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The new research highlights a striking gap between how leaders perceive their own capabilities and how employees experience them, with emotional intelligence, communication, and people development emerging as the biggest leadership gaps.
A recent report by NTUC LearningHub identifies emotional intelligence as a critical leadership gap in the workforce today. While 83% of business leaders surveyed believe they demonstrate emotional intelligence well, only half of employees agree.
The report, titled Leadership and Coaching Report, surveyed 150 business leaders and 300 full-time working professionals in Singapore. It examines the essential skills and competencies future leaders need, and the role of coaching in strengthening leadership at all levels.
According to the findings, emotional intelligence was cited by 31% of employees as the top skill their leaders lack. This was followed closely by effective communication and people development – both at 30% respectively.
Despite these gaps, 86% of business leaders say they are confident in their ability to lead effectively and achieve organisational goals. However, only 55% of employees report being confident in their leaders’ capabilities.
This disconnect also extends to how well leaders understand and meet employee needs. While most leaders (89%) believe they understand their employees’ needs and 84% say they meet evolving expectations, less than half of employees (46% and 45% respectively) agree with these sentiments.
Emotional intelligence seen as crucial by both sides
More than nine in 10 business leaders as well as employees consider emotional intelligence important in leadership, according to the report. Among leaders, 41% rated it as very important and 51% as quite important. Similarly, 32% of employees said it was very important, while 56% viewed it as quite important.
When asked why emotional intelligence matters, leaders point to its role in enabling better communication (55%), better decision-making (55%), adaptability (53%), relationships with employees (51%), and employee motivation (50%). Employees echoed many of these points but also emphasised its importance in helping leaders manage and resolve conflicts (65%) and remain calm under pressure (58%).
Different views on leadership styles
Differences in perspective also appeared in leadership styles. Business leaders reported applying democratic leadership most often (40%), followed by situational (39%) and laissez-faire styles (31%). Employees, however, expressed a preference for situational leadership (44%), followed by democratic (43%) and transformational (41%) approaches.
Leaders also face multiple challenges in the current workplace. These include keeping teams engaged and motivated (38%), managing relationships (35%), and balancing performance with employee wellbeing (29%). Other key concerns include developing future leaders (29%) and adapting to change and uncertainty (28%).
Training remains low despite identified gaps
Although three in five business leaders (60%) acknowledge gaps in their leadership abilities, only 44% have participated in leadership training over the past year. Two in five (39%) rarely attend such training.
Among the barriers to training, leaders cited lack of time (48%), high workloads (47%), and lack of motivation (31%). Nevertheless, about 38% expressed a desire for more frequent training, while 9% and 67% found their past training to be effective and quite effective respectively in improving their leadership skills.
Call for a shift in leadership development
Commenting on the findings, Jeremy Ong, Chief Executive Officer, NTUC noted that organisations must evolve their leadership development strategies. He noted that as leadership expectations extend beyond formal roles, organisations are aiming to foster a culture that empowers more employees to take initiative, make decisions, and actively contribute to the direction of their teams.
“Technical skills alone are no longer enough today, as a more balanced and human-centric approach towards leadership has become a key competency that will enable leaders to adopt the right leadership approach, connect meaningfully with their team, sustain employee engagement, and ultimately drive organisational success,” he said.
He added that continuous learning is essential to bridge the existing skills gaps and to nurture emotionally intelligent and visionary leaders for the future.
Lead image / NTUC LearningHub Press Release
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