I once wrote an article about how people with outstanding academic achievement or technical brilliance can easily get hired, but brilliance will get them nowhere if they lack emotional intelligence and the ability to build strong working relationships. This is especially true in today’s highly competitive world where organisations rely heavily on interdependence to stay ahead of the game.
However, I have heard arguments against my claim from people who point out that there is no shortage of notoriously heartless CEOs lacking in EQ. While that argument might ring true to some extent, I find the reasons for that situation rather interesting. As well, it is essential to note that most CEOs with low EQ scores are not the best-performing business leaders.
First, let’s make it clear that we are talking about managers or C-level executives who have to climb the ladder themselves and not those who founded or inherited a business. In this case, I have found research showing that middle managers often stand out with the highest emotional intelligence scores in the workplace because companies generally promote high-EQ types to supervisory positions as they are level-headed and good with people. However, EQ scores tend to decrease as people move up further in the hierarchy.
What happens, I think, is that once leaders get promoted, they enter an environment that overshadows and erodes their emotional intelligence. They are spending less time in meaningful interactions with their staff and eventually lose sight of how their emotional states affect those around them. In other words, they tend to get out of touch with their people.
But for you leaders out there, I can assure you that you don’t have to succumb to this weakness since your emotional intelligence is completely under your control. Instead, start working on your EQ today. By doing so, you will improve your performance tomorrow and ensure effective leadership while guaranteeing that you don’t experience declines as you climb the corporate ladder.
Here are three simple approaches to get you started:
Show it when you care: Caring is a simple thing to do but the problem is that people rarely express it. Hence, when you appreciate something that another person does, let him or her know about it. Be more compassionate and make the extra effort to ensure consistency.
Be mindful of others’ feelings: Make sure that your sensitivity radar is always on. People who fail to acknowledge other people’s feelings fail to realise that lingering emotions hinder effective action. Be a better leader and get the most productivity from your employees by being more mindful of their emotions.
Be accountable for your own actions: As leader, you must hold yourself equally accountable as others. Also, hold yourself to the same rules that you expect from your people, i.e. admit when you are wrong so that your people know you are being genuine and honest; thus, you create trust among your team.
Once you’ve got the foundation established, here are five factors that can indicate whether you have the crucial traits of emotionally intelligent leadership in place: self-awareness of one’s own emotions, awareness of others, listening skills, mindfulness of emotions in the workplace, and the ability to anticipate reactions and respond effectively.
Emotions are obviously all around us in the office and it’s more vital than ever for leaders to understand how to harness them to foster productivity as well as positive relationships. Therefore, leaders with strong emotional intelligence should certainly be better at leading teams, working with peers while managing the whole organisation, especially when there is a positive relationship between emotionally intelligent leadership and employee satisfaction, retention and performance.
As for companies, don’t just focus on conventional metrics to make hiring and promotion decisions because even when bottom-line indicators are important, it’s short-sighted to make someone a senior leader solely because of recent financial achievements. Instead, when you’re looking for someone to promote, ensure that your checklist includes skills in inspiring others to excel to maximise overall performance and optimise working relationships in the long run.
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Arinya Talerngsri is Group Managing Director at APMGroup, Thailand's leading Organisation and People Development Consultancy. She can be reached by e-mail at arinya_t@apm.co.th or https://www.linkedin.com/pub/arinya-talerngsri/a/81a/53b
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