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We recently asked our followers on LinkedIn to choose the most important core competency for a leader. Of the options provided, 60 percent of respondents selected “emotional intelligence.” Although this has historically been considered a “touchy-feely soft skill” with executives expected to hide their personal life and feelings, there has been a growing shift in this thinking. Emotional Intelligence has emerged as a strong predictor of leadership success, particularly in life science and healthcare, helping them build stronger teams, make better decisions, and achieve sustainable success.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) refers to the ability to recognize, understand, manage, and influence emotions. There are two key abilities for EI: personal competence and social competence.
For leaders in life science, developing these skills is crucial because they manage both scientific advances and the teams that fuel innovation and improve patient care.
Although you are likely familiar with Intelligence Quotient (IQ) which measures your cognitive and intellectual abilities like logic, problem-solving, and analytical thinking, there is also a measurement for emotional intelligence, which is known as EQ or Emotional Quotient. While both EQ and IQ are crucial for leadership success, the former focuses on how you collaborate with others and build meaningful connections.
| EQ | IQ |
| Emotional awareness Interpersonal skills | Intellectual abilities Cognitive abilities |
| Measured through assessments or observations of emotional and social behaviors | Measured through standardized tests |
| Interpersonal relationships | Academic achievement |
| Developed and improved over time | Remains stable throughout life |
One of the key differences between EQ and IQ is that your emotional quotient can change. By understanding and practicing the components of emotional intelligence, you can develop and improve your EQ over time. Later in this article we’ll share practices you can cultivate to improve each of the five components of EI.
EI and EQ lead to stronger workplace relationships, which drive better results and create a more stable and effective workforce.
Emotional Intelligence is comprised of five key components: self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, social skills, and motivation. Since EI can be learned and cultivated, here are effective practices you can use to enhance your emotional intelligence:
According to Harvard University’s Laura Wilcox, “The core of high EI is self-awareness: if you don’t understand your own motivations and behaviors, it’s nearly impossible to develop an understanding of others.” If you want to develop your self-awareness, consider practicing mindfulness, spend time meditating, or keep a journal.
Once you have a deeper understanding of your emotions, you can better regulate them. Life science environments are often high-stress and uncertain, which require management of your emotional responses. Tactics that can help improve your ability to regulate your emotions include deep breathing, physical activities, and reframing.
In healthcare and life sciences, team dynamics and patient experiences are crucial for success. These situations require a high capacity for empathy—the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. By cultivating empathy, you can better connect with your teams, partners, and patients, to improve communication and decision-making. To be more empathetic, focus on active listening or engage in patient advocacy programs. Shadowing colleagues or team members can also help you better understand their challenges and become more empathetic.
In emotional intelligence, the term “social skills” refers to “the skills needed to handle and influence other people’s emotions effectively to manage interactions successfully.” As a leader, your goal is to inspire and motivate your team to reach their full potential. This requires communication, relationship building, and conflict resolution. If you want to be a socially skilled leader, foster open communication, build relationships cross-functionally, and develop conflict resolution techniques.
Working in healthcare and life science, you likely chose your profession because of a passion to help others. With a deep connection to your purpose, you are more likely to stay motivated during challenging times. This also helps influence those around you and inspire your team to persevere. One important way to improve your motivation is by setting small, attainable goals. Celebrating small wins helps keep leaders and their teams motivated, maintain momentum, and reduce feelings of overwhelm.
The development of emotional intelligence is a lifelong process. Leaders can continue to enhance their EI by committing to continuous personal growth and professional development. At BioLaunch Solutions, we provide leaders with personalized strategies for improving emotional intelligence. With our BioLaunch Navigator assessments, we can garner a baseline measurement of your leaderships’ current EI levels. These assessments offer actionable insights into areas where improvement is needed and highlight strengths to leverage.
Leaders who invest in developing their emotional intelligence are better equipped to manage their teams, make sound decisions, and drive patient-centered innovation. By focusing on self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation, and social skills, leaders are more equipped to support their people and their patients.
If you’d like to improve how your leadership navigates challenges to reach a more sustainable success, let’s connect! Schedule a 15-minute session to discuss how we can work together to address opportunities for improving your emotional intelligence.
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