Emotional intelligence is a competitive advantage in business
By Steve Jagler , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 1, 2017
 |
| Mr. Jim Runde, author of “Unequaled: Tips for Building a Successful Career Through Emotional Intelligence” |
Over his 42-year career as an adviser and investment banker on
Wall Street, Jim Runde has seen corporate management teams and schemes of every
imaginable style and structure.
However,
after more than four decades at Morgan Stanley he has come to one key
realization: The best business leaders have high IQs and are capable not only
of making intelligent strategic decisions; they also have finely honed
emotional intelligence, and they build leadership teams of people with equally
high emotional quotients, or EQs.
Runde,
who grew up in Sparta in a family of 10 children and graduated from
Marquette University, is the author of a new book, titled, “Unequaled: Tips for
Building a Successful Career Through Emotional Intelligence.”
The
book’s core intended audience is the young professional seeking advice about
how to develop and use emotional intelligence for career advancement. However,
Runde’s theories and observations can easily be reverse-engineered to provide
insights about how company leaders can use emotional intelligence to build
effective teams by hiring and developing their key performers for growth.
Jagler: Manage your reputational risks (another Journal-Sentinel article by the author)
Runde
says a highly developed EQ is a strategic, competitive advantage in business.
I
asked Runde to share the hallmarks of leaders who have finely honed EQs and use
them to build strong leadership teams of people with the same capacities.
Solid
“soft” skills. “The ‘hard’ skills can be
more easily measured … a grade-point average, a degree, an IQ,” Runde
says. “We need to make sure that we put some effort with the people we are
hiring to measure their soft skills, their people skills, before we hire them.”
Adaptability. “The rate of change in the world today is greater than ever,”
Runde says. “Do the people we hire have the willingness and ability to
change? Are they adaptable to new roles and new technologies?”
Collaboration. “Today, things are global and culturally diverse. Being
collaborative is a huge asset. All of us are smarter than one of us,” Runde
says, holding up all five fingers on his right hand, but only the index finger
on his left hand. Citing legendary Green Bay Packers Coach Vince Lombardi,
Runde adds, “Individual commitment to group effort – that is what makes a team
work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.”
Empathy. “Get people on your team who can create empathy, so the client
or customers will like them or trust them enough to tell them their problem or
their need,” Runde says. “Empathy is understanding what others are feeling
because you have experienced it yourself or you can put yourself in their
shoes. Empathy allows you to build trust with your clients.”
Resourcefulness. “People with high EQs are able to find mentors more easily.
Emotional intelligence is important to finding good mentors, and that’s
important for longevity,” Runde says.
Persuasion. “People with high EQs have the ability to persuade others, and
that’s important,” Runde says.
Leadership. “There’s a big difference between being a manager and being a
leader. You manage a herd of cows. You lead people,” Runde says. “Command and
control don’t work anymore, particularly with millennials. Turnover is so
disruptive and expensive. Strong teams have the right composition,
chemistry and continuity. People join great organizations, and they leave bad
bosses. People want engagement.”
A
recent survey of U.S. human resource managers by OfficeTeam validated Runde’s
theories: The staffing firm found that 95% believe it’s important for employees
to have a high EQ.
“The
value of emotional intelligence in the workplace shouldn’t be underestimated –
it’s vital to companies and teams,” said Brandi Britton, a district president
for OfficeTeam. “When organizations take EQ into consideration when hiring and
also help existing staff improve in this area, the result is more adaptable,
collaborative and empathetic employees.”
Steve
Jagler is the business editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
C-Level stands for high-ranking executives, typically those with
“chief” in their titles. Send C-Level column ideas to him at
steve.jagler@journalsentinel.com.
Follow these links for other AIM blog articles written about Mr. Runde:
- Mr. James Runde's new book "Unequaled"
- Mr. Jim Runde visits AIM class in 2017
- Mr. Runde published in Harvard Business Review
James
“Jim” Runde
Career: 42 years as an adviser and
investment banker at Morgan Stanley in New York City
Expertise: Strategic and financial
advice to global transport companies
Affiliation: Serves on the board of The
Kroger Co.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in
engineering, Marquette University; five years as nuclear engineer in the U.S.
Navy; master’s in business, George Washington University.
Current
residence: Boca
Grande, Fla.
Hometown: Sparta, Wis.
Family: Wife, Barbara; three grown
children
Best advice ever received: "The desire to win is
useless without the desire to prepare."
Favorite movie: “American Graffiti”
Favorite musical group: The Beach Boys
Favorite Wisconsin
restaurant: Lake
Park Bistro
