Your recent or next potential leadership hire may be unbelievably and undeniably competent but do they possess the appropriate ‘soft skills’ to succeed long-term as a leader in your organisation?

Most of us have experienced a colleague, direct report or leader who is the master of managing their own emotions. They were likely great at staying calm in stressful situations and avoiding anger when frustrations arose. They probably excelled when it came to making good decisions and knowing when to trust their intuition, as well as looking at themselves honestly and taking criticism on board to constructively grow. They really listened and empathised well.

Or, you might remember more vividly the disruptive force on your workplace of someone whose persistent emotional responses affected their behaviour, thinking and decisions! This person lacked emotional intelligence.

It is becoming more and more widely accepted that emotional intelligence, or EQ, is just as important to professional success as technical ability and other job related skills. Organisations are increasingly using EQ when they hire and promote – that is, assessing candidates on their ability to recognise, understand, manage and use emotion based information.

Effective leadership centres on integrating and using available information to constructively direct our life, relationships and professional selves in ways that are consistent with goals, values and well-being. Emotions are an extremely important source of information, providing clues about how things are progressing and helping us to make decisions and necessary changes. As a leader, it is crucial to get both ourselves and others ‘out the other side’ of emotional or stressful times. Not to placate them or palm them off. A leader needs the EQ to find an effective solution, not just a ‘bubblegum’ approach.

Increasingly, organisations want a comprehensive understanding of their next recruit to assist them in hiring with more confidence and objectivity. Adding a quick, inexpensive EQ test to an existing recruitment process enhances your predictive power – so you really can be confident you have found the right person with the EQ to impact positively on your staff and in your organisation.