THE ROLE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN WORK
People who are intellectually intelligent are not always the most successful or fulfilled in life. We’ve all met people who excel academically but are socially awkward. They are failing at work and in their interpersonal relationships. Intellectual abilities, or intelligence quotient (IQ), are insufficient on their own to ensure success in life or at work. Yes, our IQ can assist us in getting into the best colleges. Our emotional quotient (EQ) will assist us in managing the overwhelming stress and emotions that come with career decisions.
All in all, IQ and EQ go hand-in-hand in the organizing workplace and are most effective when they complement one another. Thus, in this article, we are going to talk about the role of emotional intelligence at work.
HOW DO EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE SKILLS AFFECT THE WORKPLACE?
Emotional intelligence competencies can be learned at any stage of life. It’s important to remember that there’s a big difference between learning about emotional intelligence and actually putting it into practice. It has the power to override our best intentions and decisions. To change our behavior in healthy ways that can withstand pressure, we must first learn how to deal with stress in the present moment and in our relationships.
The role of emotional intelligence at work is commonly defined by five attributes:
- Self-awareness refers to our ability to recognize and label our own emotions, as well as how they influence our thoughts and behavior. It is the ability to recognize our own strengths and weaknesses and to be self-confident.
- Self-regulation entails being able to control and direct impulsive feelings and behaviors, managing our emotions in healthy, appropriate ways, taking initiative, keeping commitments, and adapting to changing environments.
- Effective communication and active listening are essential for social skills. We can understand other people’s emotions, needs, and concerns, feel at ease socially, and recognize power dynamics in a group or organization. We understand how to build and maintain positive relationships, inspire others, collaborate effectively, and resolve conflict.
- Emotionally intelligent people are motivated internally to achieve goals for inner fulfillment and happiness, rather than external rewards such as money or fame.
- Empathy – This is the ability to understand and share another person’s feelings and emotions as if they were one’s own. It is best to understand others’ situations in order to better assist them in dealing with life situations.
ENHANCING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Steps to enhance emotional intelligence –
- Perceiving emotions – The first step to enhancing emotional intelligence is perceiving emotions. This ability relates to being aware of recognizing other people’s personal moods and emotions accurately and identifying emotions in other people. Expressing one’s own emotions and needs acting accurately and appropriately according to the situation, and distinguishing between accurate and inaccurate.
- Using emotions to facilitate thought – Using emotions to facilitate thought entails redirecting and prioritizing our thinking based on the emotions associated with those thoughts, generating and intensifying emotions that will facilitate better judgment, rational thinking, and memory, capitalizing on mood changes so we can appreciate other people’s opinions, and using mood states to improve our problem-solving and creativity.
- Understanding emotions – Understanding emotions entails comprehending the relationships between various emotions and how they produce different reactions, comprehending the causes and consequences of emotions, comprehending complex feelings and contradictory emotional states, and comprehending the transitions from one emotion to another.
- Managing emotions – The final technique, managing emotions, refers to being open to and accepting both pleasant and unpleasant feelings, monitoring and reflecting on our emotions, engaging, prolonging, or detaching from a particular emotional state, and directing the emotions both within ourselves and in others in the right direction.
The role of emotional intelligence at work is profound. By understanding our emotions we’re better able to express how we feel as well as understand how others are feeling. This allows us to communicate more effectively and build stronger relationships, both at work and in our personal life.
Contact us if you are interested in a workplace related training program that is tailored to the needs of your organization or team.
