Emotional Intelligence is REALLY Important

Recently I wrote a blog post on emotional intelligence, calling it "IQ's step brother".  Recent research indicates that this is the single most important skill of a successful leader.  Maybe I should have called it the "older, wiser, richer brother"...

So what is Emotional Intelligence?  It's described as the ability to identify, assess and manage the emotions of yourself and others.  I know many really smart people that have all the technical/functional knowledge in the world, yet they can't seem to manage their behavior so that others will want to work with them.  If others don't want to work with you, it's hard to get things done and it's impossible to lead.

Research by TalentSmart shows that emotional intelligence accounts for as much as 58% of job performance in supervisor through CEO roles. In other words, while brilliant accountants or engineers are definitely a bonus, their technical skill has virtually nothing to do with good leadership. As Lee Iacocca realized back in the 1980s when he shook up Chrysler, many of his highest performing financial whizzes were “first-rate bean counters,” but only mediocre leaders.

Testing was done on a group of 10,614 people between the ages of 18 and 80, and the results were divided into the four generations in today’s workplace–Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Traditionalists.  When each of the four core EQ skills were reviewed, a huge gap emerged between Boomers and Millennials in self-management.

When it comes to managing their emotions, Baby Boomers reign supreme.  Essentially, they are much less prone to fly off the handle when things don’t go their way than are the younger generations.

"Well, their older and wiser" you say.  Yes, we do tend to get control of our emotions the older we get.  And we're used to seeing the older generation retire and the younger set take over.  But think about this...

The Baby Boomers enjoyed a significant numbers advantage over the generation they followed, which meant they had a deeper talent pool from which to pick their leaders. The exact opposite is true today. Boomers outnumber the next generation–Generation X–almost two to one. If only to replace the sheer body count of Boomers in leadership positions, we have to look to the youngest and soon-to-be largest generation in the workforce.

We can accelerate the younger generations’ development of core leadership skills, and we must. Today’s super-competitive, fast-paced global marketplace won’t give us the time to sit back and wait for the "maturing" process to run its course. Despite the slumping economy, most Boomers will retire sooner rather than later. We need to prepare talented twenty-something’s for leadership roles today. If we don’t teach them how to manage themselves, is it reasonable to expect them to lead us towards a brighter future?