Hard skills vs. soft skills: are EQ and Emotional Intelligence the best predictors of success?

Tuesday, March 19, 2019 Guest Writer

What’s the best predictor of success?

Soft skills are in-demand in nearly every company and every industry. A Wall Street Journal survey of 900 executives found that 92% said soft skills were equally important or more important than technical skills.

But 89% of those surveyed said they have a “very or somewhat difficult time finding people with the requisite attributes.”

Likewise, LinkedIn’s 2018 Workforce Report discovered that the four most in-demand soft skills are leadership, communication, collaboration, and time management.

Are soft skills a better predictor of success? According to Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence at Work, yes! In his research of 500 executives that emotional intelligence – soft skills – was a better predictor of top performance than previous experience or IQ.

CEOs at some of the world’s top companies (Amazon, Xerox, and Tesla, to name a few) lead with emotional intelligence have designed their entire corporate structure around soft skills.

And soft skills aren’t just great for creating a fulfilling and pleasant work environment. The link between profit and leaders with high emotional intelligence is clear.

In one study, CEOs whose employees rated them high in character had an average return of 9.35% over a two-year period, nearly five times as much as companies with CEOs who had low character ratings.

The case for recruiting for soft skills is strong: but, there’s something to be said for balancing good leadership and communication with individuals who have honed their talent.

Don’t Ignore Hard Skills

Cal Newport, author of So Good They Can’t Ignore You, believes that to have a successful career, you must develop skills that make you an expert in something.

There will always be a market for those with a depth of knowledge in one thing; certain fields will always demand new hires with niche skills and technical training. Newport argues that the more mastery you have in a skill or field, the more control and satisfaction it’ll give you in your career.

While it’s true that technical masters do become top CEOs – Steve Jobs and Bill Gates come to mind – other experts note that eventually, soft skills and emotional intelligence must be learned.

Many programmers, for example, have some of the basic hard skills that it takes to run a company. However, they fall short on key EQ traits like listening. The best leaders can learn soft skills over time, but start as an expert in something.

Ready to increase you and your team’s soft-skills to level-up effectiveness? Let’s talk!