Ever presented a flawless model… only to have stakeholders ignore it because they ‘didn’t feel right’ about the results?
Technical expertise gets you hired. Emotional intelligence (EI) gets you heard, trusted, and promoted. Here’s how to wield it.
1. Speak So Stakeholders Actually Listen
- Read the room: Notice crossed arms? Are you noticing confusing in your audience's eyes? Adjust the temperature (yes you can), but you ask, how? By pivoting from jargon to storytelling. Practically, it looks like this.
- Example: Instead of “The p-value is 0.02”, try “We’re 98% confident this campaign boosted sales—here’s what that means for Q4.” → Action: Record your next presentation. Did you sound convinced or just technically correct? Sure, it won't happen overnight but don't be hard on you at first.
2. Turn Team Tensions into Breakthroughs
- Spot hidden frustrations: That quiet analyst might be drowning in impostor syndrome, not laziness.
- Example: “I noticed you’ve been quiet in sprint meetings, would you like additional support on this query?” → Action: Schedule 1:1s with two colleagues this week. Ask: “What’s blocking you?” However, remain in the look out and be patient, they might be reluctant at first.
3. Make Decisions That Stick (Because People Want To Implement Them)
- Anticipate emotional fallout: Will your new data pipeline stress out the engineering team? Put yourself in their shoes as they often say.
- Example: Pilot changes with a volunteer squad first. Celebrate their wins publicly (it helps massively, you will soon find out!). → Action: Map stakeholders’ fears and motivations before your next proposal.
4. Lead Without the Title
- Motivate through empathy: “I know merging these datasets is tedious, let’s automate it together.”
- Example: Junior stuck on SQL? Share your own “I nearly quit over JOINs” story. → Action: Praise effort, not just results. “Your persistence on that bug was impressive.”
5. Client Whispering 101
- Uncover unspoken needs: “You want ‘faster insights’—is this about board pressure?”
- Example: Client hates risk? Frame A/B tests as “safety nets” rather than experiments. → Action: Next meeting, listen for 3 emotional cues (tone shifts, repeated phrases).
Final Call to Action: Technical skills get models into production. EI gets them into decisions.
?? Your Turn: Share one EI hack you’ll try this week—maybe “active listening in stand-ups” or “stress-testing my next proposal for emotional blind spots.” Let’s build a toolkit that makes data human.
