The EQ Nonprofit Advantage, Part 3: Social Awareness for Building Trust & Belonging

Did you know that in April 2027 “Star Wars: A New Hope” is being re-released in theaters for its 50th anniversary? For those of us who grew up in the 80’s, this is huge. Whether it’s the original 1977 cut or the “Special Edition,” it will be a triumph. This movie introduced us to the Jedi and their ability to sense the emotions and intentions even before a word is spoken.

It is often why I quip during leadership lessons on social awareness, the third component of Emotional Quotient, is to “channel your inner Jedi.” While we cannot exactly use Jedi mind tricks, strong leaders develop something similar: the ability to “read the room” and tune into dynamics that aren’t always obvious.

If self-awareness is about knowing yourself, and self-regulation is about managing yourself, then social awareness is about attuning to others — reading the room, picking up emotional cues and recognizing how group dynamics shape the conversation.

That is why Part 3 of our EQ series is about Social Awareness. For nonprofit leaders and social entrepreneurs, social awareness ensures that all voices are heard, decisions are more inclusive and culture stays aligned with values. Leaders in an organization have the greatest power to influence emotions — setting the tone that impacts performance across the entire community.

Part 3: Social Awareness

We all have experienced social awareness — you walk into a room and can sense the dominant feeling surrounding you. The most obvious example: restaurants or businesses where the energy feels either welcoming or off. You are naturally drawn to places with positive energy.

The same is true of nonprofits — clients and patrons sense the energy in the room when they walk in and interact with our frontline staff. Social awareness helps leaders and teams intentionally shape that “feeling” into one of trust, belonging and care.

Definition: What is Social Awareness?

Social awareness is understanding the emotions, needs and concerns of others; the ability to pick up emotional cues; feeling comfortable socially; and recognizing power dynamics. A simple guiding question is:

Can I read the room?

Hallmarks of social awareness include:

• Listening skills
• Transparency
• Empathy
• Inclusion
• Servant leadership

Social awareness doesn’t mean you have to be an empath (though empaths often do seem to have Jedi-like skills). It’s about habits — observing non-verbal cues, sharpening your listening skills and asking better questions to unlock how individuals and groups are really doing. Practicing these skills also helps you overcome the natural biases you bring into any situation. At its core, social awareness means pausing long enough to identify and understand how others are reacting before taking action.

Myths vs. Realities

Myth: Social awareness is just being “nice.”
Reality: It’s about being present and attuned, which sometimes means having hard conversations with empathy and honesty.

Myth: Social awareness is a trait — you either have it or you don’t.
Reality: Social awareness is built through proactive skills like observing non-verbal cues, improving listening and asking better questions. Anyone can develop it.

Myth: If I can read people, I don’t need to ask.
Reality: Observations are powerful, but unchecked assumptions (and personal biases) can mislead you. Confirmation through dialogue is key.

Myth: Social awareness only applies to one-on-one interactions.
Reality: It also includes group awareness — spotting silences, energy shifts and power dynamics.

Myth: I don’t have time to focus on non-verbal cues.
Reality: Some of the most important insights come from what isn’t being said.

Tools for Building Social Awareness (and Team Connection!)

Here are practical, easy-to-do activities you can try with your team:

1. Check-Ins and Check-Outs

At the beginning or end of meetings, invite participants to share 1–3 words about how they’re feeling in the moment. This builds presence, normalizes sharing emotions and helps leaders “read the room” in a structured, equitable way. Over time, it can reveal patterns in energy, highlight stress before it escalates and strengthen team connection.

2. Empathy & Persona Mapping (Design Thinking Tools)

Start with empathy mapping — ask: “What is our stakeholder thinking? Feeling? Hearing? Saying?” Then go deeper with persona mapping, which builds a composite “character” that captures demographics, motivations, frustrations and goals. These tools help nonprofits design programs and strategies that resonate more deeply with real people.

3. Honor Different Styles

Not everyone processes information the same way. Introverts often prefer time to think before speaking, while extroverts may process out loud. That’s why sending agendas or even icebreaker prompts in advance can make meetings more equitable — many people like to prepare.

To ensure all voices are heard, use pair-shares, breakout discussions and written reflections. And remember the power of the pause: in self-regulation, it helps you manage your own reactions; in social awareness, it gives others space to join the conversation. A simple prompt like, “It sounds like you might have something to add — would you like to share?” can make all the difference.

4. Reinforcing Community

Many teams feel “a bit broken” with new norms around remote and hybrid work. Leaders can help restore connection by designing meetings for connection (not just information), creating space for informal interactions, using inclusive facilitation with hybrid meetings and planning regular retreats to bond as a group.

Techniques for Leaders

Here are leader-level practices that strengthen social awareness across your organization:

1. Employee Engagement Check

Go beyond surface-level interactions to understand why each employee comes to work and what barriers stand in the way of their productivity. This means digging deeper into individual motivations and removing barriers so people can thrive.

In my work, I share three essentials that every employee needs:

A Reason to Engage (Purpose): Employees need to know how their unique role connects to the mission and how they can impact it.

The Capacity to Engage (Capacity & Capability): Employees need to be equipped with the time, tools and training to do their work successfully.

The Freedom to Engage (Psychological Safety): Employees need to be surrounded with a culture where risk-taking and authenticity are welcomed and cultivated.

When managers design work environments around these essentials, they create the conditions for true engagement, stronger performance and healthier team dynamics.

2. Inclusive Decision-Making

Design processes that draw out all voices (not just the loudest) and a diverse set of views (which research shows leads to be better outcomes):

Brainstorming: Encouraging the free flow of ideas without judgment

Nominal Group Technique: Developing a structured process for diverse work and communications styles. One process we like and modify based on group circumstances involves:

• Giving quiet time to write ideas on Post-it notes
• Posting ideas anonymously on a flipchart
• Presenting themes to the group for open discussion
• Using more quiet time (often over a break) to rank with dots
• Moving forward with the highest-ranking ideas
• This balances reflection with group dialogue and minimizes bias

Devil’s Advocacy: Assign someone to challenge assumptions and test the strength of the final decision, or encourage this within a group process by proactively asking, “What could go terribly wrong with this idea?”

3. 360-Degree Facilitator Check-in

When facilitating, scan the room for who is engaged, who is quiet, who is dominating and what the overall energy is. This ensures no one is unintentionally overlooked.

I also coach leaders to notice power imbalances — for example, I recommend asking CEOs or board chairs to hold back, so the group isn’t anchored by their perspective. And connecting with individuals who tend to dominate ahead of time and inviting them to channel their energy differently — so they’re still contributing, but in a way that creates space for everyone’s voice.

Join the Conversation

We’d love to hear how you practice social awareness in your leadership role — and how you cultivate this skillset in your own Jedis. How do you “read the room” and ensure all voices are heard? How do you help others grow in this area? Share your strategies in the comments or send us a note — we always learn so much from our readers.

As Yoda might remind us, “Much to learn, you still have.” The same is true for all of us as leaders — but growing our social awareness is a powerful place to start.

Next up in the series: Part 4: Social Influence — how to inspire action, build trust and create momentum that lasts.