The Power of Emotional Intelligence – And How to Give Yours a Boost

Collaboration, innovation and change are essential for organisations to remain relevant and adapt to an ever-changing world. But, to even get a look into this we need engaged employees and teams who want to stick around.

So, what do engagement, retention, collaboration, innovation and change all have in common?  What can leaders focus on to enable this?

EQ, emotional intelligence. It isn’t a new concept, but one that packs a punch.

EQ can be defined as the ability to: 

• notice and understand emotions – both for yourself and others,
• regulate your response and cope with stress,
• relate and connect with others,
• be motivated by things other than money or status. [1]

“When Daniel Goleman analysed executives at nearly 200 companies, he found Emotional Intelligence was twice as important as both IQ and technical ability, in driving performance. At the most senior levels it accounted for a whopping 90% of the difference between the best, and the rest.”[2]

With emotional intelligence on board, we can take in the bigger picture and communicate effectively to our audience. EQ helps us to walk in others’ shoes, knowing we don’t have to agree with everyone, but instead we understand that other perspectives exist and these perspectives shape outcomes.

EQ gives you space and perspective to be intentional and can be the difference between responding and reacting. EQ enables us to navigate uncertainty, people dynamics and take in the situation, so that we can make informed, balanced decisions.

When we have low EQ, we dismiss other perspectives, are unable to remain calm and steady, say things we regret and ignore or miss the signs of disquiet.

Research makes clear that leaders have a huge impact on staff engagement and retention, in fact a study found that “80% of employees with poor manager relationships are disengaged, and 50% of former employees left to get away from their manager”.[3]  Research by Srivastava K suggests that EQ enables teams to achieve goals, leading to job satisfaction.[4]

Google found its highest performing teams weren’t made up of stars with high IQs. Rather, the determining fact was the level of psychological safety within the team.[5] A key indicator being each team member knew how others were doing, and they helped each other to meet deadlines and work through tough times. It was about prioritising how team members relate to one another.  

Here’s the thing; psychological safety doesn’t exist without EQ, therefore EQ is central to high performing teams.

The great news is you can increase your EQ. Two of the most effective things you can do is listen and regulate.  

Listen

Scharmer explains there are 4 levels of listening[6] and a lot of people exist in the first two levels, but the 3rd and 4th levels are where the real gold is. 

• Level 1 listening happens when we run on autopilot. We listen for things we expect to perform everyday activities such as driving.
• Level 2 listening is factual listening. This is when we use IQ to understand details or solve practical problems like fixing a car or tracking the bottom line. Its black and white.
• Level 3 listening is empathetic listening which requires us to let go of judgements and critiques. We use EQ to actively listen to what someone else is expressing, we are fully present and listening with all of our senses.
• Level 4 listening is generative. This is the birthplace of innovation, travelling through empathetic listening to get there. It’s where new ways of thinking and ideas emerge and real collaboration, innovation and change is found. This cannot happen without EQ.

Regulate

Regulation enables us to engage without reacting. This requires your nervous system to be adaptive rather than stuck in fight, flight, freeze or fade. Our ability to release stress and process emotions has an immense impact on our capacity to connect and relate. So, it’s important to learn how to do these things - whether it’s a walk on the beach, dinner with whānau, 10mins of breathing, yoga or meditation in the morning. A well-regulated nervous system builds space, it creates a moment that you can catch yourself before you react. It increases our ability to notice, helping to pick up on the team member that is struggling and clock the office bully when they think no-ones watching.

If you want to increase engagement, retention, collaboration, innovation and change, start with yourself by building your Emotional Intelligence and foster this within your teams. I’ll leave you with a finding from Scharmer, “Successful leadership depends on the quality of attention and intention that the leader brings to any situation. Two leaders in the same circumstances doing the same thing can bring about completely different outcomes, depending on the inner place from which each operates.”[7]

For more on Emotional Intelligence and how to continue to hone it as a skill, view our free webinar recording on Elevating Your Leadership with Emotional Intelligence.

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Krista brings over 18 years of change, strategy, business analysis & consulting experience. Specialising in facilitation and training she always finds fresh ways to engage her audience and aid new understanding and insight. Helping people to make sense of it all and take intentional action.