Emotional Intelligence – When Everything Old is New Again

It seems like we are living in a constant state of déjà vu, where everything old is new again.

The much-hyped ‘metaverse’ first appeared back in 1992. There is a new race to the moon, half a century after Neil Armstrong’s famous first step there. And you can’t read the news these days without being reminded of a looming new Cold War.

It’s like we’re standing still. Or are we?

Even though the metaverse concept was invented decades ago, it’s only made possible by recent advancements in the fields of AR, blockchain, and high-speed internet.

And when humans are sent to the Moon again, it will not be the final stop like the last time but only the first leg of the journey to Mars.

On the same note, I can imagine how little excited you are seeing “emotional intelligence” in this letter’s title. Much has been written about how important it is to personal and professional success. And isn’t the “EQ vs. IQ” argument so 1990s?

After all, what more can be said about emotional intelligence that hasn’t been said already?

Turns out, quite a lot. Like can you objectively measure someone’s emotional intelligence (EI)? The short answer is, fortunately, Yes. For the long answer, you can find it here.

The question is important for a few reasons. First, there still is a misconception that because it is about “feelings”, emotional intelligence is not based on a concrete scientific foundation.

Second, knowing what emotional intelligence is or why it matters means little if you can’t measure it. And if you can’t measure it, then you won’t be able to improve it.

In fact, when you think of “normal” or “non-emotional” intelligence, you most likely think of IQ (intelligence quotient), which is derived from standardised assessments.

In essence, intelligence is almost synonymous with the measurement of intelligence. The same logic can be applied to emotional intelligence.

And the need for EI assessments and improvement will only increase in today’s business-as-unusual world. Even prior to the pandemic, EI has already made it to the World Economic Forum’s top 10 list of critical workforce skillsets and landed at the sixth spot in 2020 (WEF 2016), eighth for 2022 (WEF 2018) and eleventh for 2025 (WEF 2020). This may give you the perception that it’s dropping in importance. On the one hand yes as it’s a skill more people are acquiring and that could depress the ranking. On the other hand if one looks at what rates higher than EI and you’ll notice that they all are other aspects of EI.

As businesses and their employees are shifting towards more flexible work arrangements, I strongly believe EI will push its way to the top 5 sooner rather than later and can very well be in the top two positions, competing head-on against complex problem-solving.

A mistake that leaders typically make is treating the virtual working arrangements and their accompanied “Zoom fatigue” as something temporary, thus ignoring the EI facet of leadership and putting it on the back burner to focus more on managerial tasks.

Indeed, leaders are busier now than ever. Much of the communication that typically takes place in person is now carried out online, which can be overwhelming.

As a result, leaders forget to check in with both their teams and themselves. They let their own emotional health and that of their team members slide. Even though the responsibility of looking after one’s health fall on the individuals themselves, leaders still have to maintain the emotional balance within the organisation, both in-person and virtually.

The good news is, similar to other skills that one obtains and sharpens over time, EI can also be learned, measured, evaluated, and improved with the right solutions.

And just as psychometric assessments have become an essential part of the recruitment process, EI assessments are also becoming an integral part of a company’s employee performance management.

Being a coach, it would be a great loss if I didn’t mention coaching, which is yet another effective method to help you improve and enhance your EI, especially if your coach is an EI practitioner. What can you get coached on? For starters, you can get coached on asking the right questions. And it’s just one of the many things an effective coach can inspire you to do, so in turn, you can inspire those around you.