Is Emotional Intelligence Necessary in Leadership?

The debate around Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in leadership has become increasingly difficult over the years. Is it necessary for leaders to have high EQ?

Let me start with some background information that I got from Harvard Business School online (https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/emotional-intelligence-in-leadership). Emotional intelligence is defined as the ability to understand and manage your own emotions, as well as recognize and influence the emotions of those around you. The term was first coined in 1990 by researchers John Mayer and Peter Salovey but was later popularized by psychologist Daniel Goleman. Research by EQ provider TalentSmart shows that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of performance. 

Some more facts: Working with colleagues who are not self-aware (a characteristic of EQ) can cut a team’s success in half and, according to Eurich’s research, leads to increased stress and decreased motivation. Global leadership development firm DDI ranks empathy as the number one leadership skill, reporting that leaders who master empathy perform more than 40 percent higher in coaching, engaging others, and decision-making. 

Here is where it gets difficult. Leaders with low EQ produce teams that are ineffective. Together with HR, they declare ineffective team members incompetent. In this instance, HR becomes Hitmen (as my friend Portia Motaung would put it) for the executives. They get the contract and deliver headshots. I have a full article coming up on this. HR will take on a process to put those team members under performance review or go to the extreme of retrenching them. New people will be brought on board and be used until they reach the same levels of low motivation. The cycle continues.

This works. It is not ethical in a way, but it works. So how do you challenge that? How do you challenge the necessity for EQ with a leader who has managed to grow profits, get a sports car and create wealth? If we do it by advocating for the mental wellness of their followers, how is that their problem when they found a “solution” around it?

I honestly do not have answers. All I know is that personally, it is a good idea to work on EQ as a leader but it is an emotional debate more than anything and we have lost that touch as humans.