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Unlocking Team Performance with Leadership Behaviors · The Science of Leading

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  Hey everyone-welcome back to The Science of Leading.
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  I'm Claire Monroe, joined-as always-by the one and only Edwin Carrington.
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  So, Edwin...
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  today we're jumping into what might be the most misunderstood piece of
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  leadership: emotional intelligence.
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  I mean...
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  it's everywhere, right?
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  Buzzword central.
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  But...
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  does it actually matter when you're trying to build a team that works?
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  Like, really works?
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  It does.
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  And not just in theory-there's data backing it up now.
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  There's a 2025
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  study by Michał Ćwiąkała and his team-small sample size,
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  but smart analysis.
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  They found that traits like self-awareness,
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  self-regulation, empathy, and social skills weren't just leadership fluff.
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  Those traits were the difference-makers.
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  Leaders with high emotional intelligence?
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  They were seen as more ethical,
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  better at defusing conflict, and-most of all-they fostered trust.
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  And once trust shows up?
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  That's when teams start delivering consistently.
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  They move as one.
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  That actually lines up weirdly well with something I
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  went through...
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  early on in my career.
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  I had this manager-Lila-and...
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  I don't know, she just got it.
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  Like, we were on this high-stakes project,
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  everything was tense, people were low-key fighting in meetings...
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  real war-room vibes.
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  And Lila-she just stopped everything one day.
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  Looked around.
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  Said something like, "I can feel how much stress is in this room right
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  now-how's everyone holding up?"And it wasn't performative.
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  It was real.
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  It kind of cracked the room open,
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  you know?
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  People softened.
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  We actually listened to each other that week.
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  The arguing stopped.
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  Was that empathy?
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  Or...
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  something more?
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  That's exactly it,
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  Claire.
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  What she did?
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  That's core-level emotional intelligence.
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  Empathy isn't just about being
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  nice-it's the ability to read the emotional undercurrent,
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  then do something useful with it.
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  When a leader calls out tension like
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  that-not to blame, but to name it-they lower the collective anxiety.
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  And what fills that space is trust.
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  Interestingly,
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  the study found that leaders seen as empathic were also viewed as more
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  ethical.
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  That perception alone increases psychological safety.
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  And when safety rises...
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  collaboration and resilience follow.
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  It makes sense,
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  though.
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  Like-I've worked harder for leaders who got me than for ones who just...
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  managed my workload.
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  Is that what the study was pointing at?
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  That teams want to work harder for emotionally intelligent leaders?
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  Yes.
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  You're not imagining that.
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  The study showed that emotionally intelligent
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  leaders didn't just prevent team drama-they inspired commitment.
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  People brought more energy to the work.
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  Because here's the thing: you
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  can't lead high-performance teams if you can't handle the emotional complexity
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  that comes with them.
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  Conflict, friction,
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  tension...
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  they're not problems to eliminate.
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  They're dynamics to navigate.
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  Emotional intelligence is what gives leaders the ability to do that with
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  purpose instead of panic.
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  Yeah, and yet-when people talk about leadership
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  development, it always sounds so... process-heavy.
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  Like,
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  competencies, models, frameworks.
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  But underneath it all, isn't this just about being human?
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  Exactly.
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  Strip away the frameworks, and you're left with how people show up.
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  The
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  research keeps pointing to this: emotional intelligence isn't just a soft
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  skill.
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  It's a performance lever.
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  It determines how teams function under pressure,
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  how trust gets built, and how problems actually get solved-not just managed.
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  Okay,
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  but...
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  let's say someone does have that baseline empathy.
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  When it comes down
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  to execution-like real project delivery-what actually moves the needle?
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  I know you were digging into Ćwiąkała's findings there too.
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  Right.
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  That paper was solid.
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  They looked at project professionals and found clear patterns.
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  The top-performing
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  leaders gave constructive feedback,
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  communicated goals with clarity,
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  clarified roles early, and encouraged ownership.
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  And those behaviors were
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  linked to hitting goals, staying on budget,
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  and keeping stakeholders happy.
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  But here's where it gets interesting-the
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  style behind those behaviors mattered.
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  A lot.
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  So...
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  not just "be nice and stuff gets done"?
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  There's a framework under that?
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  Exactly.
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  Leaders who were too directive?
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  They crushed morale.
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  Leaders who were too participative?
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  They got bogged down in indecision.
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  I worked with a team once-very democratic,
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  very inclusive.
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  At first, it felt amazing-everyone had a voice,
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  ideas were flowing.
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  But over time,
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  decisions stalled.
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  Deadlines slipped.
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  Frustration crept in.
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  Engagement without execution?
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  That's a trap.
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  If you don't balance it, the whole thing buckles.
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  That's like...
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  every "collaborative" meeting I've ever been in where no one actually
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  leaves with a plan.
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  So how do you not get stuck in that loop?
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  Like...
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  what's the move?
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  It's all about structure.
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  The best leaders set clear expectations
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  before the meeting even starts.
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  People know when their input is needed-and when it's time to decide and
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  move.
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  They clarify how decisions will get made,
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  and what kind of feedback leads to real changes.
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  In the study,
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  the highest-performing leaders created just enough room for input-but
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  also made timely, clear calls.
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  So kind of like... use democracy where it
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  counts, but don't try to co-sign every single decision?
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  Exactly.
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  It's situational.
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  You open things up when strategic thinking is needed-and
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  then you close the loop when it's time to execute.
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  That rhythm builds both
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  motivation and momentum.
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  Okay, that sounds good on paper-but in practice?
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  I feel like that's the hardest thing for new managers.
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  They're either all-in on control or afraid to assert anything.
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  You're
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  right.
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  That tension shows up everywhere.
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  And it's a learned skill.
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  The key is watching what actually gets results-not just what feels comfortable.
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  Alright,
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  zooming out for a second.
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  What about leadership teams-like the executive group running the show?
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  I
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  remember McKinsey and a few others breaking down what separates good teams
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  from the ones that...
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  look polished but kinda fall apart under pressure.
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  There's a consistent
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  pattern.
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  The best leadership teams do four things really well:They clarify roles.
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  They
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  align on priorities.
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  They execute efficiently.
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  And-they take time to step
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  back, reflect, and adjust.
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  One insurance company I worked with saw $20
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  million in savings just by tightening their leadership meetings and aligning
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  their way of working.
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  No big strategy shift-just better behavior,
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  consistently.
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  Wait-twenty million?
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  Just from getting the team aligned?
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  So they didn't need some flashy new
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  playbook-just better habits?
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  Exactly.
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  Most leadership dysfunction isn't about intelligence-it's about patterns.
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  What
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  the research shows is that teams know communication and alignment matter-but
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  less than half actually do it well.
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  Old habits,
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  day-to-day chaos, calendar overload...
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  they get in the way.
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  What helps is building rituals.
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  Regular check-ins.
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  Clear agendas.
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  Time to reflect.
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  The best teams make those routines boring on purpose-and
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  that's what keeps them agile.
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  I kind of love that.
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  Like...
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  the real secret weapon isn't brilliance-it's rhythm.
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  Weekly syncs,
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  alignment checks-just making sure people are rowing in the same direction.
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  That's
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  the stuff that shows up in post-mortems,
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  right?
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  "We thought we were aligned, but..."Exactly.
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  You see it in team breakdowns,
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  budget overruns, disengagement scores...The top teams don't leave
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  leadership
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  to chance.
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  They turn consistency into a competitive advantage.
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  Alright-that's a wrap
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  on today's deep dive.
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  Next time,
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  we're digging into how to actually scale these leadership behaviors across
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  the whole org-not just one good manager here and there.
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  Edwin-always a
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  pleasure.
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  Likewise, Claire.
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  I love these conversations-and your stories always bring it to life.
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  And
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  if you're wondering how to actually put some of this into action...You
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  can test out OAD's tools-like behavioral assessments-for free at OAD.
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  ai.
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  It's
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  a super simple way to make hiring easier and build teams that actually
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  fit.
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  See you next time on The Science of Leading.