Emotional Intelligence is ranked # 11 in the “Top 15 Skills for 2025” according to the World Economic Forum.
Does that surprise you? Did you think that business was only about numbers and quantifiable results?
While no businesses can exist without quantifiable results, no business or individual worker can excel without managing emotions in a positive way. Studies link empathetic leadership to more innovation and higher employee retention: now is the time to sharpen your soft skills.
The Data
Empathy is the most-needed skill in the Future of Work. Without empathy, companies lose employees, lack innovation, and will be replaced by automated processes before long. Catalyst surveyed 889 people to learn whether they considered their leadership empathetic and how that influenced their work. Here are a few of the findings:
Empathetic Managers Keep Their Employees
When senior leadership and managers use their visibility to model empathy and build a supportive environment, their employees respond by investing in the environment. They see that their life matters beyond the work they create for the employer, and they don’t want to risk losing that feeling with another employer.
By intentionally creating a workplace culture that values emotional intelligence, companies will see greater retention even during The Great Resignation.
Empathy Produces Innovation and Engagement
From a business perspective, innovation requires empathizing with the target audience of your product and discovering what problems they need solved. Employees can’t do that if they never practice empathy in the workplace.
The Catalyst study also discovered 61% of people with highly empathic seniors leader report being innovative at work compared to only 13%. For work engagement, 76% of employees with empathetic leadership reported often or always being engaged compared to only 32% of those with less empathetic leadership. These results demonstrate a clear connection between empathy and innovation.
Empathy and Emotional Intelligence Utilize our Uniquely-Human Abilities
For years, we’ve been told to be more like computers, learning how to code faster and better. But we simply can’t keep up with automated processes. These roles aren’t just in manufacturing: those positions have already been automated. The new risk is for employees in data-related roles like accounting and analysis.
So how do we set ourselves apart from robots? We emotionally connect with our customers and our teams. Any robot can detect errors or discrepancies in data, but humans solve those problems with creativity, critical thinking, and connection.
How to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence
If you’re low on emotional intelligence (and probably social awareness), you still have the opportunity to improve on these skills. Humans are naturally built for empathy due to our mirror neurons: when we see someone happy or in pain, the same part of our brain reacts. This doesn’t mean we must also feel angry or lonely, just that we understand how those emotions feel and connect through them. Maybe you’ve ignored that skill for self-preservation, but it’s time to tap into and rewire those mirror neurons to improve your relationships.
Observe and identify your emotions
The first step towards emotional intelligence is observing and naming your emotions -- anger, hurt, jealousy, happiness -- recognize how they affect you so you can manage them better. You’ll notice yourself responding instead of reacting to problems.
Observe reactions and emotions in others by listening carefully
Once you’ve started observing your own emotions, you need to observe the emotions of your teammates so you can manage tension and reactions. When you learn how they react to situations, you’ll be better able to manage their workload to get the best results. As you listen to your team and understand their frustrations better, they’ll feel that understanding and be able to work better day after day.
Increase your curiosity
One proven way to become more emotionally intelligent is by becoming more curious. Instead of making quick judgements about someone else’s circumstances, try to imagine what could have brought them to that reaction.
Stop making statements and start asking questions
Make new friends and read new books
Stepping outside of your comfort zone with friendships and reading materials can greatly improve your emotional intelligence. In order to be empathetic, you need to see many different perspectives on an issue and see other emotional responses to problems. Discovering new friend groups can introduce you to entirely new ways of dealing with problems, positively or negatively.
One study showed that reading literary fiction helps you practice empathy with a character in a book before you encounter that situation in real life. Through literature, you’re put in the place of a character going through circumstances you wouldn’t be exposed to otherwise. You’re reading their thoughts and emotions, making connections in real life easier.
“I Think, Speak, and Lead through the Lens of Empathy”
This component of the hybrid worker creed makes the workplace better for everyone: whether you’re working the standard 9-5 or a flexible schedule. As a manager or teammate (especially during a time of crisis), you need to respect the emotions of those around you in order for everyone to do their best work. Don’t be fooled into believing “it’s not personal, it’s business.” Instead, leverage your emotions to innovate every day, and ultimately create a role that robots can’t do.