Today’s challenges have some school and district leaders taking a more expansive view of their responsibilities and, as a result, the leadership skillset they need.

“It’s no longer enough for us to just assume our position as principals is limited to operations and instruction,” says Suzan Harris, the principal of Henderson Middle School in Jackson, Ga. “It has to go back to being a human first.”

Harris’ perspective is the premise of this special report—that being an effective educational leader means not only being able to manage schools and districts, but also emotions and relationships. In short, it requires emotional intelligence.

“Emotional intelligence is being smart about your feelings," says Robin Stern, one of the authors of Emotional Intelligence for School Leaders. "It’s using your thinking to inform your emotional life and using your emotions to inform your cognitive life."

In this special report, you’ll hear from experts and practitioners. The report includes a video explaining emotional intelligence, a look at how and why leaders are honing theirs, a quiz to assess your understanding of the concept, a downloadable with useful tips, and exclusive survey data.

We hope this report can help school and district administrators examine and develop their emotional intelligence, and ultimately be better equipped to lead.