Emotional Intelligence for Leadership

Are you underperforming on revenue goals? Is effective communication an issue? Do you want your employees or team to be top performers? Do you know how to increase an employee’s ability to be a top performer? Do you understand the strengths/weaknesses and what motivates or de-motivates people who work with you and for you?

Organizations and workplaces have people. People are often the most integral part of an organization’s success. Without people doing the work, producing, selling, earning, or finishing tasks, then likely the organization wouldn’t exist…or would be suffering greatly. The need for Emotional Intelligence is long overdue, and improving Emotional Intelligence demonstrates greater success all around for an organization. Communicating an understanding of emotions, yours, as well as others, is vital in reducing mistrust & misunderstanding and is vital in managing conflict effectively, with less interruption to the normal workflow.

A study has found that, on average, those who have higher Emotional Intelligence earn $29,000 more than people who have low Emotional Intelligence. Another study has found managers with stronger Emotional Intelligence at work outperformed their annual revenue goals by up to 20 percent. In another study, it was determined that Emotional Intelligence was four times better at predicting a person’s success than measuring IQ.

Emotional Intelligence in leadership is the way of the future. Millennials and Gen Z are more emotionally aware and place greater emphasis on emotional and mental health. They demonstrate limited tolerance for lack of Emotional Intelligence in leadership. Psychological safety is quickly becoming a non-negotiable for the new generation of workers.

Sarah encourages her audience to understand what Emotional Intelligence actually means and the importance of building these skills for better interactions and better decision-making at work. She emphasizes the importance of understanding the components of Emotional Intelligence, how to build a high emotional IQ, how this improves outcomes and the bottom line, and why it’s necessary for leaders to take the initiative on blazing the trail for Emotional Intelligence conversations and expectations at work.

Topic Background

Leadership today often lacks the Emotional Intelligence and emotional self-awareness to lead with empathy and reduce harm in the course of leading.

As a Trauma Informed Leadership Strategist and Advocate, Sarah Fargo O’Brien both sees and understands the effects of poor leadership on the human condition. As she consults and trains on leadership strategy, she has found that many organizations are struggling to function well. The issue is that leaders lack Emotional Intelligence, as it has not been required or seen as a valuable leadership skill in the past. Without this Emotional Intelligence and then application of this knowledge to any organizational setting, toxic and unsafe cultures are commonplace, whereas cultures of psychological and emotional safety are what’s needed for everyone to perform at their best. Leaders without the level of emotional literacy needed to meet the needs of today’s workforce, will, and do, cause more harm, which further complicates and exacerbates any person’s ability to perform well at that organization.

In this webinar, Sarah Fargo O’Brien explains what Emotional Intelligence is, the four components of emotional intelligence, how we develop them, and why it’s important to know and apply this information for more optimal organizational functioning. When we can lead with curiosity and empathy, it’s more likely we can create connection, trust, and compassion, both for ourselves as well as for others. Creating this type of culture is a win-win for everyone.