A vignette from the book, The Noncommissioned Officer and Petty Officer: Backbone of the Armed Forces tells a story of a senior noncommissioned officer watching a U.S. Army Staff Sgt. operate after a gun truck team mission. The NCO stayed behind the team, allowing them to get their meals and eat first. The NCO looked at the youngest soldier and gave a word of encouragement. The NCO eats quickly and was off to brief battalion, putting his next ranking sergeant in charge. This everyday occurrence can simply be seen by many as what an NCO does every day. However, this staff sergeant demonstrated the four domains of emotional intelligence necessary for our enlisted force to remain known as the backbone of our Armed forces.
Daniel Goleman and Gary Cherniss (2024) identify four domains of emotional intelligence (EQ). They are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and social interaction. Developing enlisted personnel with high EQ skills are necessary for mission command to be successful if the United States engages in conflict. EQ starts with knowing yourself and is the first domain, self-awareness.
Self-awareness is being aware of how you feel and why you feel the way you feel. It makes your emotions a data point for one to consider within your decision-making algorithm. Self-management is being able to regulate aspects of one’s emotional balance, adaptability, motivation or achieve characteristics, and positivity. Social awareness centers around empathy and organizational awareness. Finally, social interaction is where one can influence, coach, manage conflicts, inspire and develop teamwork, much like that staff sergeant demonstrated in the vignette.
So how do we develop EQ within enlisted leaders? For self-awareness, pay attention to your emotions. Recognize and put a word or words to your emotions. Take time to reflect, watch how you use self-talk. Are you constantly putting yourself down, saying ‘I can’t do it’ or are you reframing it to ‘this challenge is an opportunity to grow’. Consider your purpose as an Airman in the United States Air Force, and finally, practice mindfulness. There is a difference between ‘mind full’ and mindful. Leaders who are ‘mind full’ often seemed distracted, reactive, anxious, rushed, hectic and overwhelmed. Being mindful allows leaders to be present at hand, aware, responding, calm, relaxed and exhibiting control.
Self-management is understanding our emotional triggers and allowing our rational brain to respond to occurrences, rather than reacting. Additionally, self-management is the motivation to succeed, to achieve despite obstacles placed in front on oneself. Being adaptable is key. Having a positive mindset also helps one have good self-management. Ways to improve self-management sound very simple but work- eat properly, get enough sleep and exercise. Identifying a range of behavioral choices and consequences can also help one respond and improve their self-management skills.
Social awareness consists of empathy and organizational awareness. Neale (2025) cites that empathy is a nonnegotiable skill for leaders. A leader who dismisses empathy can result in negative consequences for the enterprise and for the individual. For the enterprise, lack of empathy can create toxic workplaces, poor retention and Airman burnout. Individually, low or no empathy can result in leaders not connecting with their teams, an inability to gain ideas or concepts to complete the task or being perceived by junior Airmen as not accessible. Many leaders who bypass empathy are often seen as being hard to work with, and border on being aggressive. Ways to develop empathy include reading good literature, such as biographies, autobiographies, watching documentaries, practicing mindfulness, choosing a conversation each day and working to pay attention to the feelings behind the words someone says.
Social interaction is the last EQ domain. It is a culmination of using self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness. The outcomes of an emotionally intelligent leader are exhibited in this domain. That high EQ leader has influence with individuals in the organization; they are often called upon as mentors to coach others. Their EQ skills are often used to diffuse conflict within the workplace. Their actions inspire others up, down and laterally in the chain of command to lead as they lead. Finally, the emotionally intelligent leader builds teamwork and camaraderie that is required for the enlisted force to remain the backbone of the military.
Enlisted Professional Military Education (EPME) can initially expose Airmen to this concept in Airman Leadership School (ALS), and reinforce it as the member advances through Foundations, Noncommissioned Officer Academy (NCOA), Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy (SNCOA), and the Chief Leadership Academy (CLA). But the true embodiment of EQ lies within the current enlisted and officer leaders recognizing the need for EQ and using EQ daily to execute the mission. EPME can only educate the force in preparation for the uncertainty that lies ahead in a GPC conflict, but it is the daily use of EQ in the certainty of our work tasks and accomplishing the mission is where the result of EQ is fully recognized.
Gen. David Allvin, Air Force Chief of Staff, (2024) highlighted the importance of developing people and how it needs to be a deliberate and unified effort to attract, retain and nurture the talent and skills demanded by the emerging landscape. Utilizing EQ domains and competencies in daily activities will help reinvigorate our force and craft mission ready Airmen.
References
Allvin, D. (2024). The case for change. Department of the Air Force. https://www.af.mil/Portals/1/documents/2024SAF/GPC/The_Case_for_Change.pdf
Goleman, D., & Cherniss, C. (2024). Optimal: How to sustain excellence every day. Penguin Business.
Neale, P. (2025). Empathy is a non-negotiable leadership skill. Here’s how to practice it. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2025/04/empathy-is-a-non-negotiable-leadership-skill-heres-how-to-practice-it
The noncommissioned officer and petty officer: Backbone of the armed forces. (n.d.). National Defense University Press c2013.