Hello, and welcome back to Inc.'s 1 Smart Business Story. New research reveals that emotional intelligence, not academic achievement, separates thriving workers from struggling ones, with emotionally smart leaders creating teams that are more engaged, resilient, and high-performing. 

Students who master EQ alongside grades enter the workforce with a "measurable advantage," while companies increasingly prioritize recruiting graduates who navigate ambiguity and interpersonal dynamics over pure technical knowledge. Yet there's a troubling generational barrier preventing many senior leaders from building emotionally intelligent workplaces: two-thirds admit they'd seek more team input if it didn't make them look weak. Will it be Gen Z that creates the emotionally intelligent workforce experts say we need?

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BY KIT EATON, CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Conventional wisdom puts IQ above EQ, but it may be time to rethink the true value of each for your company.

For decades, parents have tried their best to pound a simple message into the minds of their kids: Study and work hard in school and it’ll help you get a good job. But numerous studies now suggest academic success alone may not be the best preparation for the 21st century workplace. Instead, arriving at a job with a higher level of emotional intelligence (EQ) may be more valuable. Other data suggests that being an emotionally intelligent leader may also make the difference between business success and failures. All of this could play into the way you recruit, train, and even promote your own staff.

Research from the University of Phoenix’s Center for Organizational Wellness, Engagement and Belonging found that students who develop emotional intelligence at school may actually be at an advantage at work.

In the report, University of Phoenix researcher Chanell Russell noted that while “grades still matter,” school is more nuanced today. In the school system, youngsters are “expected to navigate complex group projects, participate in digital and hybrid classrooms, manage diverse peer interactions, and meet fast-paced academic deadlines.” All of this means students should be good at “effective communication, emotional self-management,” Russell says, and have “the ability to adapt to evolving expectations.” A student who hones their emotional intelligence skills as well as academic ones will do better in this case.

All of this maps directly into the expectations of the typical workplace, the report notes. Youngsters who develop these intangible but vital skills early “often transition into the workforce with a measurable advantage.” That’s because, while employers still seek new hires with “technical knowledge” and still pay attention to qualifications and performance, they’re now looking for something extra.

Companies increasingly “value graduates who can communicate clearly, adapt to change, collaborate effectively, and navigate complex interpersonal dynamics,” the report notes. New hires with great EQ skills are simply “better prepared to handle ambiguity, adjust to organizational expectations, and engage productively within diverse teams,” HRDive points out. 

The report also highlights the importance of emotional intelligence in leaders. That’s because a healthy workplace culture that can adapt quickly to today’s complex, ever-changing business landscape is defined by what happens in leadership. Emotional intelligence isn’t a soft skill, the paper says—instead, it’s a “structural leadership capability that influences trust, psychological safety, and long-term organizational effectiveness.” If a leader can spot the emotional dynamics happening in the workplace and then respond in an intentional way, then they can reduce strains cause by work or inter-staff tensions. Leaders with high EQ can even “create conditions where people are more engaged, resilient, and able to perform at their best,” the report says.

Leadership behavior can directly influence “engagement, burnout, and retention,” science news site Phys.org notes. There’s also a pronounced relationship between an emotionally intelligent leadership style and “psychological safety in teams” as well as “wellness, performance, and sustainability,” Russell says.

Meanwhile, a separate report from Turas Leadership Consulting and Harris Poll suggests why some leaders will struggle in transforming their company to one where EQ is valued as much as IQ.

The survey looked into how senior leaders seek input from their staff when it comes to making big decisions. It found that senior leaders definitely want feedback from teams but simply won’t ask for fear of appearing vulnerable or that the move will harm their reputation, HRDive says. 

Nearly two in three senior leaders (at director level or above) said they’d seek more input from staff if they didn’t think it made them look weak. Predictably, there was a gender split in the data, with 71 percent of male leaders feeling this way compared to 46 percent of female leaders. 

Worse, the study also found workers were nervous about providing input, with “many” employees feeling it wasn’t “safe” to speak up, according to HRDive.

This suggests many senior (and thus, inevitably, older and more traditional) leaders aren’t working to create psychologically-safe workplaces where EI is valued. 

Making your workplace somewhere that values EQ may start with taking a leaf out of Gen-Z’s book. This age cohort is protective of their mental health and has caused upsets in the workplace for all sorts of reasons, from their less than traditional fashion sense, the way they “stare,” and the way they talk about personal matters to fiercely protecting their work-life balance. 

Retraining your older management and placing a greater emphasis on managing with soft skills as much as tough, business-centric ones may help. And, per the Turas report, reassuring managers that accepting criticism from staff is a valid business proposition that can actually strengthen teams and boost productivity is another smart move.

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