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The following has been excerpted from my book 鈥淔rom the Ground Up: Stories and Lessons from Architects and Engineers Who Learned to Be Leaders.鈥� It can be preordered now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers.

Researchers Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman asked more than 300,000 business leaders to rank the top four competencies from a list of 16 key leadership skills. The team then ranked the data from most important to least important skills that leaders need to succeed in their current positions. The study showed what we intuitively know: technical skills, while important, don鈥檛 differentiate the most effective leaders. The soft skills of communication, essential to managing people and influencing others, rated the highest.

I decided to conduct my own survey of the AEC industry. When I interviewed 100 AEC business owners about their biggest leadership challenges, their number one issue was not finding better technical experts but finding people who can relate and communicate with peers and clients. Not to engineer something or solve a technical problem. But to be aware of what鈥檚 going on with their own emotions, to manage their emotions, to read people, and to have the sense of how to talk to someone. To know when to listen and be empathetic like a therapist. To know when to be direct and as clear as a drill sergeant. And to know how to do it well so you don鈥檛 tick people off but gain their admiration and trust.

Let鈥檚 face it 鈥� we want the smartest people in the room when it鈥檚 engineering the bridges we drive over, designing the schools children attend, and building the high-rises that tower 40 stories above the sidewalks. For executing complex tasks, we value precision and logic. We want those people to be sticklers for details. We want them to take ownership of their work. We want them to always do the right thing and be accountable to the highest standards. Technical experts with high IQ are indispensable to any AEC firm.

But when it comes to delivering bad news, resolving interpersonal issues, motivating other people to perform at their best, and convincing an interview panel to hire you, math is not the most useful skill. Technical skills are undeniably important to solving technical problems. But to solve people鈥檚 problems, you need a different skill set.

鈥淓ngineers need the full skill set of hard and soft skills to be effective leaders in the AEC industry,鈥� says Alison Davis, executive director, ACEC Oregon.

IQ is the common predictor of intellect, but it doesn鈥檛 help gauge soft skills, which is equally important. Emotional intelligence, or EQ, is our ability to understand and manage the emotions of ourselves and other people to have better interpersonal relationships.

Author Travis Bradberry notes, 鈥淓Q is so critical to success that it accounts for 58 percent of performance in all types of jobs.鈥�

It鈥檚 not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They do matter, as psychologist Daniel Goleman explains, but they are the entry-level requirements for executive positions.

Goleman, who first introduced emotional intelligence in a 1995 book by the same name, says, 鈥淓motional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership. Without it, a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind, and an endless supply of smart ideas, but he still won鈥檛 make a great leader.鈥�

To get a personalized assessment of your EQ, pick up a copy of Bradberry鈥檚 book (with Jean Greaves), 鈥淓motional Intelligence 2.0.鈥� The book breaks EQ into four buckets: self-awareness of your thoughts, emotions, triggers, and behavior; self-management of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; social awareness of other people鈥檚 cues, emotions, and perspectives; and relationship management, which leverages a total understanding of yourself and others to have more successful, productive relationships. Bradberry provides quick and easy strategies to boost your EQ.

Nora, an emerging leader I coached,聽learned how to be aware of her perception as a leader, how often she said yes, how difficult it was to let go of work, and how she communicated verbally and nonverbally to the partners. That required self-awareness. She needed to take the time in her day to plan her priorities, communicate clearly with her team so they could do the work without leaning on her, and bite her tongue when a partner was chastising her at a meeting. That required self-management. Nora learned to read the room and know when to speak and when to be quiet, to listen closely to truly understand what was important to someone else, and to spot those times when a staff member really didn鈥檛 understand a task but was afraid to say anything. That required social awareness. She learned when to say yes and when to say no, when to push and when to sit back, how to gain support by making others feel important, and how to communicate so people listened. That required relationship management. EQ is a skill that can be developed over time. You can learn how to listen, communicate, and think strategically.

Leo MacLeod is a trainer and coach who helps doers become leaders in the architecture, engineering and construction industries. Contact him at 503-880-8393 or [email protected]. Visit leomacleod.com/work-with-me/ to learn more.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91视频 guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

Editor鈥檚 note: This is the first column of a four-part series. The next one will appear in the June 15 edition of the 91视频.