ULI San Diego-Tijuana District Council April breakfast

SAN DIEGO—Emotional intelligence, or EQ, can determine a leader's likelihood of success, and a high EQ is a trait of 90% of top performers in the workplace, Dr. Rebecca Johannsen told attendees at a recent ULI San Diego-Tijuana District Council breakfast event. The event, entitled “Building Sustainable Leadership,” pointed out that especially in a collaborative business like land planning and real estate development, emotional intelligence is highly predictive of outcome.

Johannsen said that a study by Talent Smart revealed that 90% of top performers in the workplace are high in emotional intelligence, which she explained to be “the ability to recognize and regulate emotions in oneself and others to guide thinking and behavior or to manage relationships.” Conversely, just 20% of low performers scored highly in emotional intelligence. Fortunately, unlike intellectual quotient (IQ), emotional intelligence is not a fixed score and can be improved with practice.

While western business culture minimizes the role of emotions, Johannsen said that business leaders should be aware that they set the emotional tone for their entire team. She also pointed out that the Talent Smart study found emotional intelligence to explain 58% of a leader's performance.

The Center for Creative Leadership determined that executive derailment is usually due to the leader being unable to handle change, a poor team worker or someone who struggles with interpersonal relationships.

In addition to strengthening leadership efficacy, understanding one's emotional state can guide decisions about what to work on and when. A critical mindset is ideal for tasks like proofreading and editing. People feeling reflective should concentrate on journaling and building consensus. Debating and persuading people should be done while in a determined mood, and a happy, flexible mood is best for creative writing and brainstorming.

People can practice regulating emotions, Johannsen said, by taking deep breaths before they respond, being mindful in the moment and strengthening willpower through good sleep, meditation, physical exercise and a healthy diet.

“It does impact the bottom line when you work more collaboratively,” said Johannsen, citing L'Oréal's ability to gain $90,000 more in annual sales from each salesperson who was hired for and trained in emotional intelligence and the US Air Force's reduction in its dropout rate after first screening recruits for emotional intelligence.

Instant Insights /

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Leadership

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