Five signs you’ve got high Emotional Intelligence

High Emotional Intelligence in leaders has been linked to higher engagement, greater productivity and talent retention. Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour Carol Gill shares five signs you have high EQ.

If you’re running a meeting and someone hasn’t said a word, do you notice?

And if so, do you change your approach to allow that person to contribute?

The answers to these questions may reveal whether you have high emotional intelligence.

Intelligence quotients have for a long time been associated with success in the workplace, but according to Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour Carol Gill, emotional intelligence is becoming even more valuable in the age of Artificial Intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the capacity to be aware of your emotions and of others around you and then use that awareness to respond effectively.

While AI is rapidly improving our ability to complete analytical and technical tasks, traditionally associated with IQ, human abilities associated with emotional intelligence remain harder to replicate, giving leaders with high EQ an edge in the workplace.

Associate Professor Gill says leaders with high EQ are more likely to have higher levels of resilience, a greater ability to influence others, more engaged teams and higher levels of productivity.

Here are the five signs you have high emotional intelligence.

1. You can identify your emotions

Self-awareness sits at the heart of emotional intelligence.

Associate Professor Gill says leaders with strong EQ are able to identify and label what they are feeling in a given moment, rather than experiencing a vague sense of stress or frustration.

“Can you distinguish how you’re feeling now? Because if you can’t distinguish it, you can’t control it,” Associate Professor Gill says.

“The research has shown the more you’re aware and the more you can differentiate between subtle emotions, the more likely you are to have better outcomes.”

She says this ability to distinguish and label subtle emotions helps leaders best indicate the course of action moving forward.

For example, if they made a mistake and hurt the feelings of a coworker, they might identify a feeling of guilt and therefore apologise or make an effort to support that coworker at a future team meeting.

2. You can regulate your emotions

Having high emotional intelligence doesn’t mean leaders never feel anger, frustration, or anxiety.

But leaders with strong EQ have strong self-management and are able to pause and reflect before responding.

“It always shocks me when you see people with high IQ having these outbursts in the workplace, and they get sacked or sanctioned for it,” Associate Professor Gill says.

“How can a highly intelligent person use their judgement so poorly?”

When this happens, it’s because the amygdala has taken over and that person has lost their ability to control their response, or they feel an entitlement to behave that way.

Associate Professor Gill said mindfulness is a useful tool for leaders wanting to strengthen self-management, with labelling emotions helping us to regain control over emotions in tough situations.

“As soon as you bring language in, you bring in the higher brain functions and therefore you can manage the emotion instead of going straight into the amygdala and reacting,” she says.

3. You notice how others are feeling

The third defining characteristic of emotional intelligence is social awareness, or the ability to recognise what others may be experiencing emotionally in a given moment.

This involves reading cues such as tone of voice, facial expressions and body language, and using empathy to anticipate how people may respond.

Associate Professor Gill says emotionally intelligent leaders are also able to recognise when individuals require different approaches.

“Some people are a bit neurotic, so they might need careful handling and you’re able to be aware of that,” she says.

This awareness allows leaders to adjust how they communicate, deliver feedback optimally, and manage difficult conversations.

4. You’re able to influence others

Someone with a high IQ is likely to be talented at their specific job function.

“IQ is just processing capability,” Associate Professor Gill said.

“If the information is coming at me and I have high IQ, I can plot that information and make a more educated decision about what to do.”

However, Associate Professor Gill says it’s not enough for leaders to be technically gifted at pattern recognition; they must also be able to influence others to achieve outcomes.

“Leadership isn’t simply knowing the direction, it’s about influencing others to go on the journey with you,” Associate Professor Gill says.

Emotionally intelligent leaders understand that influencing others requires empathy, communication, and connection, not just logic.

“By practicing empathy, emotionally intelligent leaders have the capacity to identify emotions others are most likely to be feeling, develop trust, understand other people's motivations and make others more receptive to what you’re trying to achieve,” Associate Professor Gill says.

5. You create highly engaged teams

The clearest evidence of emotional intelligence may be the environment a leader creates around them.

“Working for someone with high EQ is just a pleasure,” Associate Professor Gill says.

Leaders with high EQ tend to build workplaces where people feel respected, heard and motivated, even when things aren’t going well.

“Even if they’re telling me that I’m not performing optimally, they’re more likely to say it in a way where I can accept it and understand the emotional response I might have if it was said in different ways to me.”

Associate Professor Gill says teams led by emotionally intelligent leaders tend to have healthier cultures, stronger engagement, and higher productivity.

“Every leader should be working on their EQ because you influence people so much more effectively. It has positive outcomes for the individual, those working for them and terrific outcomes for organisations.”

Carol Gill is an Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Melbourne Business School. Carol covers these topics in our Leadership subjects as part of the MBA and Executive Education programs.

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