How Executive Presence and Emotional Intelligence Complement Each Other

Emotional intelligence is a prerequisite for high-level leadership. In fact, 71% of companies find it more important than IQ, CareerBuilder has found.

How do executive presence and emotional intelligence relate to one another?

Having emotional intelligence will guide you in growing the 9 core qualities of executive presence—and radiating them in every situation. We’ll discuss more about that in a moment, but first, let’s look at what emotional intelligence actually is.

Daniel Goleman brought the term into widespread usage with his book Emotional Intelligence (1995). He outlines how EI (sometimes called EQ) it means relating to oneself and others intelligently and empathetically. This means understanding how you feel, and why; how other feel, and why; and showing you understand how they feel, as he explains in a recent HBR article, “What People (Still) Get Wrong about Emotional Intelligence.”

According to Harvard Business School, emotional intelligence has four components: self-awareness, self-management of your own emotions, social awareness, and management of relationships. Leaders must master each of these areas to truly excel.

Comparison of leaders with and without EI

Developing EI involves learning to recognize your own emotions, process them in a healthy way, and respond to situations with a clear head. Without emotional intelligence, a leader might be reactive and prone to expressing anger or anxiety. Such people might be referred to as “loose cannons” who blurt out hostile words in the heat of the moment. Or, their anxiety may paralyze them in situations they find stressful, preventing them from showing up with executive presence. They may shy away from conflict or from taking the reins in a crisis.

In contrast, a leader with EI shows up as calm and in command. People implicitly trust this person to steer the ship. Possessing EI allows all of their executive presence qualities to shine—not just under the best of circumstances, but in every situation.

Leaders with emotional intelligence also tune into how others are feeling in all situations. This understanding of others’ emotional experience, and propensity for understanding the root of any emotional discomfort in others, allows them to guide and influence people.

Growing your emotional intelligence

You can gain emotional intelligence through getting good feedback from the people who witness your work every day. A 360 review is a good place to start. Structured feedback conversations along with frequent, informal feedback will also deliver powerful insights.

Does executive presence grow emotional intelligence?

We’ve established that EI can help you develop executive presence. But is the reverse true—can executive presence help you grow emotional intelligence? Absolutely. Executive presence and emotional intelligence are mutually reinforcing. As you work through the lessons in my 3×3 Executive Presence Model, you’ll become more aware of your own emotions and how your behaviors affect others. With each competency you develop and each lesson you apply, you’ll strengthen your emotional intelligence. Thus, you may find that as you grow certain executive presence qualities, you’ll become better equipped to grow others.

For instance, as you reflect on what holds you back from being more vocal, you’ll become more self-aware. As you get input from others, you’ll deepen your awareness of how your presence at meetings affects others. This can be done with a 360 executive presence assessment. With the help of the 3×3 Model, you’ll become aware of specific contributions you could make that would enrich group discussion. Having confronted the false notions about your own competencies that are holding you back, you can use specific tactics to begin participating at a higher level in groups. Through this process, you’ve deepened your emotional intelligence—and any baseline EI you had to begin with helped you along your journey.

Using emotional intelligence to help employees develop executive presence

Likewise, as you help your employees grow their own executive presence, emotional intelligence will be your guide. You’ll coach them with empathy, remembering your own struggles and successes. EI will help you convey that understanding while being fully present to listen and respond to their challenges. Thus, EI is a vital ingredient for a workforce filled with thriving leaders and rising stars.

In short, emotional intelligence is all-encompassing. It will shape all of your efforts to grow executive presence, and it will be shaped by them in turn. And as you coach your own employees to become stronger leaders, EI will make you a wonderful mentor.

A skilled executive presence coach will help you cultivate executive presence and emotional intelligence. Contact Joel to launch an executive presence coaching program or a corporate training focused on executive presence. You can also purchase his book for your employees: Executive Presence: Step into Your Power, Convey Confidence and Lead with Conviction.