Emotional intelligence, sometimes known as EQ, boosts collaboration, relationships, performance, and leadership. It’s the human edge that differentiates the highest performers.
Emotionally intelligent leaders are able to avoid the confrontations, misunderstandings and tensions that derail so many projects. They build high-performing teams in which each member feels safe to bring their whole self to work. And they excel at change management, expertly navigating the emotional rollercoasters that often accompany these processes so that people feel supported and included.
Emotional intelligence and AI
Emotional intelligence has always been vital. But in a world of change and uncertainty, with AI and other technologies rapidly evolving our workplaces, it is now becoming one of the most highly sought-after capabilities.
This is because in an AI-driven workplace, 83% of people believe it’s the human skills that will be most vital – those that cannot be replaced by a machine. For example, integrity is the number one most widely perceived critical competency for an AI workplace, underlining the importance of trust, values, transparency, and authenticity. Empathy and relationship building rank among the most important human-centric skills – as well as being deemed among those least likely to be replaced by AI. And finally, the World Economic Forum found that self-awareness, active listening, and empathy rank among the top ten core competencies in their future of jobs report.
As we learn to work alongside machines, our humanity will be the strategic differentiator.
What is emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is, in its simplest form, a type of intelligence that enables a person to recognise, understand, and manage emotions – theirs and other people’s.
It’s formed of a range of interdependent human capabilities and behaviours, which we define at Impact as awareness, empathy, listening, curiosity, and the ability to build trusting relationships.
- Awareness – Deep awareness of self, others and situations means constantly paying attention to what’s happening under the surface: What assumptions or blind spots are you operating with? How might they be impacting others? What’s the dynamic in the group like right now? This allows you to be more mindful of the behaviours you offer, what others need, and what is required for the moment in time.
- Listening – Deep, active listening means giving another person your undivided attention, suspending biases or judgments, releasing the need for specific outcomes, and genuinely trying to understand. This type of listening builds trusting relationships as it lets others know that their voice matters and has been truly heard.
- Curiosity – To get the best out of ourselves and others, we have to be constantly asking questions, challenging ideas (especially our own), and striving to learn and grow. And being curious about others is what enables us to build trusting relationships, demonstrate empathy, and to notice when something is wrong.
- Empathy – Empathy is about connecting to the emotions that lie beneath everyday life. This allows you to support people through both success and failure, appreciate the bigger picture underlying behaviours, and notice when something is going on. By always striving to listen and understand, you let people know that they are seen, validated, and cared for as human beings, not numbers or job titles.
- Relationship building – Strong, trusting relationships are the glue that holds everything together in a workplace. They empower high-performing teams, enable leaders to get things done, and facilitate learning, collaboration and agility. Establishing trust requires effort and intention. It happens when you build strong relationships based on empathy, listening, feedback and care for each other’s emotional lives and experiences.
Emotional intelligence for leadership and management
What does emotional intelligence look like in action? At its heart, emotional intelligence looks like this: you notice the emotions at play and decide what to do about them.
We can use our leadership model, notice, decide, act, to help illustrate this.
Notice – You notice when something shifts emotionally. It could be that something isn’t quite right with one of your teammates, that your own negative self-talk is impacting your behaviour, or that something has changed in the interactions within your team. Emotional intelligence for management means leveraging your awareness, curiosity, and listening skills, as well as drawing on the strong relationships and understandings you have of others, to gather this data.
Decide – Examples of emotional intelligence in leadership can be simple. You might choose to check in with your colleague privately to see if everything is OK, or to simply be mindful and create space for whatever they’re going through. Perhaps you decide you need a moment away to check in with yourself and regulate your own feelings. Or maybe you initiate a conversation with your teammates about how certain projects or recent events are affecting them. Whatever you decide to do, do it with good faith and intent.
Act – Summon the courage and act.
Reflect – Any act of leadership should always be followed by a moment of reflection: How did others respond? Did it have the desired effect? How do you feel? What information can you gather from this to further help you understand what is needed?
From insight to action: Practical tips for developing emotional intelligence
- Seek feedback – A large part of self-awareness is understanding how others experience you. So, ask a variety of people for feedback and see what you can learn from it. Remember to create a safe environment so that they can speak honestly with you.
- Build your noticing skills – Noticing requires a mindful approach. Practise paying close attention to things you would normally look past, observing details, asking questions, and having conversations. Build these into your schedule as daily practices.
- Coaching – A good coach will hold a mirror up to you, raising your awareness of behaviours, mindsets, or beliefs that perhaps you weren’t conscious of but that have been impacting you and others around you.
- Make time for reflection – Create a little space for quiet moments of reflection. Think back on the interactions, conversations, and experiences you’ve had today. What have you noticed? What can you learn from them?
- Experiential learning – Through dialogue, activities, and shared experiences, experiential learning exposes you to the emotional lives of others, as well as confronting you with your own raw emotional self. Coupled with reflection, skill building, and knowledge input, this learning methodology is the most powerful approach for raising awareness and creating behaviour change.
Emotional intelligence: The human advantage
As our organisations, industries, and job roles evolve, one thing’s for sure: it’s the emotionally intelligent humans that will lead the future.
Understanding others starts with understanding yourself. Try these short reflection questions to explore how aware you are of your own emotions.
- What emotions are you feeling right now?
- What labels or meanings are you attaching to those emotions?
- How are these feelings influencing your actions or the way you’re showing up today?
Learn more about the human capabilities that enable great leadership in our leadership playbook.