When lack of emotional intelligence become telling

I found this news article fascinating — for how regulators in the US assess the integrity of CEOs applying for casino licences, and the role emotional intelligence plays in that process.

Here we have the Nevada Gaming Control Board publicly assessing an Australian gaming executive’s suitability for a casino licence, effectively declining the application because it stood no prospect of success in the short term.

One comment from the Board stood out:

“𝘜𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦… 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘊𝘌𝘖, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥-𝘣𝘰𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 — 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵.”

You don’t often see emotional intelligence cited so directly, and so publicly, as a reason for professional rejection.

We have long thought of emotional intelligence as a “soft skill,” important for leadership, culture and trust. But here, it played out in a public forum and was treated as a hard criterion for fitness and integrity to hold a licence.

So, what can we take from this?

• Character, honesty and integrity still matter — when practiced internally and externally.

• Attitude counts. A poor one can undo everything else and be very costly.

• In a public hearing, vague answers, defensiveness or blaming others will not get you far.

• Never expect a rubber stamp with a regulator. Do the work, understand the process and show respect for it.

And finally, if you have emotional intelligence, demonstrate it wisely — it is noticeable and good for business.

#Leadership #EmotionalIntelligence #Integrity #CorporateGovernance #ExecutiveLeadership#SelfAwareness #TheChangeLounge #ExecutiveCoaching

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