We are very excited and thrilled that we had our very first formal AMA session in CEO Hangout.
The host was Maria Marcakis, a Fractional HR expert for growing companies (10-75 employees), focused on the critical role of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) in effective leadership and organizational health
The topic of the discussion: Emotional Intelligence for Founders. We spoke about the significant role of recognizing, and overcoming your emotional triggers, the changing workspace dynamics, the core work skills in 2025, and a lot more.
Here are some of the main highlights. Enjoy!
Emotional Intelligence in the Era of AI
In 2025, emotional intelligence isn’t just a “nice to have.” It’s vital. As AI continues to outpace humans in many technical and analytical areas, what sets us apart, and will continue to, is how we handle our own emotions and the emotions of each other.
How emotionally intelligent are you? Take a self-assessment quiz at the end of the article.🔽
But what is emotional intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence: (noun) How we manage, handle and lead ourselves, and how we manage, handle and lead others.
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is about recognizing, understanding, and managing your own emotions, and doing the same with others. And let’s be real: in a workplace where automation is solving problems faster than ever, people are the variable. Miscommunication, burnout, disengagement… All these aren’t technical problems. They’re emotional ones.
Leaders especially need to grow their EQ muscles. That means practicing
- Self-awareness
- Empathy
- Intentional communication.
It’s how you build trust, retain talent, and create an environment where people can actually thrive, even as roles shift and tools evolve.
In 2025, adaptability is everything. And the most adaptable people? They’re not the ones who memorize the most tools. They’re the ones who can stay grounded in chaos, manage conflict without escalation, and lead others through change with clarity and compassion.
EQ isn’t soft. It’s smart. It helps us to be resilient, make better decisions, and affects the bottom line, too.
Common Emotional Triggers and How to Overcome Them
Let’s talk about emotional triggers, because if you’re leading a team or even just trying to survive in fast-moving workplaces, this comes up constantly.
A trigger is an automatic emotional response to a situation, often rooted in past experiences rather than the actual moment in front of you. It could be criticism, being interrupted, being ignored, or even just tone of voice.
The tricky part is that triggers don’t usually announce themselves. They erupt. And when they do, you’re no longer responding with intention; you’re reacting on autopilot.
In 2025, where change is nonstop and emotional bandwidth is thin, leaders cannot afford to be reactive. Understanding your own triggers is essential. Why? Because it gives you a moment of pause and a chance to choose how to respond instead of getting hijacked by emotion.
This matters for workers too. Triggers create conflict, silence collaboration, and erode trust. But when you know what sets you off and why, you can start to regulate. You take back agency.
Self awareness is where our work as leaders lies. Taking full responsibility of what we say and do is the key to deepening our own self awareness and EQ.
So the work is simple (not easy, but simple): Notice the trigger. Identify the story you’re telling yourself. Shift the narrative. That space between stimulus and response is where growth happens.
Triggers don’t make you weak. They make you human. What matters is how you work with them, not against them.
I’m sharing a list of common triggers here.
Everyone’s different. A trigger for one person may not affect another. But recognizing your own can help you regain control and respond rather than react.
Here’s an exercise:
- Pick one trigger you know affects you
- Reflect on your usual (often non-logical) response
- Now rewrite the thought or response you’d like to have
For example, one of my triggers is criticizing. When I am criticized, I automatically jump to the feeling of being attacked. My fight and flight response is initiated, and I am unable to take in any new information.
Now that you’ve identified one of your triggers, and the process of what happens when you encounter it, jot down an alternative thought that would reduce the likelihood of being triggered.
Based on my example above, If I were to rewrite this from a different perspective, it would go something like “I am feeling under attack. The other person probably doesn’t want to fight, but they have something that is bugging them, and they aren’t using good communication skills to tell me what’s bothering them. I need to take a breath, and lead with curiosity, ask them what’s up, what is the real thing bothering them.” Then I go through my very non-logical process, and it doesn’t end very well.
Another trigger is blaming. What you can do? In a calm state, go through the reflection exercise.
- Write your typical thought process.
- Challenge it. What’s another way to view the situation?
- Create a new narrative that helps you stay grounded.
It’s true that people often blame to avoid discomfort or ownership—but our reactions are still ours to manage.
And the infamous silent treatment? What can you do in such a difficult to handle situation?
Give the person time, as they probably process information at a different frequency, and in a calm state, talk about it. How it affects you. What you can do to stop the stonewalling. There is an excellent book called the 7 Principles of Making a Marriage Work by John Gottman. It’s great for all partnerships.
Changing Workspace Dynamics: Gen Z, Core Skills, Post-COVID
The workplace in 2025 has changed dramatically. Hybrid teams, AI-assisted tasks, and evolving expectations have created a shift not just in operations, but in how people relate at work. Emotional intelligence is no longer a soft skill; it is an essential skill for the future.
According to the World Economic Forum’s “Future of Jobs” report, emotional intelligence, self-awareness, resilience, and empathy are now part of the core skills for professionals. Technology skills will always have a place as a core skill, but EQ is essential in managing so much information and change.
AI and automation continue to absorb repetitive, skill-specific work. What cannot be automated is how we lead, influence, and support each other.
Regarding Gen Z, Pew Research has a few points to consider:
- Gen Z is more racially and ethnically diverse than previous generations
- Gen Z on track to be the best-educated generation yet
- Gen Zers and Millennials have similar viewpoints on many major issues of the day
This shift is especially visible with Gen Z entering the workforce. They are values-driven, quick to speak out about fairness, and deeply attuned to company culture. They care less about rigid hierarchies and more about purpose, inclusion, and emotional safety.
Leaders who are emotionally intelligent will connect better with this generation, guide conversations more effectively, and build loyalty in a more fluid work culture.
Emotional intelligence helps managers lead across generations, navigate culture shifts, and respond to ambiguity without spiraling. For team members, it builds resilience during reorgs, product pivots, or leadership transitions. Today’s workplace requires people to handle discomfort, communicate transparently, and manage triggers in real time.
This is not about being perfect or overly polished. It is about practicing awareness, showing up with intention, and understanding that people skills are now power skills. If you’re managing people, launching a business, or simply trying to grow in your role, building emotional intelligence will future-proof your impact.
That being said, business owners have a chance to define their culture regardless of their workforce. There is nuance of course, but overall, Vision, Values, Mission – those drive business decisions, provide clarity, and accountability for leadership
After the pandemic, and the wave of “return to office” policies, the way we “manage” others has fundamentally changed. During the pandemic, HR professionals (myself included) were in constant response mode—rewriting policies, adjusting communication, and adapting daily.
A quote I often reference comes from Dr. Travis Bradberry:
“Our brains are wired to give emotions the upper hand… You have an emotional reaction to the world before you can think rationally about it.”
Models for Frameworks
Frameworks are no longer just tools for high-level planning. They’ve become essential for managing people, navigating conflict, and supporting emotionally intelligent communication in fast-changing work environments.
With AI handling more technical tasks, the demand has shifted toward core human skills: empathy, clarity, adaptability, and structured thinking. This shift is especially visible with Gen Z stepping into more roles across management and operations. They favor clear, actionable systems that promote fairness, inclusion, and open dialogue.
That’s where communication frameworks come in. Models like SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact) give teams a simple, reliable method to address feedback and behavior without resorting to vague or emotional outbursts.
For example:
“In yesterday’s meeting (Situation), when you interrupted Sarah three times (Behavior), it seemed to discourage her from sharing her ideas, and we missed her input on the budget (Impact).”
It’s clear, specific, and focused on facts, not assumptions.
The COIN Method takes a forward-focused approach:
- Context: Set the scene
- Observation: What happened
- Impact: How it affected things
- Next: What should change moving forward
This model works well for managers who want to coach rather than correct. It encourages progress without lingering on what went wrong.
For deeper emotional intelligence, Rosenberg’s OFNR Framework is powerful. It helps people separate facts from feelings and align requests with real needs:
- Observation: “When I hear you say…”
- Feeling: “I feel concerned…”
- Need: “Because I value clarity…”
- Request: “Would you be willing to clarify next time?”
Teaching people to express genuine emotion without blaming others is a vital leadership skill in 2025.
In more direct or high-stakes conversations, the DESC Script is effective:
- Describe the situation
- Express how it affects you
- Specify what you want
- Consequences of making that change (positive). It gives professionals a way to speak up without escalating tension.
To make these frameworks stick, coaching techniques matter:
- Start with curiosity: “Help me understand…” softens defenses
- Replace “but” with “and” to balance correction with validation
- Focus on one issue per conversation
- Apply the 24-hour rule before reacting to emotional situations
Among all options, the SBI model is often the easiest to learn and apply, making it ideal for teams new to structured feedback. Role-playing common workplace scenarios can help reinforce it.
Frameworks like these are more than checklists. They’re part of the new core skill set: the ability to connect, resolve, and lead with emotional clarity. In the evolving workplace, the people who succeed are those who can apply simple models to real situations and build trust in the process.
We would like to thank everyone that participated in the enlightening Ask Me Anything Session. Also, we haven’t forgotten, here’s the self-assessment quiz we promised: How Emotionally Intelligent Are You? – MindTools Quiz
Feel free to connect with Maria on her website and LinkedIn.
Join our Slack Community, and you, too, can participate in such inspiring conversations.
