How to Thrive in a BANI World:

Insights from the World’s Largest Study of Emotional Intelligence

By Lorenzo Fariselli
Regional Network Director, Europe & Italy

The Silent Crisis: Why Emotional Intelligence Is Declining When We Need It Most

Raise your hand if you believe that humans should use their emotions more wisely to live a more balanced and fulfilling life. Raise your hand if you think the world needs more empathy and care. Raise your hand if you believe that our intrinsic motivation, optimism, and sense of purpose can be the key to impacting the society we live in, building a better world for ourselves and our children.

If your hand went up for one or more of the statements above, then you are recognizing the value of a key competency today: Emotional Intelligence (EI). A set of trainable skills that allow us to combine logic and emotion to become increasingly aware, intentional, and oriented toward creating value within the system we are part of—whether it be a family, an organization, or the entire world. And to clear up any misconceptions, let me emphasize that Emotional Intelligence does not mean “giving free rein to emotions” or simply “being kind.” Emotional Intelligence means becoming increasingly smarter with our emotions, as doing so makes us more aware, balanced, intentional, and strategic.

Many of us see Emotional Intelligence as essential—and research backs that up. Higher emotional intelligence is linked to greater well-being, effectiveness, influence, and stronger relationships. It plays a decisive role in leadership, separating effective leaders from toxic ones, and is now seen as the most impactful factor in organizational performance. Yet despite all this, Emotional Intelligence has drastically declined worldwide since 2019, and the trend continues in the post-pandemic era.

Emotional Intelligence Declines Persist Post-Pandemic

The data is clear: emotional intelligence is declining globally. We’ve entered an emotional recession. Check out this graph, which shows average EQ scores on the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence assessment:

How is this possible? We are facing a paradox where the importance of EI is clear, the training tools exist, and yet we’ve seen a global decline for four straight years, dropping by 5.54% from 2019 to today. Think of this paradox like a sport: when the game gets tougher and the opponent is stronger, you either show up well-trained—or you crumble. And once you’re on the field, it’s too late to start training. So the real question is, how well prepared were we for the emotional challenges life hurled at us during the pandemic—and the ones that are still coming our way?

Unfortunately, the answer is “very little.” We find ourselves managing highly complex dynamics without first acquiring the specific skills needed to face such challenging situations. We’ve been thrust into performance without the necessary tools to keep our boat stable in a stormy sea. Common sense was not enough—perhaps it once was, but not anymore. In an increasingly fast-paced world that pushes for digital socialization while ignoring the growing levels of isolation, suffering, and stress, it is essential to train and continuously cultivate socio-emotional skills—specifically, Emotional Intelligence. People need to recognize its importance, and even more so, the systems in which they operate, such as organizations, must acknowledge its value.

Figure 1. Decline in Emotional Intelligence. Global scores from 2019 to 2023. State of the Heart 2024. New Data on Emotional Intelligence, Well-being, and the Emotional Recession,
Six Seconds

3 Strategies to Thrive in a BANI World

Today, the world is defined by the acronym BANI: brittle, anxious, non-linear, and incomprehensible. It is a world that hits hard, and when individuals find themselves in particularly challenging situations, their instinctive reaction is to shut down emotional channels in an attempt at “containment.” In fact, according to data from the State of the Heart 2024, an annual global Emotional Intelligence study conducted by Six Seconds, three clear trends emerge when comparing the pre-pandemic era to today.

Skills such as “identifying and interpreting emotions” and “navigating emotions” have experienced a significant decline, highlighting a defensive response to emotional overload. It seems that when things get complicated, the most common strategy is to try to ignore our emotions and suppress them. This strategy, theoretically intended to conserve energy, proves to be ineffective.
The second emerging trend is a drop in individual energy levels, reflected in decreased intrinsic motivation and optimism. By disconnecting from our emotions, we lose their wisdom and energy, becoming increasingly passive and routine-driven in facing challenges—abandoning intentionality in favor of mere reactivity.
The final trend reveals a decline in a key strategic competency: pursuing one’s purpose—one’s Noble Goal. When emotional complexity is not managed with adequate preparation, we risk giving up what is most valuable: making an impact on the world through sustainable, value-driven choices for ourselves and those around us. As we drift away from our purpose, we increasingly expect companies to provide it for us.

Three trends show us how a vicious cycle can emerge, where we continue to withdraw into ourselves even after a “normal” shock reaction caused by an unexpected and unpleasant event. This mechanism traps us within. Even when we most need what emotions carry—their wisdom, their fire—it holds us back.In the fog of uncertainty, we need that light to care, to connect, to choose with courage and create with heart. The world is complex—we know that. And precisely for this reason, we desperately need to develop new skills and follow role models who can practice emotionally intelligent leadership. The question naturally arises: do they exist? Yes, and it’s women leading the way.

Women Lead Comeback Post-Covid, but Wellbeing Scores Raise Alarm

In the face of unprecedented global challenges, women’s emotional intelligence (EQ) has emerged as a beacon of resilience and leadership. While the pandemic initially took a toll on emotional well-being worldwide, women began to show a remarkable recovery starting in 2021. Their EQ scores rebounded, driven by enhanced self-awareness, empathy, intrinsic motivation, and a renewed sense of purpose. This resurgence has translated into improved relationships, effectiveness, and quality of life, even as men’s scores continued to decline. However, it’s important to note that women’s well-being scores declined during this period, indicating a persistent emotional burden despite their leadership strides. This trend underscores the pressing need for a leadership model that balances empathy with support, moving beyond the traditional “command and control” approach.

While men’s Emotional Intelligence continued to decline, this was not the case for women. This contrast not only highlights women’s unique resilience but also their ability to leverage emotional skills to overcome adversity. From January 2021 to December 2023, the gap between men and women became evident through improvements in key competencies such as self-awareness, empathy, and intrinsic motivation. These skills have proven, and continue to be, essential in addressing employees’ needs with sensitivity and understanding, reducing conflicts, and enhancing collaboration. During this period, these abilities also enabled women to impact performance outcomes such as decision-making, influence, quality of life, and relationship effectiveness—critical resources in times of crisis and a significant added value to workplace performance. Meanwhile, men, in line with the overall decline in EI, experienced a drop in all these outcomes.

If it is true that women’s Emotional Intelligence has been an effective response to the emotional needs of struggling organizations, not everything that glitters is gold. Unfortunately, when focusing on the 2023 data, there are two major points of concern to take into consideration.

The first point is that, unlike all the other previously mentioned outcomes, women’s well-being has declined, revealing the burden of being on the front lines of the recovery process. This often excessive “emotional” workload can lead to burnout. This decline in well-being highlights the need for corporate strategies that promote true gender equality, with a specific focus on work-life balance. By recognizing the unique challenges women face and implementing supportive policies, it is possible to mitigate the risk of burnout while sustaining a “female leadership” that is vital for the modern economy. Now it is the organizations’ turn: they have the opportunity and responsibility to support this change by promoting practices that recognize and value emotional competencies as central to leadership and organizational well-being.

Figure 2. EQ Gender Gap. Emotional Intelligence scores by gender from 2019 to 2023. State of the Heart 2024. New Data on Emotional Intelligence, Well-being, and the Emotional Recession, Six Seconds

And from here comes the second point of attention. Referring again to the latest “State of the Heart” from Six Seconds, it is noticeable that 2023 recorded a decline in women’s Empathy scores, whether they are Senior Executives, Managers, or employees.
Could it be that the corporate system is trying to reclaim the characteristics that defined it before COVID, attempting to reinstate mechanisms that are now obsolete but still cherished in the male managerial world? Considering that the number of men holding top positions in companies is significantly higher than that of women in the same roles, I believe the question above hides a highly plausible interpretation of the data. This process may not be the result of an intentional design, but it is important to be aware of it in order to address it. We cannot go back; we cannot afford to. We need to make work noble, filling it with meaning because it can impact the world in a virtuous way through relationships with others. The challenges faced in recent years have revealed the true needs of people within organizations, and women have shown us how emotionally responding to those needs is possible, and positively impacts performance.

Figure 3. Levels of Empathy in Women. Empathy Scores by Role 2019-2023. State of the Heart 2024. New Data on Emotional Intelligence, Well-being, and the Emotional Recession, Six Seconds

So why go backwards? Now is the time to invest in training that focuses on Emotional Intelligence as an essential managerial skill, avoiding the trap of “common sense” management of situations. Once, beautiful handwriting was an important skill; today it is no longer. Now, it is fundamental to have emotional and relational competencies tailored to the organizational world. I also add that this is not about valuing male or female competencies, but about understanding that the skills most suited to meeting current organizational needs have changed and need to be learned and trained, following new role models.

Broadening the perspective, in the era of Artificial Intelligence and Industry 5.0, it is vital to ask ourselves a question: at what evolutionary stage are we as human beings? Can the characteristics of Emotional Intelligence represent a solution to take a decisive step forward as individuals? In my opinion, yes, and it is both necessary and possible. I am firmly convinced that it is useless to advance technologically if we are not able to guide processes in a sustainable manner, towards the world we want for future generations. Emotional Intelligence is the key to rethinking systems, restoring humanity to its central role.

Let us follow those who are showing us the way and we will all benefit from it.