EmotionalIntelligenceandleadershipinthe21thcentury

ByClaraO.Silveira
In today's fastpaced world of competitive workplace and turbulent economic
conditions,managersareincreasingtheirefforttofindeffectivetoolsthatcanhelpthemto
manage, adapt and strike out ahed of the competition. For a long time Intelligence
Coefficient (IQ)wasbelievedtobethemostimportantdeterminantfactorofsuccess,
howeverinthesearchtoprovetheIQtheoryofsuccess,scientistsenditupdiscoveringa
peculiarfinding:peoplewithhigherIQoutperformthosewithaverageIQsonly20%of
the times. This anomaly threw a massive wrench into what many people has always
assumedwasthesourceofsuccessIQ.
PeterSaloveyandJohnD.MayerhavebeentheleadingresearchersonEmotional
Intelligence(EI)andtheyclaimthatEIisthemissinglinktoexplainwhyIQisnotthe
only predictive of success. In their influential article "Emotional Intelligence," they
definedemotionalintelligenceas"thesubsetofsocialintelligencethatinvolvestheability
tomonitorone'sownandothers'feelingsandemotions,todiscriminateamongthemand
tousethisinformationtoguideone'sthinkingandactions"(SaloveyP.etal,1990).
AccordingtoSaloveysstudy EmotionalCoefficient (EQ)issocriticaltosuccess
thatitaccountsfor58%performanceinalltypesofjobs.InbusinessEQisevenmore
important,havinginmindthatanymanagingpositioninvolvestheprocessachievinga
specificgoalthroughand/orwithotherpeople.ThegoodnewsforpeoplewithlowEQis
thatdifferentlyofIQEQisnotstatical,anyonecanraisetheirEQthroughexercises
simpleasreflectingaboutsituationsyouwishyoucouldchange.Obviouslythatdoesnot
meanthatEItrainingwilltransformyouinabuddhistmonk,butitwilldefinitelyhelpyou
tocreateabehavioralsystemthatcanbeusedinstressfulsituationsinordertoreduce
conflict. To be able to understand how you subordinate or you superior feel about
somethingandbeabletorespondefficientlyisthekeytosuccessfulmanagement.
TheEItheoryhasgainedmuchpopularitysinceitwasdiscoveredandtheconcept
ofemotionalintelligencehasbecamefamiliarformostbusinessman.Thecofoundersof
TalentSmart1 TravisBradberryandJeanGreavesaretheleadingvoiceinthebusiness
worldadvocatingthatEIisthesecretforefficientleadershipinthe21thcentury.They
havecreatedthebiggestconsultancyfirmthatprovidesEItraining,servingmorethan
75%ofFortune500companiessofar.BradberryandGreaceshavestudiedSaloveyand
Mayer'stheorytoconveyandapplytheEmotionalIntelligenceModelconceptsasatool
formanagementskillsimprovement.
SaloveyandMayer(1990)proposedamodelthatidentifiedfourdifferentfactors
ofemotionalintelligence:theperceptionofemotion(selfawareness),theabilityreason
usingemotions(selfmanagement),theabilitytounderstandemotion(socialawareness)
andtheabilitytomanageemotions(socialmanagement).TravisandJeanstudiedthese
fourspectrumsofEIthroughoutthelensofbusinessandhavepairedupthefourfactors
undertwoprimarycompetencies:Personalcompetenceandsocialcompetence.According
to Bradberry and Greaves (2009) those two skills (personal competence and social
competence)arethesuccesscommondenominatorofgreatleaders.
Personal competence is made up of your selfawareness and selfmanagement,
whichfocusmoreonyouindividuallythanyourinteractionswithotherpeople.Personal
competenceisyourabilitytostayawareofyouremotionsandmanageyourbehaviorand
1TalentSmartisaglobalthinkthankandconsultancythatservesmorethan75%ofFortune500companies
andisintheworld'sleadingproviderofemotionalintelligencetestsandtraining.

tendencies. Social competence is made up of your socialawareness and relationship

managementskills;socialcompetenceisyourabilitytounderstandotherpeople'smoods,
behaviorandmotiveinordertoimprovethequalityofyourrelationships.
SELFAWARENESS(PerceivingEmotions):Thefirststepinunderstandingemotions
istoperceivethemaccurately.Inmanycases,thismightinvolveunderstandingyourown
nonverbalsignalssuchasbodylanguageandfacialexpressions.
Selfawarenessinbusiness:Selfawarenessisnotaboutdiscoveringdeep,darksecretsor
unconscious motivations, but, rather, it comes from developing a straightforward and
honestunderstandingaboutwhatmakesyouthick.Peoplewithhightselfawarenessare
remarkablyclearintheirunderstandingofwhattheydowell,whatmotivatesandsatisfies
them,andwhichpeopleandsituationspushtheirbuttons.
SELFMANAGEMENT (Reasoning With Emotions): The next step involves using
emotionstopromotethinkingandcognitiveactivity.Emotionshelpprioritizewhatwepay
attentionandreactto;werespondemotionallytothingsthatgarnerourattention.
Selfmanagementinbusiness:Itisdependentonyourselfawarenessandisthesecond
majorpartofpersonalcompetence.Selfmanagementistheabilitytousetheawarenessof
emotionstostayflexibleanddirectyourbehaviorpositively.Selfmanagementismore
thanresistingexplosiveorproblematicbehavior.Thebiggestchallengethatpeoplefaceis
managingtheirtendenciesovertimeandapplyingtheirskillsinavarietyofsituations.
Thosewhomanagethemselvesthebestareabletoseethingstroughwithoutcracking.
Successcomestothosewhocanputtheirneedsonholdandcontinuallymanagetheir
tendencies(EmotionalIntelligence,pg.35).
SOCIALAWARENESS(UnderstandingEmotions):Socialawarenessistheabilityto
accuratelypickuponemotionsinotherpeopleandunderstandwhatisreallygoingon
withthem.Thisoftenmeansperceivingwhatotherpeoplearethinkingandfeelingevenif
youdonotfeelthesameway,isabasicskillforanymanager.
Socialawarenessinbusiness:Theemotionsthatweperceivecancarryawidevarietyof
meanings.Ifsomeoneisexpressingangryemotions,theobservermustinterpretthecause
oftheirangerandwhatitmightmean.Forexample,ifyourbossisactingangry,itmight
meanthatheisdissatisfiedwithyourwork;oritcouldbebecausehegotaspeedingticket
onhiswaytoworkthatmorningorthathe'sbeenfightingwithhiswife.
SOCIALMANAGEMENT (Managing Emotions): The ability to manage emotions
effectivelyisacrucialpartofemotionalintelligence.Regulatingemotions,responding
appropriately and responding to the emotions of others are all important aspect of
emotionalmanagement.
Socialmanagementinbusiness:Socialmanagementistheabilitytouseawarenessofyour
ownemotionsandthoseofotherstomanageinteractionssuccessfully.Thisensuresclear
communicationandeffectivehandlingofconflict.Socialmanagementisalsothebond
onebuildwithothersovertime.Peoplewhomanageworkrelationshipswellareableto
seethebenefitofconnectingwithmanydifferentpeople,eventhosetheyarenotfondof.
Theweakertheconnectionyouhavewithyourworkmate,theharderistogetyourpoint
across.Ifyouwantpeopletolisten,youhavetopracticerelationshipmanagementand
seekbenefitsfromeveryrelationship,speciallythechallengingones.Conflictsatwork
tendtofesterwhenpeoplepassivelyavoidproblems,becausepeoplelacktheskillsneeded
toinitiateadirect,yetconstructiveconversation.Conflictsatworktendtoexplodewhen
peopledon'tmanagetheirangerorfrustration,andchoosetotakeitoutonotherpeople.
Socialmanagementgivesonetheskillsoneneedstoavoidbothscenarios,andmakethe
mostoutofeveryinteractiononehavewithanotherperson.
Decadesofresearchnowpointtoemotionalintelligenceasthecriticalfactorthat

setsstarperformersapartfromtherestofthepack.Itsapowerfulwaytofocusyour
energyinonedirectionwithatremendousresult. TalentSmart(BradberryandGreaves's
consultancy company) tested emotional intelligence alongside 33 other important
workplace skills, and found that emotional intelligence is the strongest predictor of
performance,explainingafull58%ofsuccessinalltypesofjobs.
This study also found that 90% of top performers are also high in emotional
intelligence. On the flip side, just 20% of bottom performers are high in emotional
intelligence.Naturally,peoplewithahighdegreeofemotionalintelligencemakemore
moneyanaverageof$29,000moreperyearthanpeoplewithalowdegreeofemotional
intelligence.Thelinkbetweenemotionalintelligenceandearningsissodirectthatevery
pointincreaseinemotionalintelligenceadds$1,300toanannualsalary.Thesefindings
holdtrueforpeopleinallindustries,atalllevels,ineveryregionoftheworld.Allthe
studiesaboutEIhaventyetbeenabletofindajobinwhichperformanceandpayarent
tied closely to emotional intelligence. One can be a top performer without emotional
intelligence,butthechancesareslim.
The importance of EQ for management will not only remain important as will
increase with the changing in organizations. As explained Stephen P. Robbins
(Supervision Today), the functions of managers are becoming more important and
complex for three main reasons. First, organizations are implementing tremendous efforts
to cut costs and increase productivity. Quality programs such as group bonus plans and
work teams typically focus on the work activities of operating employees and require a
manager with high EQ. Since managers tend to be the responsible for introducing and
implementing this changes, it is crucial for them to understand how the employees feel
about the change and how to motivate them even if they are not completely satisfied with
the new task.
Second, organizations are making extensive cutbacks in their number of
employees, specially middle managers, which means that supervisors will have more
people directly reporting to them. In this point EQ is specially important, the more the
number of people a manager needs to lead, the more he needs to be able to control his
emotions while seeking to understand and manage others. The organizational structure of
many companies is changing in a fast pace in order for them to remain competitive, and in
this scenario of constant change the development of EI skills will become a matter of
survival.
Finally, as Robbins says, since organizations seek to improve productivity,
employee training has gained more importance than ever before. Nowadays, managers
who take charge of training process often need to train new employees and also old ones.
Computers, automation, and other technological advances is changing jobs traditional
requirements making additional skills training among current employees a necessity to
prevent their skills from becoming obsolete. Supervisors will carry the primary burden
for identifying these skill deficiencies, designing appropriate training programs, and in
some cases even providing the training itself (Supervision Today, pg. 10), which also
requires high EQ skills.
WorkerswithhighEQarebetterabletoworkinteams,adjusttochangeandbe
flexible.Nomatterhowmanydegreesorotheronpaperqualificationsapersonhas,ifhe
orshedoesnthavecertainemotionalqualities,heorsheisunlikelytosucceed.Asthe
workplacecontinuestoevolve,makingroomfornewtechnologiesandinnovations,these
qualitiesarebecomeincreasinglyimportant.Justasitsimportanttoseeknewhireswith
emotionalintelligence,itsvitalformanagersandotherbusinessleaderstooperatein
emotionallyintelligentwaystomeettheneedsoftodaysworkers.ThedevelopmentofEI
skills is speciallyimportantforthosewhoaimhigh,theincreasingcompetitioninall
industriesiscreatinganewprofileofmanager,whereconstantselfimprovementisabasic

requirement.
Manyolderworkersstartedtheircareersatthesamecompaniesfromwhichthey
retired.Ajob,formanyinoldergenerations,wasviewedsimplyasavehicleforearning
an income. Today, however, most workers want more from their jobs than simply a
paycheck.Youngergenerationshaveseenthatthetraditionalviewdidntalwaysworkout,
astheyvewatchedtheirloyaloldercounterpartsdealwithrampantlayoffsandworkplace
disappointments.Whiletheemotionalneedsoftodaysworkforcemayseemlikeatall
orderforemployers,they'reworthourattention.InvestinginEmotionalIntelligencehas
broughtmanycompaniesmoreengaged,withmorecommittedemployees,andtheywill
continue to put a premium on this effort to move forward, leaving the unprepared
managersbehind.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
ROBBINS, Stephen P. et al, PEARSON <Supervision Today>.
BRADBERRY, Travis et al, TalentSmart <Emotional Intelligence 2.0>.
SALOVEY, Peter et al, personal archive <Emotional intelligence>.