Managers say emotional intelligence should be a top 5 capability, but they’re not there yet

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Joanne Swann
Two people stand outside a building, each holding a beverage cup, their conversation reflecting emotional intelligence. Both are wearing black shirts and jeans.

Seven in ten managers place Emotional Intelligence (EI) as an invaluable managerial capability in 2024. However empathy, self-awareness/self-regulation and social sensitivity – classed as emotional intelligence – are not rated among their top five most important capabilities. 

Leadership and management learning solutions experts Mind Tools, in partnership with YouGov, conducted a survey of 2,001 managers across 12 industries to identify the critical foundational skills and capabilities needed to be a “good manager” in a modern business context.

Managers say the top five capabilities are active listening, recognition, coaching, trust and delegation. While the ‘Building Better Managers‘ report found that Emotional Intelligence significantly impacts people’s outcomes, not least innovation and engagement, having people skills remains a challenge for many managers.. 80% of them are promoted due to their ability to do a good job rather than the desire to manage other people.

Nahdia Khan, Chief Impact Officer at Mind Tools, emphasises the importance of empathy and emotional intelligence (EI) in modern management. She highlights that managers with high EI can make more balanced and effective decisions, especially under stress, as they can manage their emotions and understand team dynamics.

Nahdia also points out that many managers struggle with having difficult conversations, which can be worsened if their own managers don’t provide adequate support. Nahdia contrasts traditional managers, who focus on tasks and outputs, with modern managers, who are more like leaders—aligning teams, shaping culture, and coaching while maintaining high performance. She reassures that EI skills, though innate to some, can be developed by others.

Mind Tools’ report points to a Gartner report showing that only half of employees are managed by someone empathetic and fair. The consequence of this is serious. When managers lack empathy, according to Catalyst, employees are 34% less innovative and 43% less engaged at work.

The report also highlights that while organisations are allocating 12% of their L&D budget to management training in 2024, they struggle to measure the true value of their investment. Worse yet, 50% of managers received no support from their organisation when transitioning into their role, and of those, only 58% were satisfied with the support they received.

Khan concludes:

Managers who receive access to learning resources, formal courses and training opportunities at the start of their management career are significantly better at coaching, goal setting, identifying opportunities for their people to develop, active listening, and establishing trust. These capabilities, along with the improvements observed from early-career support, should highlight the current priorities of management training.

Nahdia Khan, Chief Impact Officer at Mind Tools

Joanne Swann, Content Manager, WorkWellPro
Editor at Workplace Wellbeing Professional | Website |  + posts

Joanne is the editor for Workplace Wellbeing Professional and has a keen interest in promoting the safety and wellbeing of the global workforce. After earning a bachelor's degree in English literature and media studies, she taught English in China and Vietnam for two years. Before joining Work Well Pro, Joanne worked as a marketing coordinator for luxury property, where her responsibilities included blog writing, photography, and video creation.

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