendent handling crisis after crisis without realizing their own stress is clouding their judgment. A leader who preaches SEL for students but hasn’t addressed their own emotional exhaustion. This isn’t about self-care slogans or quick fixes. It’s about recognizing that how you show up emotionally shapes everything-from staff retention to student outcomes. Burnout Isn’t Inevitable… But Emotional Blind Spots Make It Certain One in four principals leaves the job every year. The pressures are real. Staffing shortages, political tensions, the emotional toll of leading a school. But some leaders don’t just endure it. They thrive. Why? Because they understand something most don’t: Emotional intelligence is not a luxury-it’s a leadership requirement. Leaders with strong EI: Make better decisions under pressure. Create school environments where teachers feel valued and want to stay. Manage stress without passing it down the chain. Last year, I wrote about the loneliness of school leadership. But loneliness is just a symptom. The real problem? Leaders aren’t given the tools to handle the emotional toll of their work. At STAR Factor, we offer school leaders the tools to be able to lead with confidence! We Train Leaders to Be Strategic-But What About Emotionally Intelligent? School leaders spend years learning instructional leadership, crisis management, and school operations. But what about the emotional side of leadership? That’s where Star Factor Coaching comes in. We help school leaders: Recognize emotional blind spots before they impact decision-making. Build resilience so they don’t burn out. Develop practical EI strategies to lead with clarity and confidence. Because leaders set the emotional climate of a school. If you’re not actively shaping that climate, it’s shaping you. The Work Starts Here So ask yourself: Are you leading with emotional intelligence-or just pushing through? Is your school culture thriving-or barely holding on? Are you investing in your own well-being as much as you invest in others’? If your answer isn’t clear, it’s time to rethink how you lead. Start with Star Factor Coaching and read Emotional Intelligence for School Leaders-because great leadership starts with self-awareness.
Read More >>Lessons from Education 2.0 & CXO 2.0: The Future of Leadership Starts With Emotional Intelligence
I recently had the honor of presenting a keynote and participating in a panel at Education 2.0 and CXO 2.0, where global leaders in education and business gathered to discuss the future of leadership. The conversations were rich, but one truth stood out: We are at a turning point in leadership development. For too long, we’ve treated emotional intelligence as an afterthought-something to develop once leaders are already struggling. But the reality is EI isn’t just a skill for executives and school administrators. It’s the foundation of effective leadership at every level, from students to superintendents. At Star Factor Coaching, we’ve seen firsthand how integrating mentorship, coaching, and emotional intelligence transforms leadership-not just for those in power today, but for the next generation who will redefine what leadership looks like. Why Leadership Training Must Start Earlier Too often, we focus on leadership development only when someone steps into an official role. Teachers receive PD on instructional strategies, but not on how to regulate emotions in high-stress classrooms. Principals are trained in school operations, but not in how to manage difficult conversations with staff, parents, or students. College students take courses in management, but few programs teach them how to lead with self-awareness and emotional agility. We have it backward. Emotional intelligence isn’t something leaders should develop once they’re overwhelmed-it should be embedded into education from the start. This is especially critical now, as we see an emerging generation of leaders who think differently about leadership. Gen Z and the Future of Leadership During my panel discussion, a key theme emerged: The next generation of leaders… Gen Z expects a different kind of leadership. They don’t just want authority-they want authenticity. They value psychological safety and belonging more than hierarchy. They’re not willing to endure toxic leadership in the name of career advancement. This means our current approach to leadership development must evolve. If we want to prepare future leaders, we need to move beyond traditional leadership models and embrace coaching, mentorship, and emotional intelligence as the new standard. Why Coaching Works When Traditional Leadership Training Fails In my work at Star Factor Coaching, I’ve seen a clear difference between leaders who attend training sessions and those who engage in real coaching. Traditional leadership training teaches strategies. Coaching transforms behavior. At Star Factor Coaching, we use a psychoeducational approach that combines: Mentorship, so leaders learn from real-life experience, not just theory. Coaching, so they develop self-awareness and emotional regulation. Emotional intelligence training, so they don’t just react to stress-they lead through it. This isn’t just about creating more effective school leaders. It’s about reshaping leadership from the ground up-so that emotional intelligence is as fundamental as technical expertise. Explore our series/foundational training The Call to Action: What School Leaders Must Do Next If we want to build strong schools, resilient leaders, and thriving students, we need to rethink how we approach leadership development. That starts with asking hard questions: Are we preparing leaders for the emotional reality of leadership-or just its logistics? Are we integrating emotional intelligence into education at all levels? Are we equipping future leaders with the tools they need to lead in a rapidly changing world? At Star Factor Coaching, we’re committed to this mission. And if you want to understand the research behind why emotional intelligence matters in leadership, read Emotional Intelligence for School Leaders. Because the future of leadership isn’t just about intelligence. It’s about self-awareness, resilience, and the ability to lead with emotional clarity.
Read More >>How To Build a Community of Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
Emotional intelligence or EQ isn’t just an attribute; it’s a set of skills that anyone can learn through proper training and practice. Emotionally intelligent leaders are better at building stronger relationships, having more positive interactions, and communicating clearly to achieve their goals, whatever they may be. Want to build a community of emotionally intelligent leaders in your organization? Here are some suggestions on how to get started. 3 key traits of emotionally intelligent leadership Before you can build a community of emotionally intelligent leaders, you need to understand what makes such leaders. Research shows three key traits of emotionally intelligent leadership: Developing others, trustworthiness, and social sensitivity. If you want to know if your leadership operates with emotional intelligence, ask yourself these questions: Do I encourage people to succeed? Do I recognize their contributions? Do I help them grow? If so, you’re on your way toward becoming an emotionally intelligent leader. But what about you, as an individual? It’s not just about how you relate to others at work; it’s also about how you lead yourself. Are you trying new things in your job—and constantly pushing yourself out of your comfort zone? Are you open to feedback and constructive criticism from colleagues and those who lead you? And do you seek to understand before being understood? If so, then congratulations! You’re already on your way to developing emotionally intelligent leadership skills. Step 1: Embed emotional intelligence in your leaders First, it’s important to have an individual-level focus on emotional intelligence. You need to start by ensuring that all employees understand what emotional intelligence is and why it is important. It means providing learning experiences for each member of your organization so they can realize their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to emotional intelligence. It is key that leaders who model effective behavior toward their peers also receive similar training so they can share those skills with others in their team or community. The most successful organizations use peer assistance leadership programs where individuals train one another. These are proven models to help spread emotionally intelligent leadership throughout an organization quickly and effectively. Step 2: Embed emotional intelligence in your community members What’s interesting about Star Factor Coaching is that it doesn’t just teach people how to understand themselves and their co-workers better. It also helps them develop a deep awareness of their strengths and weaknesses as leaders and coaches them on when to step in or back off in certain situations, depending on what they do best. On top of that, Star Factor Coaching relies heavily on peer assistance leadership. In other words, group members help each other through various challenges by sharing insights gleaned from successes and failures at work (or elsewhere). The result? A better understanding for all community members of how everyone fits into a healthy team dynamic— – and what needs to change to make that happen. Step 3: Embed emotional intelligence in the way you communicate with everyone If your goal is to build an emotionally intelligent community, you need to focus on three key areas: Your tone with everyone Your word choice in conversation Your general disposition toward people You can watch how you’re coming across by videotaping yourself and your team. Then, use some tips from Dan Goleman’s book Primal Leadership or Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves; both will help increase empathy in an organization while also bringing out strong leadership skills within everyone on staff. Read, Marc Brackett’s Permission to Feel. It is a delightful, informative book that will deepen your understanding of our emotion skills and how we use them. Once you know and understand what makes an emotionally intelligent leader and what traits they should have to effectively lead others, you can build a community of such leaders.
Read More >>Be the STAR Leader You Are Destined To Be!
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