Lots of people still think that EQ a fluffy concept.

This is especially true in professions like law, where resilience, toughness, and traditional intelligence are highly prized assets.

Feelings don’t win court cases, as they say (no-one says that).

But I think emotional intelligence is a critical skill for high-performing professionals in 2022 and here is one of many reasons why:

EQ helps you ‘think again’

The world is changing at rapid pace. To keep up, we need to be able to re-think and update our beliefs and opinions.

Industries transform, businesses pivot and people re-skill. To be agile in the chaos of transformation, you need to ‘think again’ or you’ll fall behind, like Kodak or Blackberry.

Funnily enough, research shows that people with high IQ (but low EQ) are particularly bad at re-thinking. In fact, the higher your IQ, the more likely you are to fall for stereotypes (in part because you are quicker at recognising patterns).

One study found that, while a math whiz was really good at analyzing bland data, they performed poorly when analyzing data around an issue that activated strong emotions — like gun laws or abortion.

On the other hand, a developed set of EQ skills helps you identify emotional influence in decision-making or analysis. When you can recognise what you are feeling and why, you are better able to eliminate unhelpful emotions from the reasoning process.

EQ helps you think again — a critical skill in our rapidly changing world.