Hiring for emotional intelligence needs to be a top priority for tech startups.
Simply defined, emotional intelligence reflects a person’s ability to identify, manage, express, and harness their own emotions.
Emotional intelligence was introduced in 1985, in a doctoral dissertation by Wayne Payne. Keith Beasley used the term “emotional quotient” in a 1987 article published by Mensa Magazine. In 1990, psychologists John D. Mayer and Peter Salovey published “Emotional Intelligence,” in the journal Imagination, Cognition, and Personality. The concept was popularized with the 1995 release of Daniel Goleman’s book, Emotional Intelligence.
And like mom jeans of the 90’s, emotional intelligence is trending again because it just makes so much sense. Emotional intelligence accounts for nearly 90 percent of what sets high performers apart from peers with similar technical skills and knowledge. It affects your company’s culture, performance, and job satisfaction. Hiring for high EQ allows you to continue running your projects in the way they’re supposed to go.
It’s important to tech startups for four reasons.
1. People who have high EQ are intrinsically motivated. This increases job satisfaction and reduces turnover.
These workers are motivated by inspiration rather than obligation. According to Daniel Goleman, this enables them to move forward despite setbacks. It’s not to say that external motivations such as salary and benefits aren’t important. But when an employee is self-motivated, invested in your product or service, and aligned with the company’s values, it’s easier for them to weather the unpredictability that’s an inevitable part of being a part of a startup. They’re on board, and they’re ready to make a difference in your client’s lives.
Research by management consulting firm McKinsey revealed that when employees are intrinsically motivated, they show46% higher levels of job satisfaction and 32% greater levels of commitment to their jobs. They’re less likely to experience job-related burnout, and more likely to choose to stick around.
2. People with a high EQ can self-regulate their emotions, which enables proactive and clear-headed decision making.
Tech startups are fast paced. Bottom line, we don’t have time to get mad. At the same time, it’s not always possible to check our emotions at the door when we’re emotionally invested in the mission.
Having self-regulation enables someone to understand how their emotional state impacts decision-making. This manifests in stepping up to proactively tackle conflict head-on, as well as stepping back when upset and waiting to make a decision when their head is in the game. Feedback comes from a place that’s logic driven for the purpose of problem-solving.
High self-regulation increases initiative taking and reduces stress, because they understand how to control, or redirect, their emotions.
3. People with high EQ are more likely to be focused on conflict resolution.
If you’ve got a team of more than one person, and if you’re doing things right, it’s only a matter of time before you experience a disagreement. If you’re not seeing any conflict, it’s a good time to determine whether you’ve surrounded yourself with ‘yes’ men. Conflict is normal. Without conflict, you’re going to stagnate.
When conflict goes unaddressed, it wastes about eight hours of company time in gossip and other unproductive activities.When handled in a healthy way, it enables your company to be the best it can be. A person with high EQ has empathy and adaptability. They’re able to understand different perspectives and adjust their own outlook to consider alternatives.They’re able to leave personality out of it, so that the best decision for the company can be made.
4. People with high emotional intelligence utilize self-management to work under pressure.
Tech startups are under a lot of pressure. Timelines are in flux, and investors and clients reach out needing immediate attention. In order to keep things moving, workers wear a lot of different hats.
When faced with a stressful situation, the fight-or-flight instinct in our brains crowd out executive function. Self-management allows people to practice mindfulness to combat this reaction. Mindfulness brings someone’s attention to what they’re currently experiencing in the present moment, so they can accept it without judgment. It’s a way of channeling emotions.
Adaptability enables workers to roll with the punches in a dynamic environment, and resilience empowers them to recover from setbacks.
You can create a culture of high EQ by modeling the qualities you expect to see in your workers, and by celebrating the ways in which your workers demonstrate these qualities. By engaging emotional intelligence, workers can thrive in a tech startup environment.
If you’re curious about how to look for Emotional Intelligence in candidates, reach out! I can share with you our list of questions we ask candidates as it relates to EQ.
