“Three words—continue building legacy.” That was the unequivocal response of Richard Ferry, one of our firm’s pioneering founders, when I asked him a few weeks ago, “Do you have any advice for me?”

His words have stayed with me ever since—particularly now, as we end the first week of the twelfth month of another year coming to a close. It’s a natural time to become more reflective—not only about what’s behind us, but also what lies ahead. Whether our thoughts go to milestones met, challenges overcome, or opportunities awaiting us, we inevitably arrive at what matters most.

Most businesses still treat this invisible force as a soft skill — when, in truth, it has become the most powerful competitive advantage.

In an age where artificial intelligence writes emails, predicts consumer behavior and even paints portraits, the one advantage still exclusively human is emotional intelligence. Yet most businesses still treat it as a soft skill — when, in truth, it has become the most powerful form of competitive intelligence.

That morning, the manager reminded himself to wish Joe, his subordinate, a happy birthday. But the workday started with a crisis, and the manager spent the day in meetings, only coming up for air at 6 PM. Two days later, when he stopped by Joe’s desk with a small gift, Joe thanked him—but he was actually a little bothered: How could his boss entirely forget his 40th?

Most leaders would not even register such a misstep as a significant problem. But according to new research, even seemingly mild slights by managers can lead to shocking results—such as a 50% increase in employee absenteeism or a drop of two working hours per month.

A friend reached out to me last week with a problem. He took on a new job a few months ago, but he’s also building his own business on the side and will likely leave in time—something he was clear about with his employer from the beginning. Here’s where things get tricky: He wants to start posting more content about his business on LinkedIn, but he doesn’t want to upset his employer, who may see his posts.

Empathy has become a cornerstone of effective leadership. Leaders are expected to be emotionally intelligent, actively listen to their teams and create inclusive work environments. However, this increased emotional labor comes at a cost: empathy burnout. Unlike traditional burnout, which stems from excessive workload, empathy burnout is an emotional exhaustion that results from prolonged exposure to the struggles, emotions and challenges of others.

There’s a lot of talk in business today about the importance of demonstrating leadership at every level. Yet, many organizations still play it safe, earmarking far more leadership development opportunities for designated “high potentials.”  This strategy might seem efficient, but if you want your team to win a race, wouldn’t you want every runner to have a shot at being first?

Sales leaders are the lever for a high-performing sales organization. One study cited in the Harvard Business Review found that 69% of sales reps who exceeded quota rated their managers highly. The same study showed that just 3% of reps who gave their leaders low ratings then turned around and gave their organization a high rating. In other words, how a rep views their leader is how they view the organization.

Back in the early years of this century, the U.K. had gone years without any real success in the sport of track cycling. Then, along came David Brailsford, a former professional cyclist who happened to have an MBA. As an article in the Harvard Business Review recounts, he transformed a team that had won a single gold medal in 76 years of trying into a superpower that won seven of the 10 gold medals available at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and then matched it four years later in London.

The skills that can make you highly successful aren’t necessarily innate. You can practice them, and get better at them. That’s according to bestselling authors and leadership researchers Brené Brown and Simon Sinek, who sat down with Wharton organizational psychologist Adam Grant for a recent episode of his “ReThinking” podcast.

Brené Brown, bestselling author, researcher, and University of Houston professor, was surrounded by creativity as a child. “I grew up in a pink stucco house in New Orleans where my mom was always a maker. All the curtains in our house were homemade, and all the art in our house was from us kids. I had dresses that matched my mom’s that matched my dolls’.”

It’s been a tried-and-true corporate strategy since the 1980s. If layoffs need to be done, fire the middle managers. They’re the group responsible, in the minds of many executives, when an organization becomes inefficient. True to form, the rounds of restructurings recently announced in technology, logistics, and other industries have targeted corporate midsections. But experts warn that removing too many middle managers—and putting too much pressure on those that remain—can jeopardize many corporate priorities, such as innovation and diversity initiatives.

What makes people feel included in organizations? Feel that they are treated fairly and respectfully, are valued and belong? Many things of course, including an organization’s mission, policies, and practices, as well as co-worker behaviors.

Fabian was feeling anxious as he left the leadership training course. He knew what he had to do, and yet he didn’t know how to actually do it. Fabian had been promoted up through the ranks of a global construction firm, starting in 1994 out of his university as part of a rotational management program.

When applying for a job, there are many ways to optimize your resume. You can check the listing to see where the employer’s priorities lie in terms of experience, and make sure to highlight what’s most important to them, for example. You can include any major achievements like exceeding sales goals. And you can include a link to your LinkedIn profile.

It wasn’t so long ago that a CEO was considered effective if they could keep the board of directors happy, appease shareholders, and steer clear of major reputational issues. Not so anymore.

The job description for the CEO of today is being crowdsourced, with nearly every segment of society — employees, customers, suppliers, governments, and activists — registering their expectations and demands.

Late last year, Facebook announced plans to hire 10,000 people in Europe to build out its “metaverse,” an augmented-reality space. Amazon, meanwhile, announced plans to hire more than 55,000 people for corporate and technology jobs in the United States even as Google is moving to hire thousands of technologists.

Your brain is a prediction machine, meaning that when things don't go as planned, there can be significant consequences. You’ll have experienced this many times. That tight feeling in your chest when receiving adverse news. That sinking feeling when a decision you made starts to look like a costly mistake. That anxiety when your schedule changes at the last minute. We're all human.

The old proverb says, “If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.”

But too often, managers fall into a habit of simply giving their employees a fish — or in this case, all the answers. “Do as I say, and you will succeed” is, unfortunately, not an uncommon approach to management.

I am about to show you that most managers have some mistaken beliefs about the best kind of feedback to give their direct reports. In a survey we shared on Harvard Business Review of 7,631 managers, my colleague Joe Folkman and I asked whether they believed that giving negative feedback was stressful or difficult, and 44% agreed. When talking with managers about giving feedback, we often hear comments such as, “I did not sleep the night before,” “I just wanted to get it over quickly,” “My hands were sweating, and I was nervous,”

In my experience as a consultant who has transformed 16 companies, and as an entrepreneur who has built or bought almost as many of my own enterprises, I’ve learned that managers and leaders often miss one crucial point about emotional intelligence (“EQ”): EQ requires intolerance for the intolerable just as much as it requires empathy.