Emotional Intelligence And How It Impacts Decision Making
There is no doubt that leaders, no matter the industry, benefit from having emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is used when weighing pros and cons, making decisions, and planning strategically.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) is the ability to manage both your own emotions and understand the emotions of people around you. There are five key elements to EI: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. According to an article in Mental Health America, effective leaders are often very emotionally intelligent.
As a leader, it is important to know your strengths and weaknesses. Having a clear introspection will spare the organization leakage in time, money, resources, team members, and reputation. A strong leader with a high emotional IQ will know when to delegate, when to seek expert advice, when to hire, and when to fire.
Delegation
A key skill in leadership is knowing when to delegate a task or a project. Delegation is not easy for many leaders, but it is a skill motivated by emotional intelligence.
According to an article in Gallup, a business journal, CEOs who are more willing to delegate generated 33% greater revenue than those with low or limited levels of delegation. Having the self-awareness to know the importance of handing a task to a team member better equipped with the skills and or bandwidth, demonstrates high emotional intelligence.
Advice From An Expert
It never feels good to admit you don’t know something. Leaders with high emotional intelligence know when it is time to call in an expert. Paying for consultation from an expert in the area of focus needed willsave time and money, a decision that comes with experience and grants a gift of a fresh, alternative perspective.
When the bottom line is literally at stake, a strong leader puts ego aside and invests in gaining the resources necessary to reach important goals.
When To Hire
In addition to self-awareness, an element of EI is empathy. The ability to recognize when your team is stretched too thin or has a heavy workload might cause a need for the acquisition of additional staff. Deliberation over budgets vs productivity might be at the forefront of the conversation. It is important that leaders take burnout into consideration.
Staffing professionals at Green Key Resources share that burnout doesn’t just affect individuals. It costs organizations in the form of turnover, absenteeism, and decreased output.
A study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine estimates that burnout costs American companies between $4,000 and $21,000 per employee annually due to lost productivity and turnover. An article in Forbes, a media outlet, elaborates that the discussion of burnout is often overlooked. The results of burnt-out team members and executives may mirror lower productivity, bad decision-making, and diminished organizational performance.
When To Fire
On the other side of the same coin, knowing when to terminate employment is very important and is a big decision that carries weight. Oftentimes, companies “fire” employees for a few of the following reasons:
- budget cuts
- poor performance
- redundancies
- bloat
- restructure
- relocation
- automation
- aqusition
- offshore talent
Depending on state laws, terminating an employee can come with financial responsibility. It is important to use emotional intelligence to make sure the decision to fire employees aligns with the goals of the organization.
More Than A Nice To Have
Decision-making is a job requirement expected of all leaders. Using emotional intelligence in daily activities is a growing requirement, not just a nice-to-have, when it comes to the necessary criteria observed while vetting the perfect candidate. If mobility and climbing the corporate ladder are career aspirations, emotional intelligence is a strong skill to have in your toolbox.
