The Financial Impact of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) on Leadership

One of the most common questions I get after delivering a keynote on emotional intelligence (EQ) to mid-level managers is:

“How do I get my senior leaders to recognize the importance of EQ?”

This tells me that this human-centered approach to leadership is not often embraced by senior leaders — even though we now have decades of data that shows that EQ results in high-performing teams and an elevated service experience. It’s a shame EQ is not embraced more because we spend more than half our waking hours at work and I don’t believe anyone should have to work for a bad boss.

Here’s how I answer this question:

When we approach the conversation using emotional intelligence, we first have to think about: “What motivates my senior leader?” (EQ Pillar 3: Others Awareness) and “What’s our shared purpose?” (EQ Pillar 4: Relationship Management)

It’s likely drivers like:

• The financial performance of the organization
• Employee retention rates or reducing turnover
• Member or client experience
• Higher productivity per employee
• And so on…

When we communicate with EQ we also want to think about:

“How do I want this person to FEEL at the end of our conversation?”

Because us humans make decisions emotionally, then justify them logically (even if we don’t want to admit this). To influence someone, we need to tap into their emotions.

How do you want your senior leader to feel about bringing in emotional intelligence to the organization?

• Open to considering this 21st century approach to leadership?
• Concerned that performance will keep slipping if these leadership challenges are not addressed?
• Relieved that they have a solution to what keeps them up at night?
• Uplifted that there’s a cost-effective way to increase company performance?

I also share data like this to logically justify the emotional response for the need for emotional intelligence in leadership.

How else can I help you bring emotional intelligence into your organization so your team can be more productive and experience joy?

With love,

Your Coach,

💜Sara

P.S. Get the data – The Financial Impact of EQ On Leadership Report by clicking here.