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Organisational & Employee Development

How emotionally intelligent leaders build stronger business

Kirsty McManus, director at the Institute of Directors, discusses how emotional intelligence strengthens leadership and business performance.

Opinion
3 min read
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Today’s executives are facing a wide range of challenges. Continued economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, workforce fatigue and increased regulatory scrutiny all impact on day-to-day operations and decision-making. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation continue to reshape roles at every level, in almost every sector.

In the face of such uncertainty and change, the ability to build strong inter-personal relationships, founded on mutual respect and understanding, has never been more important for sustained business success.

Building those relationships requires several different skills, but arguably most importantly, it requires emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence reflects a range of abilities, including the ability to listen and build trust, while managing conflict and leading empathetically through change.

In today’s business landscape, emotional intelligence is no longer a ‘soft’ character trait or ‘nice to have’ skill. Instead, it is now a critical leadership capability, increasingly central to organisational performance.

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The price of exclusion

Leaders who fail to recognise emotional signals or disregard how their actions can impact their team in different ways, may inadvertently cause individuals to feel excluded.

The resulting distrust and disengagement from this can spread exponentially across the team, accelerating burnout and leading to a failure to embrace challenges and the changes necessary to evolve as a business. And it goes without saying that while trust, respect and engagement may be hard-won, they’re even more difficult to regain once lost.

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As a result, today’s leaders must prioritise understanding the needs of their teams, ensuring individuals feel heard, and that their efforts are recognised and appreciated. This creates resilience and optimises how teams connect with customers, stakeholders and the wider business.

At its heart, emotional intelligence revolves around awareness and empathy. It challenges leaders to acknowledge the diverse experiences of team members and embrace the positive impact those perspectives bring.

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By engaging in active listening and incorporating varied thoughts into everyday business operations, leaders can combat the risk of inclusion becoming a superficial ‘tick box’ exercise.

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A long-term commitment

Embracing emotional intelligence as a core leadership capability requires a concerted commitment from companies and every leader involved.

The aim is to optimise self-awareness, active listening, constructive challenge, psychological safety and communication under pressure. These areas all sit at the heart of the Institute of Directors’ approach to professional development.

Developing self-awareness requires leaders to recognise their own emotions and understand how their mood impacts the behaviours and performance of those around them. In turn, this informs self-management, helping leaders to control impulsive reactions and respond calmly to difficult or changing circumstances.

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Improving social awareness, through active listening and observing the body language of others, will also help leaders to shape their own actions and responses. This ensures they’re able to provide the right kind of leadership and inspiration to others and therefore manage challenging situations more effectively.

All of these skills will enable leaders to create a truly inclusive environment, which goes beyond simply involving people to creating a truly safe and open space for contributions.

Emotional intelligence ultimately impacts almost every critical area in which a director will be involved: vision, purpose, values and ethics; strategic thinking and stakeholder engagement; effective delegation; and exercising impactful and accountable leadership.

A business director is, first and foremost, a leader of people, and embedding emotional intelligence in everything they do is fundamental to success in each facet of their responsibilities.

Kirsty McManus is director for professional development services and Northern Ireland at the Institute of Directors (IoD)

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