More and more employers are realizing that managing people is really about managing emotions—your own and those of others. And it’s a much more difficult skill than technical knowledge.
Not everyone can be a manager, even though many employees think their boss doesn’t do anything special (but gets paid much more than they do). Assign the tasks, maybe review them in a more or less pleasant way, give someone a bonus, fire someone else. That’s life. But good managers—and those lucky enough to work in their teams—know that managing people requires “soft” superpowers: exceptional emotional intelligence, empathy, and communication. Leadership, not control. When that’s missing, everyone has a hard time at work, including the manager.
Be like Satya
Among the managers constantly in the world’s spotlight is, without a doubt, Satya Nadella. Born in 1967 in Hyderabad, India, he has three children, and loves poetry and cricket. For good measure, he also leads one of the largest technology companies in history—Microsoft. When he took over as CEO in 2014, Microsoft was seen as a giant that was falling behind. Nadella not only gave the company a new operational direction—focusing on cloud services and AI—but, above all, shaped the organization’s culture. He prioritized emotional intelligence, moved from internal competition to collaboration, promoted openness to mistakes and learning (shifting from a “know-it-all” to a “learn-it-all” mindset). He also proved that he practices what he preaches. When he made a serious PR and ideological blunder—stating at a conference that women shouldn’t ask for raises but should “trust the system” that would “reward them at the right time,” which was met with harsh criticism—he quickly issued a public apology and admitted he was wrong.
What is emotional intelligence?
As humans, we have two types of intelligence. The first—IQ—is the so-called intelligence quotient: a range of cognitive abilities that can be precisely measured. The second—EQ—is emotional intelligence. Its definition (and the term itself!) was introduced to the world in 1990 by two American researchers, Peter Salovey and John Mayer. They stated that emotional intelligence is “the ability to monitor one’s own and others’ emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.”
An emotionally intelligent employee is every conscious employer’s dream. Why? Because as a manager, they motivate the team more effectively, which translates into better results. Emotionally intelligent people adapt and learn better and respond well to feedback. Entire teams can have high EQ too! Such groups integrate more quickly and don’t waste time on conflicts, but on growth.
Emotional intelligence can be developed. How? By regularly analyzing your emotional reactions, practicing active listening and empathy, and learning stress management and constructive communication techniques. The goal isn’t for people to listen to us because they have to, but because they really hear us.
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