Why Is Emotional Intelligence Important?

There’s a section in chapter three of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry titled “The Impact of EQ” that shares some statistical that nearly knocked me out of my chair:

“How much of an impact does EQ have on your professional success? The short answer is: quite a lot! It’s a powerful way to focus your energy in one direction with a tremendous result. We’ve tested EQ alongside 33 other important skills and found that it subsumes the majority of them, including decision-making and communication. Your EQ is the foundation for a host of critical skills - it impacts most everything you say and do each day. EQ is so critical to success that it accounts for 58 percent of performance in all types of jobs.”

I’ve read a few books and numerous articles over the last several years that provide answers to the question Why is Emotional Intelligence Important? When I read something suggesting that emotional intelligence, or EQ, accounts for 58% of performance in ALL types of jobs, I can’t argue it’s importance! The challenge I’ve run into with nearly everything I’ve studied has been a lack of specific, immediate action steps I can take to intentionally develop my own level of emotional intelligence…

Not only do tangible results pay the bills in most instances within our free-market society, at least for now, that’s exactly what I was programmed to deliver in the first 20 years of my career. So anytime I read or learn about something today, it’s always through a lens focused on how I can apply this right away so I can perform better tomorrow than I did today. (I know, I probably wouldn’t survive long in a gubermint job…)

Seriously though, I enjoy learning about different concepts as much as anyone. If you’ve read more than just a few of the articles I’ve put together, you know how much I like taking just about any kind of assessment I can get my hands on; I suppose that dates back to the years of behavior-based safety where I was looking for anything I could find that would help me develop a better understanding of why people did what they did…

In addition to reading Emotional Intelligence 2.0, I’ve listened to it on Audible at least half a dozen times from start to finish. If you’re not familiar with it, I’d suggest checking it out at some point. Bradberry shares some incredibly eye-opening ideas that make a strong case for why each of us should include building emotional intelligence into every aspect of what we do, both personally and professionally. After going through the content so many times, I did have some clarity on what to look for over the course of time as I developed more emotional intelligence but I couldn’t put my finger on what I could do right away to see the immediate results I was hoping for!

Thankfully though, I also had another perspective I was able to tie to this that I could apply to get the immediate results I love so much and have a practical way of sharing with the organizations I work with. I’d like to do the same for you here!

The Power of Great Relationships

If you’re anything like me, you’re ready for a practical approach you can take to develop your own emotional intelligence right now! That said, I’ve rarely seen anyone be willing to add yet another thing to their to-do list without having some solid justification for it. So with that in mind, let’s look at a few things you’ve almost certainly had to deal with at one level or another before I even start challenging you to take on one more thing.

Have you worked for someone who would sometimes blow a gasket and no one around really understood what led to it? Maybe it was something they were dealing with at home; maybe it was something they had just been told through an email or phone call; maybe several things had happened prior to that moment and whatever we said or did just happened to be that final straw that broke the camel's back… If you’ve NEVER experienced that, I want to know where you work! For those of us who are able to picture an exact scenario this reminds us of, it really boils down to whether this was something that rarely happened and our boss was great to deal with the majority of the time or that poor camel’s back was broken on a regular basis… The more frequent this kind of scenario occurs, the more likely it is that we were looking for a better environment to be part of!

As you’re picturing that boss’s face, let me ask you one more thing: would anyone on your team picture you? In complete transparency, Cindy can certainly point to more than a few times over the last 23 years where I’ve been the gasket blower… But understanding what causes it to happen and taking steps to prevent it from getting to that point - at least the majority of the time - can make all the difference in building great relationships, be those personal or professional.

In chapter 16 of Leadership Gold, John Maxwell shares that “some sources estimate that as many as 65% of people leaving companies do so because of their managers.” In the majority of these situations, it really goes back to how their immediate supervisor or manager treats them. If you or I were the subject of the gasket blowing on a routine basis, or even watched it happen to others around us, how long would we stick around? For me, that answer is not very long! I’d guess you’re in a similar boat…

Early in Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Travis Bradberry says that “Only 36% of the people we tested are able to accurately identify their emotions as they happen.” When two-thirds of everyone we deal with on a daily basis probably aren’t able to identify their emotions in real time, what are the odds of them being able to keep those emotions in check?

If that’s our supervisor or manager, this can create a rough environment to work in. If that’s us, maybe we’re the ones creating that rough environment! Regardless of who’s at fault, those working relationships likely leave a lot to be desired. But as we’re able to recognize our emotions, as well as what triggers them, we can keep ourselves in check and build stronger working relationships - and that almost always leads to better performance and lower turnover.

Before we start working through a few simple tools that can help increase our emotional intelligence right away, let’s look at one more reason I believe it’s incredibly important to invest the time and energy into developing this...

The Power of Collaboration

By now, we should have a reasonable foundation for why it’s important for someone in a leadership role to develop emotional intelligence... Whether that’s us in the role or it’s the leader we report to, not understanding what causes those highest emotional moments can drive quite the wedge between folks who generally get along well otherwise. But why is emotional intelligence important for everyone - regardless of the level of leadership responsibility they hold?

I frequently reference a study done by Salesforce.com that showed “86% of the executives they surveyed cited lack of collaboration and ineffective communication as the primary reason for workplace failure.” We often hear the term “individual contributor” with regards to someone who isn’t in a leadership role, but how often do we really see someone who truly works alone without any interaction with other people? I can’t think of a single example!

If that Salesforce study is even close to accurate, lack of collaboration is a big stinking deal. And I can’t help but think that “only 36% of people who were tested being able to accurately identify their emotions as they happened” plays a significant part in this!

Picture any work environment you want… Have you seen scenarios where people are at odds with one another for some reason they may not even remember and they take intentional steps to make things even more difficult for each other? How does that impact overall productivity, theirs as well as the entire organization’s? And is it reasonable to think that mess spills over into the rest of the team around them, or even the customers and clients they’re supposed to be serving? Of course! This lack of collaboration leaves a negative mark on all of those things!

Not so long ago, I read an article from the American Management Association citing research done by the Stanford Research Institute International and the Carnegie Melon Foundation showing that “75% of long-term job success depends on people skills, while only 25% on technical knowledge.” I don’t care how amazing someone is in a technical role, they won’t reach their potential anywhere they go without harnessing the power of collaboration!

Whether we’re working to build a world-class organization or we’re just doing everything we possibly can to move our own career forward, emotional intelligence plays a key role. I opened by mentioning some extremely simple steps I’ve found that basically anyone can take to develop emotional intelligence quickly, but before I do I’m realizing a breakdown of the components of emotional intelligence will provide a solid foundation for us to work from. I’ll get that started next time… Until then, I’d encourage you to dig into some of the most practical tools I’ve found in regards to The Model of Human Behavior. As we work through the components of emotional intelligence and begin taking some of the steps I’ll be suggesting soon, understanding a few tools based on the work William Marston did nearly a century ago will make a huge difference!

UPDATE

Here's a link to the second installment in this three part series, looking at The Components of Emotional Intelligence.

Not Sure What Steps To Take?

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