Emotional intelligence: The secret ingredient shaping the future of business
By NYU Stern
A little over two years ago, organizations were forced to evolve, as a global pandemic unearthed fundamental truths about the future of business in all sectors and at all levels.
For employees, many of whom were adapting to remote work, a more holistic style of management that took personal circumstances into account was more vital than ever. For managers and senior executives, emotional intelligence (or EQ for short) — the ability to identify and manage their own emotions, as well as empathize with and understand others’ emotions and motivations — quickly became the barometer for great leadership.
But for students enrolled in NYU Stern’s Executive MBA program, EQ had been an integral part of their learning experience long before COVID hit. NYU Stern’s top ranked Executive MBA (EMBA) program has been shaping modern leaders in New York City for years and recently launched in Washington, D.C., a city steeped in history where big decisions are made each and every day.
Using EQ to navigate business decisions
“Emotional intelligence was embedded in us from the get-go. From our very first classes, we were taught professional responsibility, how to manage teams in a more human way and how important diversity in leadership is,” explains Darwin Castillo, who graduated from NYU Stern’s EMBA program in Washington, D.C. last year.
As an ER doctor, Darwin saw first-hand the impact COVID had on patients and communities: “Adapting and managing change is one of the big things that we have to deal with in clinical settings, but the knock-on effect of honing my EQ helped immeasurably while balancing working with study.”
The Stern EMBA program enabled Darwin to apply vital business leadership knowledge to the healthcare industry, at a time of huge flux. “The program allowed me to delve deeper into my knowledge. I became fluent in the languages of finance, strategy, supply chain, data-driven decision making and the complex incentives within the healthcare industry,” Darwin says.
He credits the aspects of the EMBA program that focus on EQ with his newfound ability to see the bigger picture and is now using his knowledge and experience to advocate for disaster preparedness and response for emergency physicians.
An emphasis on empathy
IQ+EQ is a core value of NYU Stern and has informed the structure and content of their EMBA program. For 2021 alumna Erin Filor, that meant the flexibility and tailored support she needed to excel as a working parent: “The program required us to be on-campus once a month which fit my schedule perfectly, but it still attracted the high-caliber, high-intellect, high-achieving group of students you’d expect from a full-time NYU Stern program.”
The program’s emphasis on EQ is a vital component for students that want to challenge and learn from one another: “It meant that we could become the kinds of leaders that can navigate a fast-evolving landscape in a very agile way,” Erin explains. “We’ve evolved more in the last two years than we have in the previous ten. That’s going to be the pace of innovation, and it’s going to be people who are agile, thoughtful and strategic managers and leaders who can bring those individuals along for the ride that are really going to excel.”
Erin is doing just that in her career now, being promoted immediately after graduation to Head of Communications and Marketing for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. She is now leading them through a transformative period in their growth and owes no small part of her success to the network she acquired while studying in Stern’s EMBA program in D.C. “Getting to know people, being exposed to careers I hadn’t considered, and being challenged to think differently about how business is going to evolve was a unique experience,” she adds.
The next generation of leaders
Jed Morris, who also graduated from NYU Stern’s second ever EMBA class in D.C., echoes these sentiments. “My experience was phenomenal. I was looking for a top-ranked MBA to push my career forward and found so much more,” he says. “I now have friends and a network of peers who will stay with me forever, and the knowledge and training to guide my professional career wherever I want it to go.”
Having applied to the EMBA program following a decade’s experience in both military and civilian roles in the United States Air Force, Jed also benefited from the flexibility of the program. It enabled him to level up without taking two years out of his career.
Halfway through the EMBA program, he was hired by Microsoft as a software engineer working on the site reliability of their Azure cloud infrastructure, and his successful pivot to Big Tech — a totally new sector requiring completely different technical skills — was made all the more possible by the EQ he developed in NYU Stern’s EMBA program.
“I think that NYU Stern is at the forefront of integrating EQ into their curriculum and, over time, it may have the biggest impact on alumni success,” Jed explains. “As a 10-year Air Force veteran, I was well trained to understand that the emotional and psychological well-being of my Airmen was just as, if not more, important than their quantitative ability to get the job done. EQ is vital to maintaining team cohesion and productivity, in any sector or industry.”
The impact of EQ in management will continue to grow exponentially as hybrid and remote work environments continue to become the norm. NYU Stern’s acknowledgement of the importance of EQ, and emphasis on it within their leadership courses, is already paying incredible dividends for their alumni, who will be better equipped to lead the next generation.
If you’re open to excellence and a more holistic, future-ready approach to management, find out more about the NYU Stern Executive MBA program in Washington, D.C. today.
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