Engineers who boost emotional intelligence turn collaboration bottlenecks into growth opportunities, making teams more productive and leaders more influential.
Engineers often think technical skill is enough, but the real differentiator is emotional intelligence. Patricia Juarez Muñoz shares how realizing the limits of pure IQ led her to adopt EQ practices, turning a personal bottleneck into a catalyst for team growth. She describes the shift from jumping straight to solutions to listening, asking questions, and coaching peers, which unlocked higher performance and morale.
The piece contrasts the before and after: early in her career she fixed problems herself, becoming a hidden bottleneck despite high IQ. By foregrounding EQ, she now facilitates learning, guides teammates through reasoning, and scales her impact without sacrificing bandwidth. The narrative is peppered with concrete examples-like stepping back to let others solve sub-problems and only intervening when the team truly needs her insight.
Practical advice includes self-assessment tools (MSCEIT, ESCI), aligning EQ development with career goals, and recognizing that at senior levels EQ outweighs raw technical ability. Citing Daniel Goleman and studies showing EQ accounts for roughly 90% of leadership effectiveness, the article argues that intentional EQ development is essential for any engineer who wants to lead, retain talent, and avoid burnout.
Check out the full stdlib collection for more frameworks, templates, and guides to accelerate your technical leadership journey.