As Franklin D. Roosevelt wisely recognized when he took office in 1933, emotional recovery must precede economic recovery. The same truth applies to organizations hoping to prosper when the economy eventually rebounds.

People’s ability to control and use their emotions effectively is a profound indicator of their business success.

Consider this recent discovery by TalentSmart researchers: 70 percent of the most skilled business decision makers also score in the top 15 percent in emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence, also known as EQ, is a person’s ability to identify and understand their own emotions, and those of others.

Leaders with low emotional intelligence (or a poor understanding of their emotions) not only rank among the lowest of decision makers but also consistently fail to recognize that their judgment is being tainted by their impatience, anger or other strong feelings. Low EQ leaders justify their actions using all sorts of rationalization to fool themselves into believing that their judgment is based more on logic than emotion. By contrast those leaders who recognize and appropriately manage their emotions consistently make the best business decisions.

Leaders who manage their emotions well are more likely to bring their company through the recession than those who become overwhelmed by their feelings.

Here’s a comparison of the traits of low and high EQ people.

People with low EQ tend to:
Sound off even when it won’t help
Brush people off when bothered
Deny that emotions impact their thinking
Get defensive when challenged
Focus only on tasks and ignore the person
Act oblivious to unspoken tension

People with high EQ tend to:
Only speak out when doing so helps the situation
Keep lines of communication open even when frustrated
Recognize when other people are affecting their emotional state
Stay open to feedback and criticism
Show others they care about them
Accurately pick up on the mood of a room

Positive emotions spur performance
Emotional intelligence is widely regarded as the secret ingredient for taking an organization from good to great, accounting for as much as 58 percent of an individual’s job performance. Reports of larger corporations using EQ training revealed surprising results.

• Coca Cola, for example, uncovered a 30 percent gap in productivity between division leaders trained to recognize and manage their emotions and those who didn’t.
• Hallmark Communities found that sales associates who developed EQ skills were 25 percent more productive than their low EQ counterparts.
• After T-Mobile developed EQ skills in their customer service reps, they tripled productivity.

Individuals trained to improve their EQ can super-charge their job performance.

Negative emotions diminish productivity
During economic down cycles, employees experience greater volatility in their emotions. Those with poor EQ skills see a diminished level of productivity and performance. Additionally, the palpable stress and anxiety hinders these workers’ ability to instill confidence in customers and co-workers. All of the knowledge and technical skill in the world can’t address a productivity issue rooted in poor emotional coping mechanisms.

What’s the connection between a shark attack and an average day at work? The challenges at the office aren’t all that different from a predator’s jaws coming at you, where swift, rational thinking and action is most needed, according to emotional intelligence expert Travis Bradberry.

Bradberry’s Dalai-Lama-endorsed book Emotional Intelligence 2.0 begins with the story of Butch Conner, who was attacked by a white shark while surfing off the coast of northern California. Conner’s story details his thoughts and his reactions to the 14-foot shark that swam tightly around him, knocked him off his surfboard and made an open-jaw attempt on his life. Bradberry notes that Conner broke through his fear, which temporarily froze him, and used rational thinking to defend himself by stabbing the shark with the nose of his surfboard. He survived without a scratch.

How many business books begin with a detailed account of shark attack? Probably, only one, this one. (Full disclosure: Conner’s shark attack story was first published in Surfing’s Greatest Misadventures, which I edited. The misadventures book is required reading for surfers, and now, I suppose, it also makes for good reading for CEOs.)

Having spent many years studying behaviors and interactions that produce success in the workplace, Bradberry, who holds dual Ph.Ds in clinical and industrial psychology, has found that those who understand and manage their emotions tend to succeed more than those who don’t manage their emotions well.

“Emotional intelligence,” says Bradberry, “is the other kind of smart. It’s having an awareness of your emotions, tendencies and the experience of others and then using that awareness to proactively manage your response to situations and people to avoid pitfalls and create better opportunities.”

How the book works
Emotional Intelligence 2.0 is an instruction manual of sorts, with step-by-step plans that teach you to observe your actions and reactions to various situations and, when needed, choose a better course of action.

The book includes a pass code to a proprietary emotional intelligence test—used by many Fortune 500 companies to evaluate their employees—which otherwise costs $39.95. The test measures your EQ on a scale of 1 to 100 in four key competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.

Bradberry suggests that readers take the test and then practice three skills to help them improve in the one competency area where they scored lowest. The book presents a menu of 66 skills, all derived from extensive research conducted on how people actually increase their EQ.

I scored lowest in social awareness. After taking the test, I turned to the Social Awareness Strategies chapter that offers 16 improvement ideas. The three that I picked were 1) greet people by name, 2) plan ahead for social situations and 3) develop a back-pocket question—here are two that I came up with: “What’s your favorite Web site?” and “What’s the longest you’ve gone without sleep?” These conversation starters can get you out of an awkward moment.

The techniques are pretty simple, and they work to make for more successful interactions. The catch is that you have to keep up the new way of doing things for three to six months before they become habitual. And, as we all know, old habits die hard.