In 1995, Daniel Goleman published a book claiming that emotional intelligence — the ability to recognise, understand, and manage emotions in yourself and others — predicted success better than IQ. The claim was controversial at the time. Three decades of research later, it has been substantively confirmed.
TalentSmart's research on 500,000+ individuals across industries found that emotional intelligence (EI) is the strongest predictor of performance, accounting for 58% of success in all types of jobs. Among top performers, 90% have high emotional intelligence. Among bottom performers, 80% have low emotional intelligence.
Goleman's original claim, it turns out, was not strong enough.
What Is Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace?
Emotional intelligence in the workplace is the ability to navigate the emotional dimensions of work — the anxiety before a difficult presentation, the frustration of a stalled project, the tension of a conflict with a colleague, the pressure of a performance conversation — in ways that produce better outcomes for yourself, your relationships, and your work.
There are multiple models of emotional intelligence, each with slightly different frameworks. The most widely used in organisational contexts are:
Goleman's model (four domains): Self-awareness (knowing your own emotional states), self-management (regulating your emotional responses), social awareness (reading others' emotions accurately), and relationship management (using emotional awareness to navigate relationships and inspire performance).
The Genos model (six competencies): Emotional self-awareness, emotional expression, emotional awareness of others, emotional reasoning, emotional self-management, and emotional management of others. The Genos model is particularly popular for leadership development as it is validated, behaviourally specific, and directly connected to measurable performance outcomes.
The EQ-i 2.0 model: Fifteen competencies across five scales — self-perception, self-expression, interpersonal, decision-making, and stress management.
All three models are grounded in the same fundamental insight: performance in complex, social environments depends more on how you navigate emotions than on technical capability alone.
Why Emotional Intelligence Matters More Than Ever
In an AI-driven workplace, emotional intelligence is becoming increasingly critical. As AI automates analytical and routine cognitive tasks, the activities that require genuine human performance — leading others through uncertainty, building trust in distributed teams, navigating organisational politics, managing the emotional dynamics of change — become the primary determinants of individual and organisational effectiveness.
McKinsey's research found that EI-driven leadership is 2.6 times more likely to succeed in major transformation programmes. The University of Phoenix's 2026 research found that emotionally intelligent leadership fosters organisational wellness and resilience. Harvard Business Review research shows that EI explains more variance in leadership effectiveness than any other single factor.
And crucially: EI can be developed. Unlike IQ, which is relatively stable, emotional intelligence is genuinely trainable through structured development.
The Five Most Important Emotional Intelligence Skills for Leaders
1. Emotional self-awareness
The foundation of all emotional intelligence: the ability to notice and name your own emotional state in the moment. Leaders with high self-awareness know when they are anxious, frustrated, impatient, or excited — and understand how these states are affecting their behaviour and decision-making.
Research consistently shows that self-awareness is the starting point for all other EI development. You cannot manage what you cannot see.
Developing it: Keep an emotion journal — three times a day, note what you are feeling, what triggered it, and how it is affecting you. Use validated assessments (Genos EI, EQ-i 2.0) to build an accurate picture of your emotional patterns.
2. Emotional regulation
The ability to manage your emotional responses — not by suppressing emotions, but by choosing how you express and act on them. High emotional regulation allows leaders to stay calm under pressure, to respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively, and to model the emotional tone they want their team to adopt.
Research shows that emotional regulation is the EI competency most strongly correlated with team performance under pressure.
Developing it: Practise the "six-second pause" — when an emotional trigger occurs, give yourself six seconds before responding. This interrupts the automatic amygdala response and engages the prefrontal cortex where thoughtful decision-making happens.
3. Empathy
The ability to understand what another person is feeling and to communicate that understanding. Empathy in the workplace is not about being "nice" — it is about having accurate emotional data about what is motivating, concerning, and engaging the people you lead.
Research from the Centre for Creative Leadership found that empathy is one of the leadership capabilities most strongly correlated with job performance — and that it is significantly underdeveloped in most manager populations.
Developing it: Practise active listening in every one-to-one conversation — listening without forming your response while the other person is speaking, listening for emotional content as well as factual content, and reflecting back what you hear before responding.
4. Social awareness
The ability to read the emotional dynamics of a team, a meeting, or an organisation — not just the explicit content of what is being said, but the underlying emotional currents. Leaders with high social awareness notice when energy in a meeting drops, when someone is withdrawn, when there is unspoken tension.
Developing it: Before and after every significant team interaction, ask: What was the emotional tone? Who was engaged and who was absent? What was not said? What was the energy telling me about the team's state?
5. Relationship management
The ability to use emotional awareness to navigate complex relationships, influence others, manage conflict, and inspire performance. This is the dimension of EI most directly connected to leadership effectiveness.
Developing it: Invest in one-to-one relationships with each team member. Understand what motivates each person, what concerns them, and what they need from you. Use this understanding to tailor your communication, feedback, and development conversations.
How to Build Emotional Intelligence Across Your Organisation
Individual EI development is valuable. Organisational EI development — building the emotional intelligence of a leadership population — is transformative. The research suggests three priority investments:
Start with assessment. Use a validated EI assessment like the Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory to establish baseline EI across your leadership population. This identifies where to focus development and creates the individual self-awareness that is the starting point for change.
Invest in sustained development. EI development requires sustained practice over months — not a single workshop. The most effective programmes combine validated assessment, one-to-one coaching, peer learning, micro-practice exercises, and 360-degree feedback on EI competencies.
Embed EI in leadership culture. Make EI explicit in your leadership competency framework, your performance management conversations, and your hiring criteria. What gets measured and modelled gets developed.
References
Bradberry, T. and Greaves, J. (2009) Emotional Intelligence 2.0. San Diego, CA: TalentSmart.
Goleman, D. (1995) Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. New York: Bantam Books.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. and McKee, A. (2002) Primal Leadership. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.
Palmer, B.R. and Stough, C. (2001) 'Workplace SUEIT', Organisational Psychology Research Unit, Swinburne University.
University of Phoenix (2026) Career Institute Annual Report: AI and the evolving workplace. Phoenix, AZ: University of Phoenix.