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Developing Women Leaders for
Greater Equity in East Africa

This study demonstrated a correlation between emotional intelligence and high performance for female CEOs and Board Members in Kenya, indicating a need for more investment in these skills in the broader fight for gender equality.

Overview

Situation: A large gender gap exists in East Africa, including Kenya, in terms of both pay and the number of women in senior roles.

Solution: PTS Africa, in collaboration with The Women On Boards Network Kenya, is working to combat this inequity by working with a cohort of female CEOs and Board Members to assess what drives the highest performers in this group and identify opportunities for growth.

Results: The analysis found emotional intelligence is a valuable contributor for women leaders in the cohort, especially the highest performers. EQ scores predicted over 35% of the variation in Effectiveness, one of the Success Factors measured by the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment.

“Understanding the skills that empower women in leadership roles across the continent to achieve success is key to providing the support that will yield the next generation of female African leaders. This data provides the first step.”

– Mucha Mlingo, Founder, PTS Africa

“Intellectual intelligence without emotional intelligence is like a car without fuel – or for EVs, a car without a battery. Leadership and Emotional Intelligence go hand in hand.”

– Catherine Musakali, Chairperson, The Women on Boards Network Kenya.

“Emotional intelligence is a crucial ingredient for leaders to make better quality decisions in this VUCA environment.”

– Elizabeth Wasunna, Director Business Banking Kenya · Absa Group

Situation

A gender pay gap persists throughout Africa. In Kenya, men earn on average 42% more than women, and this this figure increases to 64% in Rwanda and 72% in Malawi, per research by Gender Gap Africa (Jan 2022). PTS Africa is working to combat this inequity by supporting female leaders in the region, with a specific emphasis on utilizing the power of emotional intelligence to build women’s capacity for leadership and a competitive edge.

Solution

Starting with a cohort of 35 women CEOs and Board Members in Kenya, PTS Africa sought to identify key drivers of success and opportunities for growth. The cohort completed the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment to see if emotional intelligence is an important contributor to performance, and PTS analyzed the results to assess the relationship between the 4 Success Factors measured by the SEI and the group’s EQ scores.

Results

The study found that emotional intelligence is a key success factor for women in the cohort, especially the top performers.

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GREATER EFFECTIVENESS

The women’s Emotional Intelligence scores predicted over 35% of the variation in Effectiveness scores.

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INCREASED EQ

The top 25% of performers scored higher in all 8 EQ competencies compared to the bottom 25%.

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STRONGER MOTIVATION

The top performers scored 29% higher on average in Engaging Intrinsic Motivation.

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Products & Services Delivered

EQ Skills

SEI – Six Seconds’ Emotional Intelligence Assessment is a validated psychometric tool for measuring emotional intelligence, used with over 250k people worldwide.