| Emotional intelligence has become a popular topic of psychological research throughout the past two decades. Emotional intelligence is defined as a person's ability to express oneself, relate to others, deal with strong emotions, control one's impulses, adapt to change, and solve problems of a personal or social nature (Bar-On, "The Bar-On model of emotional-social intelligence (ESI)," 2006). The construct has been linked to various organizational outcomes such as job performance, retention, and work satisfaction. Though research has developed around emotional intelligence theory and performance, there are few studies that address sales performance as it relates to the financial advisor population. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the impact of emotional intelligence on financial advisor sales performance. Seven hundred and seventeen (717) financial advisors, all employed at one large financial services firm, completed the Bar-On Emotional Quotient-Inventory (EQ-i) and were included in the results of the study. The results demonstrate a statistically significant relationship between emotional intelligence and financial advisor sales performance. These significant findings shed further light on the theoretical and practical utility of the construct of emotional intelligence in the workplace. Specifically, organizations employing financial advisors may utilize emotional intelligence assessments to predict future sales performance of job applicants and/or use scores obtained to help develop emotional intelligence competencies of current staff. As a result, financial services organizations may experience more profitability and overall success. |
