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Putting EQ to the Leadership Test Kathryn McEwen

27th May 2007

Putting EQ to the Leadership Test

Kathryn McEwen

Emotional intelligence, or EQ, has been heralded as the new indicator of successful leadership.  This is a term used to describe a set of key emotional competencies that, unlike IQ, can be developed into adulthood.

Emotional intelligence is being able to achieve goals through being aware of, and managing, your own emotions, and through being sensitive to others.  It also involves influencing people, sustaining motivation and balancing drive with conscientious and ethical behaviour.

Daniel Goleman, author of the new book Emotional Intelligence, claims that 50 per cent of high performance in all jobs is attributable to emotional intelligence, and that this increases to 85 per cent for leaders.

The desire to understand leadership is increasing. Stiff competition for executive talent and the impact of senior appointments on share values mean leaders have a significant impact on the bottom line. As a decade of downsizing and corporate crashes has taught us, leading people to the wrong place is a costly exercise.

Goleman's core proposition is that IQ is important, but doesn't equal success.  What makes the difference in performance once you reach a certain level of intellect, is emotion intelligence.

Dr Con Stough, of the Swinburne University of Technology, is more cautious.  He claims that while emotional intelligence is becoming popular as a measure for identifying potentially effective leaders, the supporting research is limited.

His work focused on the link between EQ and transformational leadership - the latest model of leadership, which has replaced transactional styles.

Early findings from Stough and his team are that emotional intelligence correlates with several components of transformational leadership.  They suggest it may account for how effective leaders monitor and respond to subordinates and make them feel at work.

Stough suggests caution in using EQ for selection of leaders however, suggesting it is best used for leadership development.  "There are pitfalls in the blind use of EQ tests without knowing what they measure, and the blanket use of scales without understanding the type of industry or leadership role involved in the selection.  It is vital to describe the type of emotional competencies that are important for that particular job," he says.

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