Over the last three decades, The Center for Advanced Emotional Intelligence (AEI) has built its reputation as a pioneer in cultivating emotional intelligence as a cornerstone of developing truly impactful leaders. More than 1,000 clients have participated in AEI’s practical, results-oriented programs for leaders to optimize their effectiveness, grow their organizations, and gain a competitive advantage in today's fast-changing business climate.
In recognition of AEI’s 30th anniversary, we recently sat down with AEI CEO Alicia Del Real to get her perspective on the evolution of executive coaching over the last three decades and why EQ remains such a critical component of effective leadership.
Alicia, since AEI was founded 30 years ago, the executive coaching / leadership development industry has evolved tremendously. Please share some of your observations about how things have changed over the years.
When AEI was founded three decades ago, executive coaching was a new concept; there was often a stigma associated with it. At the time, leaders sometimes felt working with a coach indicated they weren’t performing.
Today, that stigma has disappeared. Coaching is now viewed as something that can help high-performing professionals maximize their effectiveness and impact. I often hear leaders proudly sharing the work they do with their coach. Many companies even promote executive coaching as a benefit in their executive hiring process and in their leadership development programs.
It’s similar to how professional athletes work with coaches, even at the peak of their careers. It’s not because they’re not performing, it’s because they know that ongoing feedback, support, and challenge are critical to maintaining their edge and continuing to grow.
It’s been exciting to see that shift over the years, as it is a clear sign that organizations now view leadership development as a true competitive advantage.
With the evolution of the industry has come a massive proliferation in the number of executive coaches. What does that say about the state of the industry, and what do leaders / organizations in the market for an executive coach or leadership development firm need to know?
The explosion in the number of executive coaches speaks to both the growing recognition of coaching's value and the relatively low barriers to entry into the field. This rapid expansion also means that the quality can vary significantly, and organizations must navigate that carefully.
Effective coaching begins with an understanding of the individual client. Ask potential coaches about their assessment approach—how they determine an executive's developmental needs, strengths, and opportunities. At AEI, we have a proprietary 360 process that is accompanied by a psychological leadership profile developed by our clinical psychologists. This is supplemented by traditional assessments like the Hogan and Enneagram.
In addition, it’s important to inquire about how a coach tracks and measures progress with clients. How do they evaluate coaching effectiveness? The best coaching partnerships include clear definitions of success that are developed by the coach and the client and clearly communicate methods for tracking progress.
Of course, chemistry matters. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach for coaching. Each coach brings unique expertise and ways of working. At AEI, we offer clients the opportunity to choose the coach that will be the best “fit” for them based on their needs and the chemistry between them and the coach.
The clients we work with deal with very complex business and organizational challenges. Therefore, we believe a coach needs experience in a business leadership role in order to understand the context and challenges clients are facing. All of AEI’s coaches have had experience in an executive level role, combined with a graduate degree in psychology or organizational dynamics.
Finally, look for a coach who demonstrates a commitment to continuous learning. The executive coaching field is evolving quickly; the best coaches are those who pursue their own development through ongoing education and reflection.
AEI was founded with emotional intelligence as a cornerstone in how you develop leaders. Why was that so groundbreaking at the time, and why is it still so important for truly effective leadership today?
When AEI established emotional intelligence as the foundation of its approach, it represented a significant departure from conventional leadership development models. At that time, most leadership programs focused almost exclusively on strategic thinking, technical competencies, and traditional management skills. The emotional dimensions of leadership were ignored.
AEI’s insistence that emotional intelligence was central to leadership effectiveness was somewhat controversial at the time. Our founders spent a lot of time convincing people that emotional intelligence, a leader's ability to recognize and regulate their emotions, demonstrate empathy, and navigate social complexity, was at least as important as their technical expertise.
Today, it’s widely accepted that emotional intelligence in leadership is essential, and yet its development remains challenging. Truly effective leadership requires the capacity to manage one's own emotional responses, particularly under pressure; to genuinely connect with and understand others' perspectives; and to create psychological safety for teams.
What makes emotional intelligence so crucial for today’s leaders is the increasing complexity of our business environment. Leaders must guide their organizations through uncertainty, rapid change, and competing stakeholder demands. These challenges are fundamentally emotional in nature in that they trigger anxiety and defensive responses that purely rational approaches cannot address.
Leadership today is as much about fostering healthy organizational cultures as it is about growing the bottom line. How have you seen that focus on culture grow over the years, and what advice do you have for leaders to truly embrace culture as a priority?
It’s been an evolution. Thirty years ago, culture was rarely discussed in the boardroom. It was considered a "soft" issue, secondary to strategy, operations, and financial performance. Those leaders who did focus on culture often viewed it primarily through the lens of employee satisfaction rather than as a strategic driver of organizational performance.
Today, we understand that culture and performance are interdependent. Organizations with healthy cultures outperform their peers across virtually every meaningful metric. This recognition has elevated culture to the strategic agenda, making it a primary focus for thoughtful leaders.
It’s critical to recognize that leaders shape culture whether they intend to or not. We say culture is what occurs in the thousands of decisions made every day. Every decision you make, every behavior you model, every response you offer sends powerful signals about what's valued. Intentional cultural leadership begins with this awareness—understanding that your actions are constantly being interpreted as cultural messages.
Get curious about your culture. Before attempting to transform your culture, take time to genuinely understand it. What are the unwritten rules? What behaviors are rewarded? What stories do people tell about the organization? Listening reveals the actual culture, not just the aspirational one described in value statements.
Finally, align systems with cultural aspirations. Culture is ultimately reinforced or undermined by organizational systems—hiring practices, performance management, decision-making processes, recognition programs. Leaders who successfully shape culture ensure these systems consistently reinforce desired cultural norms rather than contradicting them.
Where do you see things going from here? In other words, how do you see the executive coaching / leadership development industry continuing to evolve, and what will aspiring leaders need to cultivate to become the truly impactful leaders of tomorrow?
Looking ahead, I see several important evolutions in our field that will shape how leaders develop.
First, we're moving toward more integrated development approaches that blend formal coaching with peer learning in cohort programs that provide experiential practice that align and support organizational initiatives. This integration acknowledges that effective leadership development happens through experiences that reinforce learning across multiple contexts. The result is collective leadership capacity rather than just individual development. While personal growth remains important, the next generation of leadership challenges require teams and networks that can lead collaboratively. Organizations are increasingly investing in developing these collective capabilities alongside individual competencies.
In recent years, we've seen a significant shift toward a more human-centered approach to leadership and organizational culture. There's a growing expectation for leaders to demonstrate empathy, transparency, and inclusivity—and also to listen and genuinely engage their teams. Yet, there's an interesting paradox: leaders today are more skilled than ever, yet feedback on them is increasingly negative. That’s simply because expectations are evolving faster than many leaders can adapt.
In fact, a recent McKinsey study found that only 25% of respondents consider their leadership culture to be inspiring, underscoring the gap between what employees expect and what they experience. This shift has made organizational culture an essential competitive advantage—one that organizations can’t afford to overlook. At AEI, we help leaders navigate this challenge by emphasizing emotional intelligence, building authentic relationships, and cultivating trust. When leaders adapt, they not only meet these evolving expectations but also create organizations that thrive even with fast-paced change.
Leaders must also cultivate technological fluency in an increasingly digital-first world, understanding and deploying AI and other technologies. The rapid pace of technological change requires leaders to not only inspire and engage their teams but also guide them through this profound transformation while preserving human connection and purpose. Paradoxically, as AI and automation become more prevalent, distinctly human skills like empathy, emotional intelligence, and ethical decision-making are becoming even more crucial. These rapidly evolving technologies can free leaders from mundane tasks, allowing them to focus more on connecting with their teams, improving emotional intelligence, and fostering organizational trust—skills that remain irreplaceably human, even in a tech-driven world. Leaders must now develop "hybrid intelligence" - the ability to effectively combine human wisdom with AI capabilities, knowing when to leverage technology and when to rely on human judgment.
We're committed to continuing our pioneering work through innovative, experiential approaches that integrate what we've learned over three decades with emerging insights from multiple disciplines. The leaders who invest in developing themselves with emotional intelligence as the foundation of how they lead will be best positioned to create meaningful impact in an increasingly complex and uncertain world.