Who do you think scores higher on Emotional Intelligence Men or Women?

Almost always, while designing a learning intervention for women leaders, their male senior colleagues suggest “Emotional Intelligence” (EI) as an area of development. Our understanding is that more often than not, expressing emotions is seen as a sign of weakness, and women do that easily & often.

Other believe is that it is this very trait of being able to connect through emotions that gives women an edge in EI.

However, research indicate that while men & women are at par on EI, they exhibit different EI strengths.

Women normally score higher in areas of interpersonal, empathy & social responsibility, while men score higher in the components of assertiveness- stress management & external effect.

It is believed that these differences could be stemming from the messaging to the genders through society / parents etc. Boys are encouraged to be assertive, competitive & exhibit confidence, as they will be providers when they grow up. Girls on the other hand are nurtured to be understanding, empathetic & caring as they will be synthesisers to keep families / relationships together.

So, the big the question is: Are these differences an advantage to men & disadvantage for women at work?

Maybe YES – because at the work place, when we think LEADER, we visualise confident – assertive – competitive people.

For the last fifteen years companies have been sensitizing employees to respect & nurture diversity and rethink Leadership. Surprisingly the pandemic facilitated a fast tracking of this rethink.

More & more companies are reporting the challenge of low morale in teams due to the VUCA environment. Low morale is impacting productivity & results. In addition to many reasons, one cited repeatedly is the inability of leaders to transcend beyond task and deep dive to support employees to unravel negative emotions. As there is minimal physical contact, employees are feeling uncared for resulting in fragmented relationships. Women has had a better success rate with their teams due to their ease to understand & share emotions.

Hopefully, the traditional behaviours associated with Leadership are being revisited to take cognisance of the EQ strengths women exhibit.