The Science of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and Leadership

Have you ever wished your frustration fuse was a bit longer when a fellow leader shares an opposing view? Or even wondered why your fellow leader has an opposing view at all? Perhaps you recall a time when an executive struggled to understand what their team was feeling during a turbulent time. These are two common leadership scenarios that require high levels of emotional intelligence (EQ).

What Is EQ?

Simply put, EQ is the ability to identify and manage your own and others' emotions. Most EQ models include multiple perspectives:

• Self: Focus on your emotions and moods
• Others: Focus on the emotions and moods of those around you
• Recognizing Emotions: Focus on awareness of your own and others’ emotions
• Impacting Emotions: Focus on your ability to influence your own and others’ emotions

Emotions are a defense mechanism. An emotion is an automatic, intense, and short-lived state that emerges in relation to a certain situation. Sometimes, emotions can affect an individual's ability to react and speed up.

While EQ has always been a component of getting along and getting ahead in the workplace, it has gained popularity since the 1990s when Daniel Goleman wrote Emotional Intelligence, which suggests that EQ is just as important as IQ.

Organizations with leaders who demonstrate high EQ behaviors have an estimated 400% retention rate, 40% improved productivity, up to 50% reduction in lost-time accidents, and 50% more employees who are inspired by their work (Forbes, 2022). According to Forbes, the goal of EQ is “to effectively manage the emotional minefield of the professional environment and be used to benefit your team and clients.”

Can EQ Be Developed?

Individuals with higher EQ scores quickly understand what others feel and why they behave in a certain way, are generally rewarding to deal with, and are rarely moody or argumentative. Further, they remain calm in stressful situations and handle pressure well, and they tend to be optimistic and enthusiastic about work.

If emotional intelligence doesn’t come naturally, there’s no need to worry—EQ can be developed and strengthened over time, with sustained and systematic effort. However, you will only improve if you get accurate feedback.

Hogan’s EQ Report

One way to gain accurate feedback about your intrapersonal and interpersonal skill is by completing scientifically validated personality assessments. Hogan’s assessments can tell you how others are likely to perceive your EQ.

To understand how personality impacts emotional intelligence, we need to understand that personality has two distinct sides:

• Bright-side personality: The Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) describes our strengths and weaknesses when we are at our best.
• Dark-side personality: The Hogan Development Survey (HDS) describes us when we are bored, stressed, or simply not paying sufficient attention to our behavior and its impact on others.

Hogan’s EQ report uses results from these two assessments to describe EQ. The Hogan EQ report empowers leaders to increase their strategic self-awareness by providing data regarding six competencies of emotional intelligence:

1. Awareness, or the degree to which a person seems in touch with their own emotions;
2. Detection, or the degree to which a person seems aware of others’ emotions and thoughts;
3. Regulation, or the degree to which a person seems able to maintain positive emotional states;
4. Influence, or the degree to which a person seems able to affect others’ moods and behaviors;
5. Expression, or the degree to which a person seems able to communicate emotional states to others; and
6. Empathy, which is the degree to which a person seems able to feel what others are feeling.

An Example: Empathy

It is likely no surprise that empathy is part of Hogan’s model of emotional intelligence. Empathy, defined as the degree to which a person seems able to feel what others are feeling, is a matter of emotional sharing. The linguistic origins of the word empathy literally mean, “to feel into,” an important component of social experience. Empathizing with others facilitates norm compliance, communication skills, and social adroitness.

Being able to empathize with others creates deeper connections at work, thus allowing people to engage each other in social interactions and collaborative experiences.

Imagine a leader receives their Hogan EQ report to find a below-average score on the Empathy competency. Perhaps the leader is initially skeptical of this finding but, after conversations with the rest of the C-suite, comes to understand there is truth in the score. They can then start to recognize the leadership pros and cons associated with the low Empathy score. While there is likely an underlying strength of decisiveness and confidence, that strength is offset by an appearance of insensitivity toward others’ problems or needs.

This awareness can empower the leader to understand what tools and practices they should implement to become more effective in their people management. While personality is quite difficult to change, behavior change is possible.

EQ and Leadership

While EQ might have a reputation for being a “nice to have” or a “soft skill,” at Hogan Assessments we argue it is a universal skill that enhances communication and relationships. When flexed appropriately, it is a muscle that increases the likelihood of a leader getting along, getting ahead, and ultimately, driving the organization to beat the competition (a friendly competition, of course).