One of the most important CFO skills that often gets overlooked is emotional intelligence. A CFO with high emotional intelligence (EQ) is gold. They understand their own emotions and can read the room like a book.
So, what exactly is emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence (EI or EQ) is the ability to recognize, understand, manage, and use your own emotions in positive ways to:
- Relieve stress
- Communicate effectively
- Empathize with others
- Overcome challenges
- Defuse conflict
It also involves recognizing and understanding the emotions of others, which is essential for building and maintaining healthy relationships, both personally and professionally.
Emotional intelligence is often broken down into four core skills, grouped under two main competencies - personal and social.
On the personal side, you have self-awareness and self-management.
Self-awareness is really understanding your own emotions, strengths, and weaknesses, and having that self-confidence.
Self-management is controlling impulses, managing emotions healthily, taking initiative, following through on commitments, and adapting as needed.
Socially, it's about awareness and relationship management.
Social awareness means understanding the emotions, needs and concerns of others, picking up on cues, feeling comfortable in groups, and recognizing power dynamics.
Relationship management involves developing rapport, communicating clearly, inspiring and influencing people, collaborating well, and managing conflict productively.
To be a good CFO, you’ve got to step into the roles of not only leadership, but the role of coach, motivator, and collaborator - all of which require a high degree of emotional intelligence.
