Why Ignoring Emotional Intelligence is Sabotaging Your Leadership and Organisational Success (And What To Do About It...)

The vital nature of emotions?remains the single most crucial variable in leadership effectiveness?and?the creation of constructive organisational cultures.?

Yet, it is?my observation that despite decades of evidence,?organisations still don't place it at the centre?of their?approach to developing their people anywhere near sufficiently. They may do a workshop?or?an?assessment, but too often, this is tokenistic and rarely?holistic.?

Despite the incontrovertible and growing body?of evidence?that emotionally intelligent leaders do?pretty well everything better than others less emotionally able,?we don't give it the fulsome attention it truly?warrants.?

I don't want to bore you witless by quoting endless research on this?claim. Still, I want to?refer to the brilliant?organisation?Six Seconds, which?devotes?its entire existence?to the?growth of emotional intelligence across the planet. In its 2024 Paper "The Business Case for Emotional Intelligence", written by Josh Freedman, Michael Miller and Patty Freedman, it states that?only 21% of global employees are engaged. The correlation is evident as emotional intelligence is a crucial?predictor of engagement.?It goes on to say that:

• Emotional?intelligence is more than twice as predictive of performance as IQ.
• Organisations prioritising emotional intelligence are 22 times more likely to perform highly?on numerous outcomes. With EI predicting 50-60% of outcome variation,?the potential for high engagement and business outcomes is clear.?As a?senior executive, this should inspire?you to consider?emotional?intelligence as a critical,?if not necessary, factor?in?delivering?these results. Emotional?intelligence is not just a concern; it's a crisis. It's declining in every global region for males and females and?people of all ages and roles, and it's?"far more deleterious for younger generations." This is a problem that demands our immediate attention and action.

This research aligns entirely with my 27 years as a consultant to over 250 organisations and working with thousands of global leaders.?I urge you to read the paper cover to cover.

Emotional intelligence is not just a key; it's a master key that unlocks productive, constructive cultures, greater collaboration, better decision-making, and more resilient?workforces. It's the secret to your organisation's success.

So,?what are you waiting for? The time to prioritise emotional intelligence in your organisation is now, and we're here to guide you through every step of the way.

The 7 Steps You Need To Take For Your Organisation To Improve Collective Emotional Intelligence

Step 1: Engage the expertise of professionals like us (more on this at the end), who have guided and helped numerous organisations in their journey towards emotional intelligence.

Step 2: Make Emotional Intelligence?a cornerstone strategy in?your?organisation.

Step 3: Get robust data on the level?and breadth of?emotional intelligence?you have individually and collectively.?We strongly suggest using the MSCEIT tool, which measures and tests your aptitude for eight emotional abilities. We have done hundreds of?these assessments,?and they are gold.?

Step 4: Start with most senior leaders and work through the organisation to build capacity and capability. Please give them a kit of skills, processes, and approaches using expert coaches?and advisors.

Step 5: Run ongoing workshops on?emotional?ability-building workshops regularly and readily available.?This might include an online standard program that everybody sees.?

Step 6: Embed EI in every human process – capability frameworks, employee attraction & recruitment, induction, objective setting, talent?identification, employee?development, performance,?and?succession. Deploy?it widely - visible everywhere, valued everywhere, central to all human decisions.

Step 7: Make EI a dominant feature of your cultural ambitions, including achievements, humanistic endeavours, caring, and self-actualisation. Ensure EI is evident in dialogue everywhere, particularly at the leadership table, and leveraged to the organisation's advantage. ?

By following these steps, you will be self-sufficient and thrive. It's time to take action and prioritise emotional intelligence in your organisation. I look forward to discussing this further and supporting your journey towards a more emotionally intelligent organisation.?? ?

To work with me directly on this, send me a message here on LinkedIn saying "EI," and I will guide you through the following steps.