EQ-i 2.0
The EQ-i 2.0® assessment provides leaders and teams with a comprehensive framework for understanding the emotional and social skills that influence how they understand themselves, relate to others, make decisions, and respond to challenge.
Unlike fixed personality characteristics, emotional intelligence competencies can become intentional areas for development.
Develop the Emotional Intelligence Behind Effective Leadership
Leadership happens in moments that rarely appear on an organizational chart.
A tense conversation. Difficult feedback. An unexpected change. An employee who needs support. A high-stakes decision. A conflict that needs to be addressed rather than avoided.
Technical expertise matters in these moments, but so does emotional intelligence.
What Does the EQ-i 2.0 Measure?
The EQ-i 2.0 model examines 15 emotional intelligence competencies organized within five composite areas:
Self-Perception
How effectively do I understand and regard myself?
Self-Expression
How effectively do I express thoughts, emotions, and needs?
Interpersonal
How effectively do I build relationships, demonstrate empathy, and contribute to others?
Decision Making
How effectively do I integrate emotion, objectivity, problem-solving, and impulse control?
Stress Management
How effectively do I adapt, remain flexible, and manage stress?
Together, these areas provide a nuanced picture of how emotional intelligence may be influencing workplace effectiveness.
Depending on the engagement, organizations may use workplace, leadership, group, or multi-rater EQ 360® reports.
Why Use Emotional Intelligence for Leadership Development?
Many leadership challenges are not simply knowledge problems.
A leader may know feedback needs to be given but struggle to deliver it effectively. Another may value collaboration yet become impatient under stress. A leader may be highly empathetic while having difficulty maintaining boundaries or making an unpopular decision.
EQ-i 2.0 gives leaders a framework for examining these tensions with greater precision.
It can support development around:
Self-awareness
Emotional expression
Empathy
Interpersonal relationships
Assertiveness
Decision-making
Problem-solving
Adaptability
Stress tolerance
Impulse control
Resilience
Change leadership
Conflict navigation
Coaching and feedback
At the team level, aggregate insights can also help leaders identify emotional intelligence strengths and development opportunities that may affect trust, communication, resilience, and performance.
What Could an EQ-i 2.0 Program Look Like?
Emotional Intelligence at Work
2–3 hours
A foundational program that combines individual insight with practical emotional intelligence development.
Sample agenda:
Introduction to emotional intelligence
Explore the EQ-i 2.0 model
Interpret key individual results
Identify EI strengths
Explore balance across related competencies
Connect results to workplace situations
Select priority development areas
Create individual behavioral commitments
Depending on participant needs, individual interpretation conversations may accompany the group workshop.
Ideal for: leaders, managers, high-potential employees, and professional development cohorts.
Emotionally Intelligent Leadership
3–5 hours
A deeper leadership experience focused on applying EQ to the moments that most influence leadership effectiveness.
Sample agenda:
Leadership EQ profile
Emotional intelligence strengths and potential derailers
Authenticity and self-awareness
Empathy, relationships, and coaching
Assertiveness and difficult conversations
Decision-making under emotional pressure
Adaptability and change
Stress tolerance and resilience
Apply EI to current leadership challenges
Individual leadership development plan
Ideal for: executive teams, senior leaders, people managers, and leadership-development cohorts.
Building Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
3-4 session engagement
Session 1 — Awareness
EQ-i results and interpretation
Leadership strengths
Priority development areas
Session 2 — Relationships
Empathy
Interpersonal effectiveness
Feedback
Assertiveness and coaching
Session 3 — Decisions Under Pressure
Problem-solving
Reality testing
Impulse control
Stress management and adaptability
Optional Session 4 — Integration
Review behavioral progress
Apply EI to current business challenges
Peer coaching
Refine individual development goals
Establish accountability
Emotional Intelligence Becomes Powerful When It Becomes Behavioral
Understanding an EQ score is not the objective.
Recognizing the moments in which a leader needs to pause, adapt, listen, challenge, regulate, empathize, or act differently is.
Horizon Team Design helps leaders translate emotional intelligence insight into intentional leadership behavior.
Where Could Greater Emotional Intelligence Improve Leadership Effectiveness?
If self-awareness, interpersonal effectiveness, decision-making, stress management, or resilience are development priorities, EQ-i 2.0 may provide a valuable starting point.
Explore other tools that may fit your goals:
MBTI
Understand personality preferences that affect communication, decision-making, and leadership style.
DiSC
Build practical behavioral flexibility for communication, management, feedback, and conflict.
FIRO-B / FIRO Business
Examine the interpersonal needs that can influence trust, authority, and executive relationships.
CliftonStrengths
Identify natural talents and use them more intentionally across leadership and team responsibilities.