Why is EQ so important?

Because of the furious pace of change in business today, difficult to manage relationships sabotage more business than anything else – it is not a question of strategy that gets us into trouble; it is a question of emotions. John Kotter, Harvard Business School

The Institute for Health and Human Potential (IHHP.com) reports that research tracking over 160 high performing individuals in a variety of industries and job levels revealed that emotional intelligence (EQ) was two times more important in contributing to excellence than intellect (IQ) and expertise alone.

IHHP further reports that emotional intelligence not only greatly contributes to job performance and leadership skills, but it has also been found to increase profits.

IHHP claims that training in EQ competencies develops stronger leaders. The following chart depicts the number of times those individuals who became president or CEO displayed emotionally intelligent competencies, compared with those who were passed over.

Note: Although those who became president or CEO showed cognitive competencies more frequently than those passed over, this difference was not significant.

In his book, The Ideal Team Player, Patrick Lencioni presents a simple model that every business leader can adopt to improve the EQ competencies of their team; not only when hiring new talent, but in shaping and molding the existing team.

The model shows that the best teams are comprised of individuals who have a good balance between three key virtues: Humility, Hunger, and Smarts. Lencioni specifically emphasizes that smarts in this model is more of the EQ variety.

Building, molding, and maintaining balanced teams requires intentionality, for which a leadership coach can serve as a catalyst and guide.

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.