Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

Posted on September 13, 2022 by Dr Paras, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.

Tom Harris is a leading Managing Executive in a company, training his subordinates and interns and regulating the business operations. During a conference, Tom finds himself agitated with the presentation and the lack of technicalities involved amidst the ongoing discussions. Instead of stopping the presentation and sharing his insights, he bursts out in anger, publicly humiliating one of his subordinates and putting them in a very awkward position.

However, the worst part of the equation isn’t this. The worst part is that this isn’t the first time Tom has had similar reactions. If asked, his subordinates will likely define him as an angry, short-tempered and emotionally lacking leader. Do you think the lack of emotional resilience pans out in favour of Tom’s reputation and position in the company?

“75 percent of careers are derailed for reasons related to emotional competencies, including the inability to handle interpersonal problems; unsatisfactory team leadership during times of difficulty or conflict; or inability to adapt to change or elicit trust.” – Centre for Creative Leadership.
According to statistical reports, around 89% of today’s millennials are motivated by the Emotional Intelligence of their leaders. Similarly, around 59% of employers prioritise Emotional Intelligence over their desired candidate’s basic business and analytical skills.

What does this indicate?
We are well into an era where Emotional Intelligence or EQ is more than a catchphrase. It has embedded its seed into the practicalities of life. Skillsets and certifications matter but showcasing better emotional intelligence bypasses the limitations experienced in a leadership role.
Implementing EQ into leadership and executive decisions is the need of the hour. It shapes an organization’s future, promotes hierarchical dominance, and ensures harmony among every contributing employee in a company.

For someone who trains and supports senior executives, managers, and CEOs under the leadership coaching sessions, I can vouch that there is no replacement for EQ in leadership. It is a necessity, not an option.
And, here’s why!

What is Emotional Intelligence?

Before I jump straight into highlighting the benefits of Emotional Intelligence, let me first clarify what it means.
According to Wikipedia, “Emotional intelligence (EI) is most often defined as the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions.”

Famous Psychologist Howard Gardner defines Emotional Intelligence as “the level of your ability to understand other people, what motivates them and how to work cooperatively with them.”
In simpler words, EI or EQ means understanding and controlling your feelings while understanding and managing other people’s feelings. It is showcased in the form of empathy, active listening, problem-solving, and sometimes, just being there for their subordinates.

Typically, when it comes to defining Emotional Intelligence in Leadership, it covers five primary pillars of growth and self-development. They include:
a) Self-awareness
b) Self-regulation
c) Self-motivation
d) Social awareness
e) Social skills

These are some of the quintessential skills that fall under the prospect of Emotional Intelligence. Its importance is severe, and even reports support that. A recently conducted survey by TalentSmart found that the determination of Emotional Intelligence was the top predictor of performance. This applied to almost every job and every domain of work.

As Steven Covey, the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People says, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”

What is the Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Leadership?

Now that you have a basic understanding of EI and what it entails, let us check out its implications in the role of leadership.
“As more and more artificial intelligence is entering into the world, more and more emotional intelligence must enter into leadership.” – Amit Ray.

Here’s how EI influences and benefits leadership.

1. Inculcates Internal Awareness

When it comes to leaders in a company, they are responsible for making big and sound decisions that promote the growth and expansion of the business. A leader with high EI acknowledges their emotions and their weaknesses and limitations.
From an outside perspective, this might not look like a lot. However, a self-aware and outspoken leader about their shortcomings leads by example. They allow their subordinates to embrace their shortcomings and weaknesses and work on them. Instead of leaving it as it is, an internally aware leader acknowledges them and works on them to improve in the future.
Harbouring internal awareness allows leaders to make decisions rationally without getting side-tracked by ego or a “know it all” trait.

2. Promotes Self-Regulation

Following on in a close second concerning benefits is self-regulation. How often do you come across managers, CEOs who are thought leaders who lose their calm when things don’t happen the way they presumed? How often do you find them lashing out at their subordinates for responsibilities they should have taken?
Do you think Tom Harris (from our introduction) would have controlled his outbursts and anger better if he had better emotional intelligence and resilience? The answer is YES.
Leaders’ unregulated and sporadic behaviour leads to stripping them of their respect very easily. It shows signs of lacking control over their emotions, which is one of the biggest weaknesses in a leader.
Emotional intelligence breeds the importance of self-regulation within a leader. It helps them organize their minds and tackle situations with care and breathe before speaking out in rage. It prevents moments in a leader’s life that they will one day look back on and regret.

3. Integrates Feelings of Empathy

“Leadership is about empathy. It is about having the ability to relate to and connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives.” Oprah Winfrey
Leaders with high emotional intelligence can actively acknowledge the struggles and limitations of others’ emotional states. When they are self-aware of their emotional state, it becomes easier to gauge other people’s too.

A leader in a company with high EI harbours feelings of reliance, trust, and interpersonal dependency. The employees in a company know that their leader will have the consciousness to put themselves in the employees’ shoes before delivering a verdict.
This kind of behaviour harbours better bonding and trust among the individual employees with their leaders in the company.

4. Reduced Bounds of Stress

Work correlates with stress. That is a natural process. However, you need to know and realize that the integration of emotional intelligence in leadership keeps workplace stress to a minimum.
When a company has a leader with high EI, the employees come to work with a more satisfying demeanour, knowing that they have someone to lean on and share responsibilities with. A good leader supports and doesn’t just lead.

Also, emotionally intelligent leaders delegate their situations in separate circles. So, if they had a bad day before coming to work, they know not to take out that anger or negative stress on their subordinates. Compartmentalization is a crucial quality of a leader with high emotional intelligence.

5. Promote Collaborate Communication

Lastly, a good leader with high EI will understand their subordinates and promote clear, transparent communication. They are firm believers of honesty and discussion within a team to brainstorm new ideas and streamline work and navigate through roadblocks in a collaborative environment.
A good leader will also pick up on their subordinates’ or team’s tone and encourage open dialogues, so everything is discussed in the open without any tangles or without holding anything back. This reflects well on emotional team bonding.

How can Reading Ego Vs. EQ Inculcate Better Leadership Skills?

Jennifer Shirkani’s EGO vs. EQ is one of the most resourceful books to read to understand how leaders can hone “Emotional Intelligence (EQ) to eliminate business blind spots.” The book explores the top eight Ego traps that every leader succumbs to, including:
Ego Trap 1 – Ignoring Feedback You Don’t Like
Ego Trap 2 – Believing Your Technical Skills Trump Your Leadership Skills
Ego Trap 3 – Surrounding Yourself with More of You
Ego Trap 4 – Not Letting Go of Control
Ego Trap 5 – Being Blind to Your Downstream Impact
Ego Trap 6 – Underestimating How Much You Are Being Watched
Ego Trap 7 – Losing Touch with the Frontline Experience
Ego Trap 8 – Relapsing Back to Your Old Ways

Each chapter in the book explores the importance of EQ in our leadership roles and how the prevalence of EQ can trump the limitations imposed by the ego.
“You know that it’s hard work to consistently apply self-awareness, empathy, and self-control,” says the author. And, that’s the practicality of EQ. Being emotionally resilient consistently throughout leadership is difficult but not impossible.

The author simplifies the concept of EQ and makes it more tangible and substantive by including real-life examples, ones that the author has experienced by herself, and also the experiences of the experts she had interviewed for the book.

Each chapter, each real-time example explains how “high emotional intelligence enables more effective leadership.” It breaks down the basic concept that effective leadership is incomplete (and often impossible) without having an emotional connection with others.

Shirkani also explores the lack of candour that comes with the “ingrained fear of superiority.” Employees often fail to express their true self and their views to their superiors, be it their reporting managers or the CEOs. This lack of candour hinders the leadership performance, especially due to lacking feedback.

Taking these basic concepts, Shirkani manages to correlate the kind of power EQ holds in breaking free of these common “ego traps.” Each chapter also ends with “three actionable R’s (recognize, read, and respond)” – all of which contribute to strengthening the EQ of the leader.
Leveraging and honing the basic understanding of EQ helps leaders avoid the “isolation pitfalls” that are key downsizing triggers to a company’s success.

Conclusion:

It doesn’t matter what kind of benefits you pick; a leader with high emotional intelligence develops the positive implementation of tasks and behavior in a workplace. It is the responsibility of a leader not just to lead but also to support, encourage and motivate the growth of the others in a company.

Once you get a taste of emotional intelligence in true leadership forms, you will soon realize that the outcomes are unstoppable. They reflect well on the individuals and also the organization. Emotionally intelligent leaders work above the realms of petty things like ego and hierarchy. They are firm believers in team collaboration.

Ideal leadership coaching services cover all bases of emotional intelligence. I have shared my fair share of journeys supporting leaders and company executives to explore their bounds of emotional intelligence and work on it.