#1 Leadership Skill in 2026: Emotional Intelligence 🧠

In this episode of Sales & Pepper, Dominic Klingberg sits down with Stephanie Herre, leader at EcoVadis, to discuss what will truly differentiate great leaders in the coming years: Emotional Intelligence.

As AI takes over more operational tasks and organizations face increasing pressure, leadership is no longer about authority or control. Stephanie shares why emotional intelligence is becoming a decisive performance factor — especially in high-growth, high-stress environments — and what leaders must unlearn to stay effective.

This episode is a must-listen for founders, executives, and managers who want to lead people, not just processes.

👉 In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why emotional intelligence is the most important leadership skill for the future

• How pressure and uncertainty expose weak leadership

• The difference between empathy and effective leadership

• Why trust and psychological safety drive performance

• How emotionally intelligent leaders handle conflict and feedback

• What leadership needs to look like in the AI era

🔥 Key Insights / Hot Takes:

• “Emotional intelligence is not a soft skill — it’s a leadership multiplier.”

• “Pressure doesn’t build character, it reveals it.”

• “People don’t leave companies, they leave leaders.”

• “Leadership without emotional intelligence doesn’t scale.”

🧠 Who should listen to this episode?

• Founders & Co-Founders

• Executives & Senior Leaders

• Sales & Revenue Leaders

• Managers building and scaling teams

• Anyone preparing for leadership in 2026 and beyond

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Connect with Stephanie on Linkedin

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💡 Bonus: Get 50 free Kickscale meeting analyses

Kickscale automatically records, analyzes, and pushes insights from sales calls directly into your CRM — enabling better coaching, forecasting, and leadership decisions.

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Transparency Notice / Ad Disclosure:

This episode contains paid partnerships.

Our partners Kickscale and HubSpot support the Sales & Pepper podcast.

All opinions shared are independent; partner mentions are part of the collaboration.