For years, leadership development has focused on hard skills like operations, finance and technical know-how. But today, there’s growing recognition that soft skills — especially emotional intelligence (EQ) — are just as vital, if not more so. EQ isn’t just about being “nice” or managing conflict — it’s about cultivating trust, improving communication and building resilient, high-performing teams.

In a fast-changing workplace where expectations are rising and retention is a top priority, EQ has become a business imperative.

Self-awareness beats spreadsheets

Emotional intelligence starts with self-awareness. Leaders who understand their own emotions are better equipped to manage stress, give feedback and respond thoughtfully in challenging moments. And yet, many overestimate their emotional awareness. In a survey of more than 1,000 professionals, 20.6% of men and 17.1% of women believed they were more emotionally intelligent than their behavior suggested. That gap matters because blind spots in leadership often become pressure points across an organization.

Building EQ involves engaging both verbal and nonverbal communication skills. This means not only listening and adapting but also reading emotional cues, responding empathetically, and modeling openness. It’s less about control and more about connection.

Related: Stop Losing Your Best Employees with These 3 Retention Strategies

Don’t just know it — practice it

It’s not enough to understand EQ in theory. Like any business skill, it takes action to develop.

Leaders can strengthen their emotional intelligence by:

• Participating in coaching or mentoring programs
• Joining leadership development cohorts that include peer feedback
• Having real, honest conversations with employees about emotional wellbeing

The most effective organizations embed EQ into their culture, starting with hiring. When emotional intelligence becomes a hiring lens, companies reduce mis-hires and build more cohesive teams. Ask candidates how they navigate disagreements, respond to constructive feedback, or bounce back from failure. Their answers reveal more than technical skills ever could.

Emotional intelligence isn’t optional at the top

Leadership isn’t just about setting strategy — it’s about setting the tone. Executives who lack EQ often struggle to inspire trust or connect across teams. They may deliver results in the short term but fail to build sustainable momentum.

In contrast, emotionally intelligent leaders:

• Attract and retain top talent
• Understand team dynamics and resolve conflicts early
• Foster a culture of psychological safety and high performance

These leaders also lead by example. When executives participate in team trainings or feedback sessions, it sends a powerful message: growth is for everyone, not just junior staff.

Related: How to Create a Winning Employee Retention Strategy

Empathy is the new currency of culture

Today’s workforce expects more from leadership: more empathy, more flexibility and more humanity. They don’t just want a job — they want to feel seen, valued and supported.

When companies prioritize EQ, employees respond with higher engagement, better communication and deeper loyalty. That’s not just good for morale — it’s good for business.

The result? A workplace where people thrive, performance improves and culture becomes a competitive advantage.

EQ is the edge

Emotional intelligence isn’t a bonus trait — it’s a leadership essential. Developing it takes intention, but the return on investment is exponential. Stronger teams. Smarter hiring. Greater retention. Better results.

When EQ becomes the standard rather than the exception, everybody wins.

Andrew Herr spent years advising Navy SEALs, elite athletes, and Fortune 500 executives on how to maximize performance under pressure. From the battlefield to the boardroom, one problem kept coming up. “Travel wrecks me,” his clients told him.

And they weren’t exaggerating. According to industry data, 93% of long‑haul travelers report experiencing fatigue, malaise, and impaired concentration from jet lag.

That frustration led Herr to create Flykitt, a system designed to eliminate jet lag and help travelers stay focused and functional. It’s now used by professional athletes, executives, and anyone who’s tired of arriving in a new city wiped out before the work even begins.

Herr recently joined me on the One Day with Jon Bier podcast to explain the real reason for the lag in jet travel—and why the usual fixes rarely work.

The problem starts with cabin pressure

Jet lag isn’t just about adjusting to new time zones. It starts before you even land.

“When you’re flying, you’re usually going to about 8,000 feet of relative air pressure,” Herr explains. “That drop in pressure and the lower oxygen level cause inflammation, which lowers your energy levels, disrupts sleep, messes with your joints, causes anxiety, and stops your circadian rhythm from resetting.”

That’s why you feel so foggy and stiff after sitting on a plane, even if you didn’t fly overnight. “It’s not just the dry air,” he adds. “Flying causes your body to fight itself.”

Related: 6 Tricks to Tackling Jet Lag

Sleeping the whole flight isn’t enough

Travelers often think that as long as they sleep during the flight, they’ll rally once they land. But even beyond the inflammation, Herr warns that mistimed sleep–and even too much–can leave you just as jet-lagged. For example, if you sleep at the wrong time or too much, you won’t fall asleep the next night, and then you’re in trouble. To feel great, it’s about syncing your rest timing to work with your body’s internal clock.

In the Flykitt jet lag app, the algorithm calculates the ideal window to fall asleep, based on your flights, your arrival time, and your body’s rhythms, all personalized to you. “We guide you on optimal sleep timing and supplements to block the inflammation and get you to sleep the exact right amount on the plane,” Herr explains. “That helps you adjust smoothly to the new time zone when you land.”

The goal isn’t just to get rest. It’s about recalibrating your body to adapt from where you’ve been to where you’re going.

Caffeine isn’t the solution

Many travelers rely on coffee and other caffeinated beverages throughout the day to get them through but Herr says this can be the wrong tactic. When your body is inflamed and your sleep-wake cycle is out of whack, a lot of caffeine can amplify the problem. “It might even make it worse if you’re already inflamed or anxious,” he says. So, Flykitt includes a special circadian reset mix that includes just the right amount of coffee to optimize how you feel without overdoing it.

Flykitt will also roll out what Herr calls a “focus module”—a structured set of tools designed to support mental clarity and energy. It will combine short breathwork exercises, stress relief techniques, and brain-supporting supplements to help your system rebound naturally.

Related: Do You Drink More Coffee Than Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Other Creative Leaders?

Recovery can take longer than you think

Jet lag doesn’t hit all at once, and it doesn’t resolve itself after one night of sleep.

“What people notice is, even after they get to the new location, they still feel off,” Herr says. “They’re not sleeping well, they’re not digesting properly, they feel brain fog, and their mood’s off.”

Many travelers assume the body will naturally bounce back the next day. But Herr says that misconception leads to more problems. “Most people wait until they feel terrible to take action,” he says.

His advice: Don’t wait until you’re wrecked. Do the work upfront and avoid the crash. Flykitt’s recovery protocol starts the morning you leave and continues for 36 hours after landing.

Jet lag is not inevitable

Most travelers accept jet lag as just part of the deal. You fly long hours, you feel awful for a few days, you power through. But Herr says it doesn’t have to be that way.

“We’re finding people in a spot where their whole routine is disrupted, so they’re used to feeling terrible,” he says. “And when they feel the impact of what using the right tools at the right time can do for sleeping better, eating better, and managing stress, it clicks.”

Flykitt’s approach is built around that moment of clarity—when people realize they don’t have to lose days of productivity or enjoyment just because they crossed a few time zones.

“You can struggle through it,” Herr says. “But why would you when you don’t have to?”

Related: This CEO Says the Secret to Growth Is Knowing Who You’re Not For

The number of millionaires in the U.S. grew last year, setting the U.S. apart as a world leader in global wealth.

UBS, an investment bank and financial services company, released its annual global wealth report on Wednesday, looking back at wealth trends in 2024. The company defined a millionaire as anyone with a net worth of at least $1 million.

UBS found that the U.S. added over a thousand new millionaires per day on average in 2024, far more than the 380 new millionaires per day experienced in China, which was in second place. Altogether, there were 379,000 new millionaires in the U.S. last year, followed by China’s 141,000. The two countries made up more than half of the 684,000 new millionaires overall.

Wealth growth in North America was “driven by a stable U.S. dollar and upbeat financial markets,” according to the report. Financial markets did well last year: The S&P 500 was up by more than 23% in 2024, and the Nasdaq was up nearly 29%.

Related: This Self-Made Millionaire Who Lived in a Trailer Park Before Starting a Business at 19 Reveals Her ‘Superpower’ — and 1 Quality That Sets Successful People Apart

UBS found that the U.S. has the greatest number of millionaires in the world, more than Western Europe and China combined. The U.S. has 23.8 million people in the seven-figure club, the highest out of any other nation, and holds almost 35% of the share of global personal wealth. China comes in second with 6.3 million millionaires and close to 20% of the share of personal wealth.

Countries such as Japan, France, Germany, the U.K., and Canada have over two million millionaires as of 2024.

In sum, there are almost 60 million millionaires in the world who control a total of $226.47 trillion in assets.

Related: Barbara Corcoran Says If You Want to Become a Millionaire Do This 1 Thing: ‘I Out-Try Anyone’

UBS expects the number of millionaires to keep rising, and an additional 5.34 million people to become worth seven figures by 2029, a 9% increase from 2024.

“Over the next five years, we expect North America and Greater China to be the main drivers of global wealth growth,” the report reads.

A separate report from Henley & Partners and New World Wealth, released last month, shows that the number of liquid millionaires in the U.S., or those with assets of more than $1 million, has increased by 78% in the past decade.