Errol Gardner – Why modern leadership is as much about EQ as IQ, at EY

Nottingham Business School Business Leaders

Nottingham Business School Business Leaders Podcast

Errol Gardner - Why modern leadership is as much about EQ as IQ, at EY | Episode 29

International executive Errol Gardner has more than 100,000 people working for him – across 150 countries.

And last year his side of the business generated more than ten billion pounds, for professional services firm EY (formerly Ernst and Young).

But as Vice Chair of EY (consulting), he is convinced that modern leadership is about so much more than having the right qualifications.

“It’s not about IQ,” he says, in Episode 29 of the Nottingham Business School’s Business Leaders’ Podcast.

“I went to university. I studied. I did professional exams. All of that is important. But in most cases, it's just a hygiene factor. In a lot of what we do, it [success] comes down to your EQ and how you relate [to other people].”

Errol says that when he started in business, thirty years ago, social skills were not so important for leaders. Now, he believes, it is crucial for would-be leaders to develop their emotional intelligence.

He tells Visiting Honorary Professor Mike Sassi: “We know our school and university system focuses a lot on the accumulation of knowledge… but it is more about being curious. A lot of the knowledge you need in the world of work is about who people are and what makes them tick.

“That's a very different skill set… and you need to be ready to embrace it as you enter into the world of work and leadership.”

One of the reasons social skills are so important is that leaders now have to shepherd colleagues and customers through a constantly changing world, where “endemic change is the new business-as-usual”, says Errol.

He highlights research that shows the most successful leaders are those who can best build “emotional connections” with the people around them.

He adds: “I’ve been in this [change management] business for more than 30 years. You see success and failure, and you try to understand what makes a difference. We kicked off a study last year with leaders. It concluded that in most cases the major difference between success and failure is down to a human reaction to the change.

“This emotional aspect comes from the fact that we're social animals – we like engagement with other people. We shouldn't imagine that, in the work environment, we can be successful without tuning into people’s desire to be more connected and to feel the people they work with are moving in the same direction.

“So having those skills, but also being able to see when they’re not working very well… having the emotional intelligence to spot that… is a really important characteristic of leadership. Much more so than when I started my working career.”

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