Originally shared in our October 2026 Top of Mind Newsletter.
Three senior client partners from global consulting firm Korn Ferry recently published a piece that offers five ways for leaders to build emotional intelligence. ELI facilitator Stephen Taylor shared the article with us, along with his thoughts on how the authors’ suggestions overlap with how entrepreneurs already work.
The authors sum up the skill in a simple line: “Emotional intelligence is relational.” It means reading how someone is reacting and adjusting your response to fit.
Their first step is to challenge your default mode, noticing what triggers you and choosing your reaction. Stephen pointed out that this shows up in the entrepreneur’s habit of questioning assumptions.
Next, they have clients look at a leadership problem as themselves, as another person with a stake in it, and as a neutral observer.
Stephen noted that this is the stance ELI’s Opportunity Discovery Process asks for when you talk and listen to people whose problem you are trying to solve. He recalled Gary saying, “No one cares about your passion until you translate it into something useful for someone else.”
Stephen summarized the authors’ third point—reviewing conflict through different lenses—well: “Entrepreneurs inevitably face conflict, but through respectful interaction followed by thoughtful reflection, differences can be ameliorated, resolved, or a new mutually beneficial path blazed together.”
The fourth is reading. A 2024 study cited in the article found small but significant gains in empathy and perspective-taking among fiction readers, and Stephen adds that nonfiction does similar work.