The concept of the social mind correlates with an individual's interactions with his or her environment and the development of the brain through these interactions. From infancy, humans seek social opportunities and the development of socialization. These skills continue to develop into fruition over the course of a lifetime.

Recently I read a chapter from the Harvard Business Review's book titled, On Emotional Intelligence. The chapter focused on learning effective leadership through practicing skills related to Emotional Intelligence. These skills include:

1. Self-Awareness - "knowing one's strengths, weaknesses, drives, values, and impact on others."

2. Self-Regulation - "controlling or redirecting disruptive impulses and moods."

3. Motivation - "relishing achievement for its own sake."

4. Empathy - "understanding other people's emotional makeup."

5. Social Skills - "building rapport with others to move them in desired directions." (Goleman, 3.).

​Humans each are born with natural strengths and weaknesses in regards to Emotional Intelligence skills; however, many of these skills can be acquired and learned through nurturing and development. Practicing these skills goes beyond learning for an "individual mind" because these skills affect an individual's interactions with their environment and their peers. People who pursue leadership positions often need to practice these skills because their strengths/weaknesses may differ than the population of people whom they lead. For example, a school principal may have more self-regulation skills or motivation, but less natural strengths in empathy or social skills. Therefore, in order to be an effective leaders, they must practice with learning experiences related to the social mind and emotional intelligence. HBR's book states, "We're each born with certain levels of EI skills. But we can strengthen these abilities through persistence, practice, and feedback from colleagues or coaches." (Goleman, 3.).

In HBR's video above, it is briefly explained how individuals /leaders can begin to improve their EI skills/skills related to the social mind:

1. Incentive - Individuals need internal incentive to improve in a given area. This is often inspired by feedback from others about leadership strengths and weaknesses.

2. Extended Practice - Observations of others, role play, problem solving situations targeting specific skills, developing skills directly hand-in-hand with the deficit EI area. For example, becoming more empathetic by developing better listening skills.

3. Feedback - Listening to and internalizing feedback given in order to improve. Rather than becoming defensive about feedback, individuals can use this information to make personal incentives.

References:

Goleman, D. (2015). HBRʼs 10 must reads on emotional intelligence. Boston (Massachusetts): Harvard Business Review Press.

Stander, N. (2015, September 11). Daniel Goleman: What makes a leader? Retrieved July 17, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WICq_Pj8ZUk