EQ — Essential to 21st Century Success

If the driving force of intelligence in twentieth-century business has been IQ, then – in accordance with growing evidence – in the dawning twenty-first century it will be EQ, and related forms of practical and creative intelligence. There are still those in management who would dismiss emotions entirely, or see them as a minefield to be avoided at all costs. Yet in many cases these are the very manager who, for all their emphasis on cold, hard numbers and the bottom line, are most out of touch with the heart-level engine that drives human capital and produces the exceptional, creative work required for any company to lead the field amidst the turbulence and confusion of global market changes.

In work, the stakes are tremendously high. You can be fired tomorrow. Going through the motions just won’t cut it. Emotional intelligence is one of the most indispensable elements, not only in creating a profitable business but in leading a successful life. It is a primary source of motivation, personal power, innovation, and influence.

As we look out over the growing chasm between executives and managers striving to make the ‘right’ decisions and the individuals whose lives are stretched to the breaking point by those very decisions, we are often asked to put our faith in the healing power of that rare and ill-defined virtue called ‘leadership’.

The truth is, today there are too many wounds, and the wounds are deep, for the standard leadership healers to mend them by themselves. There are times, of course, when conventional business leadership can be a good and necessary thing, but as with rationality, its powers stretch only so far.

I believe there is a better way.

According to systems thinking, the deeper structures, or habits, of which we are unaware, hold us hostage. Review the patterns of your life and work: as pressures, uncertainties, and change come at you from all sides, are you calling more than ever on your emotional intelligence, or is the alter of intellect — of memorized facts, technical analysis, and reductionist thinking — holding you hostage?

Ask yourself: which of these paths am I climbing today, counting on in my career, investing myself in? There is a great chance that your answer will, according to research, determine your future.

Excerpt from the book Executive EQ, by Robert Cooper & Ayman Sawaf

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Consider hiring a leadership coach as way to help you reveal the deeper, unconscious habits that are holding you back.