Emotional Intelligence has gained a tremendous amount of importance in the corporate world. To make you understand the importance of EQ, let me create a hypothetical situation for the sake of a better explanation. There are two doctors, ‘A’ and ‘B’. ‘A’ possesses a qualification from a prestigious medical institution whereas ‘B’ has an average qualification from an average college. ‘A’ has just one problem he doesn’t communicate with his patients in an empathetic way while ‘B’ has a good bond with his patients. Now, let me ask you which doctor will the patients prefer? They will prefer doctor ‘B’ as he is friendly and empathetic towards them. When a person is empathetic towards another person it helps them to manage their emotions as well as try to understand others’ emotions too. Hence, this scenario effectively represents the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace.
To understand exactly “What is EQ and its importance?”, please read the full article.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional Intelligence is also known as EQ is nothing but an ability to perceive, understand and monitor emotions. Peter Salovey has defined EI as “the ability to monitor one’s own and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behaviour”. People with high emotional intelligence can adapt to working environments efficiently than people with low EI’s. Emotional intellect helps an individual to understand peoples behaviour and emotions.
Why is EQ is an important factor for success?
In Daniel Goleman’s book, “Emotional Intelligence” Daniel claimed that emotional competency was critical for predicting success in life as well as in the workplace. This concept attracted the attention of the public and business leaders which created a requirement for employers in the workplace.
EQ influences how employers manage stress and conflict during work. Studies show that EQ or emotional intelligence is an important factor that helps in determining a person’s interpersonal skills, leadership qualities, stress management and many more. It is also linked with an employer’s job satisfaction. EQ has been an important factor in the workplace. Studies have shown that people with high EQ perform better than people with low EQ. Studies show that companies hire people with high emotional intelligence than people with low intelligence.
Owing to these factors, EQ has proved to be an important determinant of the degree of success in one’s personal life as well as professional life.
How to improve your Emotional Intelligence?
Daniel Goleman in his book described five pillars of emotional intelligence that are required in a professional. The five pillars are:
- Enhance your self-awareness
The first crucial step to improve your emotional intelligence is to enhance your self-awareness. This means one has to be aware of his/her emotions to monitor another’s emotions. This can help to understand one’s strengths and weaknesses which aid you to improve yourself.
- Rehearse self-regulation
After becoming aware of your own emotions it is necessary to be capable of expressing those emotions. Failing to express your emotions or stress at right time there are high chances of emotional outbursts. Emotional outbursts often affect other people which creates tension between you and that person. Hence, to practice self-regulation relieve your stress or think before reacting.
- Nurture Motivation
People with high EQ tend to achieve goals more efficiently. They don’t need any rewards or extrinsic motivation to keep them motivated. They are passionate about their work which keeps them motivated. To build intrinsic motivation focus on what aspects you love in your job because if you are not happy with your work the quality of your work starts to degrade day by day.
- Be Empathetic
It is the ability to understand other people emotions when the perspective is different. People tend to follow people who value and understand their emotions. This skill to put yourself in other people’s shoes to have an insight into what’s going on in their minds helps when conflicts arise. Empathy helps you to understand unspoken subtleties between people.
- Expand your social skills
Expanding your social skills is important when making friends, and building rapport with co-workers. Social skills and emotional intelligence are equally important in the professional world. This helps us to pay attention to nonverbal communication, listen patiently and recognize others emotions. These skills come in handy when there is tension among colleagues.
Words from the expert
It's always better to get some insights from an expert who has worked in this field for a long time. One such personality is Himanshu Nagarkar. Himanshu Nagarkar has recently spoken about emotional intelligence in a webinar conducted by the International School Of Management Studies.
Himanshu Nagarkar is presently a Lawyer practising at The Bombay High Court and a Senior Partner at the Nagarkars’ & Associates - a firm that has established its practice for the last 20+ years in the field of Law, with a specialized field in Matrimonial and Civil Laws. Himanshu has also represented AOLF at the Indian Student Parliament in 2011 and 2012 at MIT and NALSA (National Legal Services Authority), Delhi very recently he was a speaker at universities like National Law School, Bangalore and Indian Law Societies, Pune, and many such esteem institutions. Himanshu has trained in various Indian Army Regiments such as Southern Command, Dunkirk Lines and the likes.
In the webinar, Himanshu claimed that a person with good emotional intelligence is not only successful in his career but also he is successful in his relationship and his entire life. He gave an example of the interviewer and interviewee to make us realize the importance of EQ. In his example, he said that the interviewee was all prepared for the interview. He had thoroughly prepared about his domain, requirement about the company etc. The twist came when the interviewer asked something else. The interviewer asked a simple question, “Tell me a joke”. Alas! The interviewee couldn’t answer that simple question.
In this materialistic life, we have lost the ability to connect with people. We can no longer understand people’s emotions and neither we can manage them. Speaker says it's very important to understand emotions. Here is the video to get a deeper insight into “Emotional Intelligence”.
Conclusion
The need for emotional intelligence is essential not only in the workplace but also in life. The reason the requirement for emotional intelligence is increasing day by day is that one person affects another. If there are conflicts in a team it will affect the team as well as the whole company. Hence, it is necessary that from managers to entry-level employers all should look after their emotional intelligence. For a positive working environment, employers should improve their emotional intelligence which also makes their professional life better.
Credits
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