The crucial role of emotional intelligence in business leadership

Want to enhance your professional relationships? What about your communication, decision-making, and leadership skills? If the answer’s yes – and why wouldn’t it be? – you might want to take a closer look at the power of emotional intelligence in the workplace.

Electro IQ deem emotional intelligence ‘not just an extra skill, but a key one that enhances all other abilities.’ To this end, they share that:

• emotional intelligence predicts 67% of a leader’s effectiveness – and 58% of the success in any job
• employees with high EQ perform 127% better than those with low EQ
• it’s linked to higher job satisfaction, productivity, and innovation, better mental health and wellbeing, and less stress
• it accounts for up to 70% of an individual’s overall success in life.

For many organisations, EQ is now much more than a ‘nice-to-have’. But what exactly is it? And can it be developed to produce better results – and gain competitive edge – as a leader?

What is emotional intelligence – and what are its main components?

As popularised by psychologist Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence is ‘the ability to identify, assess, and control one’s own emotions, the emotions of others, and that of groups.’

Also known as EQ or EI, Goleman deems it twice as important as cognitive intelligence for predicting career success. Rooted in a high degree of self-awareness and social awareness, emotional intelligence influences feelings and emotions in a positive way to any number of ends. These include empathising with others, defusing conflict, minimising stress, interacting effectively, overcoming challenges, and influencing situations.

Goleman outlined five core components of emotional intelligence:

1. Self-awareness – identifying and accepting your own thoughts and feelings and understanding their impact on others

2. Self-regulation – controlling and managing your emotions and impulses

3. Motivation – a passion for what you do and how you do it, rooted in an intrinsic drive

4. Empathy – understanding and reacting to the emotions of others

5. Social skills – ‘friendliness with a purpose’; being polite and respectful to others and then leveraging positive relationships to personal and organisational advantage.

Later, Goleman developed his concept to include 12 critical EI competencies:

1. Emotional self-awareness

2. Emotional self-control

3. Adaptability

4. Achievement orientation

5. Positive outlook

6. Empathy

7. Organisational awareness

8. Influence

9. Coach and mentor

10. Conflict management

11. Teamwork

12. Inspirational leadership

Why is emotional intelligence important in leadership?

Business leaders with high emotional intelligence are more able to practice effective conflict resolution, remain calm under pressure, and interact with team members with empathy and respect. They have the ability to build strong interpersonal relationships, navigate challenging social situations, and make considered, objective decisions that balance logic and emotion

Here are some further examples of the business and leadership benefits of high EI:

• Improved working relationships and a more positive work environment – together with an embedded culture of EI

• Better stakeholder management and buy-in

• Better problem-solving, strategic-thinking, and decision-making skills

• Increased effectiveness, efficiency, and team performance

• Stronger working relationships and employee engagement

• Greater drive and innovation

The importance of emotional intelligence is clear in collaboration, communication, and teamwork, project management, strategic planning and decision-making and, of course, leadership.

How can leaders improve their levels of emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence skills can be learned and developed. In fact, it’s an ongoing, lifelong process; we can always improve on our EQ.

Leaders can increase their self-awareness, relationship management, and empathy skills by:

• practising active listening. Truly focus on what other people are saying to you. Avoid distractions and judgement and demonstrate engagement through verbal and non-verbal cues. This empowers team members to open up, feel listened to and valued, and fosters a culture of honest, respectful, interpersonal communication.

• seeking feedback. Self-reflection is undoubtedly important, but sometimes it can only give us part of the full picture. A 360-degree assessment, including feedback from co-workers and honest self-assessment, can help identify skill gaps in your leadership style and social awareness.

• unlocking motivations. What makes your co-workers and team members tick? What are their individual goals and aspirations? How can you help them achieve these ambitions? Taking the time to understand colleagues on a personal level can help understand what motivates them and how to get the best out of them. This also applies to the short-term and long-term goals of stakeholders.

• recognising and naming emotions. Consider the situations that elicit strong emotional responses in you and the underlying reasons for these responses. Identify how these situations and emotions could be better managed in future.

• prioritising empathy and mindfulness. Sincere, practical empathy enables leaders to adopt another’s perspective. When you walk in someone else’s shoes and take time to understand their feelings, you are more able to respond constructively and appropriately to their experiences.

• accessing leadership development opportunities. This could take a number of forms, such as structured training programmes, mentoring or coaching sessions, or self-led learning.

How might this manifest in terms of educational leadership? Examples include remaining calm and professional during teacher-parent meetings, de-escalating problematic student or staff behaviour, modelling a passion for lifelong learning, understanding the needs of teachers, fostering a positive school culture, reflecting on leadership decisions, and staying open-minded to new pedagogical strategies and directions.

Join the next generation of transformational, emotionally intelligent leaders

Gain the skills to shape the future of education – and leave lasting, positive impact – with Queen Margaret University’s online MA Educational Leadership programme.

Whatever area or aspect of education you’re interested in, take the next step towards your career as a senior leader with our 100%-online, flexible master’s degree. Acquire specialist expertise, know-how, and tools to meaningfully engage with the complexities of educational leadership at every level. Extend and deepen your personal practice as you explore topics such as inclusive education, digital literacies, cycles of improvement, effective leadership theories and practice, shared leadership, and more.