Emotional intelligence encompasses a set of skills that enable individuals to recognize, understand, and manage their own emotions and the emotions of others. Current thinking points to emotional intelligence (or, EQ) as being more important for leaders than raw intelligence (or, IQ) alone. In the Boardroom, the soft skills or EQ skills that the individual Board Members bring are critical to Board performance. They make the difference between an OK Board (one where the individuals may bring high IQs and low EQs) and a great Board (where individuals bring a power mix of IQ and EQ and use them to reach high-quality decisions). 

How and why Boards can benefit from its members and the Board as a collective having greater emotional intelligence has been revealed in the recently-published book ‘Leading with Emotional Intelligence: a guide for Board Directors’. The author of that book Sanela Osmic is my latest podcast guest.

Sanela is the founder and Managing Director of Ethical Governance, helping organisations cultivate a culture of ethics and ensure sustainable success. Sanela’s journey from Bosnia to global impact, is one of triumph over adversity, culminating in her unwavering commitment to creating meaningful change in communities worldwide. With nearly twenty years of professional experience across multiple industries (including finance, professional services, disability, government and education), Sanela recognised the critical role that good governance plays in the success of an organisation. Over the years, Sanela has served on a number of Boards and committees, and has worked as a consultant and educator in the governance space.

Her book, ‘Leading with Emotional Intelligence: a guide for Board Directors’ provides practical advice on how Boards can develop and use emotional intelligence to navigate difficult situations, build stronger relationships, and make better decisions.

My conversation with Sanela gets into the heart of emotional intelligence in the Boardroom setting, clarifying what it is and what it isn’t, the five elements of emotional intelligence (starting with Self Awareness), how we can avoid false harmony and use emotion to reach better decisions as a group, the role each of us plays as individuals to contribute to a highly emotionally-intelligent culture, and, importantly, the role of the Chair in leading with emotional intelligence.