Emotional intelligence at work

Posted by Fed Finance in Our employment advice
Posted at 29/08/2022
Emotional intelligence at work

Understand why emotional intelligence is perceived as the possible key to success for individuals.

Emotional intelligence is the ability we must understand our emotions and those of others. We know today that this capacity will have a direct influence on the environment and on the productivity of a working day. To understand the evolution of this concept, it is important to travel back in time to the creation of Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution of Species. In the light of this theory, Darwin referred to the importance of emotions for the survival and adaptation of the species.
Later, in the early 1990s, Peter Salovey and John Mayer, defined Emotional Intelligence as "the ability to monitor one's own and other people's feelings and emotions, discriminate between them and use that information to guide one's thinking and actions" (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). More recently, Daniel Goleman, an expert in behavioral sciences, proposes the idea that emotional intelligence is primarily responsible for the success of individuals. This becomes the key concept for the success and happiness of the individual, and intelligence (or what used to be called IQ) now takes a back seat when it comes to professional success. According to the author, emotional intelligence is fundamental to grow in the profession, in training and to be a successful leader.

THE 5 PILLARS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Daniel Goleman proposes 5 core pillars of Emotional Intelligence, these being the guides to managing our emotions. If we work on these basic skills, we will be working on our emotional intelligence.

Being aware of ourselves

It is important to be connected to our emotions. Try to recognize, name, and understand the emotion you are feeling. If you are going through a difficult situation, you should seek help. Having someone to talk to can be a solution. Many companies have a psychologist's office or a Human Resources department that can help you.

Being able to control oneself

Being able to control and react to emotions, make decisions and be able to adapt to changes. This ability denotes a great capacity for resilience and the ability to resist frustration. This capacity should be trained and learned early in life.

Have internal motivation

We should develop enthusiasm for reaching new goals and accepting new challenges. Only then does life have more flavor!

Have empathy

The ability to listen to others and to recognize the emotions in other people is a skill that is also acquired throughout our life. This makes each of us more sensitive to the needs of others.

Promote social interaction

It is through the relationships we establish with others that we learn what limits are and that we learn, among other things, to communicate with our peers. The relationships that we establish based on trust throughout our lives make us develop skills such as leadership and teamwork.

IMPORTANCE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AT WORK

Listening to our emotions helps us understand ourselves better and increases self-confidence in the long term. According to Daniel Goleman, the skills associated with Emotional Intelligence should be trained early in children's lives as they can bring benefits in all spheres of our lives. Focusing a little more on the professional world, we must not forget that a company is made of people and that people are made of emotions. Therefore, the worker must also be understood in the field of his emotions and not only in the field of his technical skills. The so-called soft skills are competencies or behavioral qualities that have gained extreme relevance in the labor market in recent years.
In this sense, Daniel Goleman defends that a good manager always has high levels of emotional intelligence. Only in this way will he be able to better understand his workers, promote a better working environment and, consequently, increase his employees' performance. In a company there are countless challenges ahead, and keeping employees motivated is one of them!

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