Successful businesses know the value of Emotional Intelligence (E.I). Here we share with you what the four key components of E.I are. Followed by three key wins that can drive productivity and engagement with your people.
E.I can be learnt and developed by most people. By working on E.I, businesses can improve communication and gain a genuine sense of engagement. In turn, efficiency will inevitably improve. But what is E.I?
Daniel Goleman Ph.D. is considered one of the leading experts in the field and author of the best-selling book ‘Emotional Intelligence.’ defines it as: “the capacity for recognising your own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves and for managing emotions well in ourselves and our relationships.”
The Four Key Components of E.I:
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- Self-Awareness – The ability to recognise your own emotions, and how they affect your thoughts and behaviour. This involves having a genuine knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses and an appropriate level of self-belief.
- Self-Management – This domain is about choosing how to respond to your own emotions. It is about taking control and being responsible for yourself, your emotions and how they impact yourself and others. It also involves ability to be flexible, and to adapt to change.
- Social Awareness – In this domain you are able to tune into others, their emotions, needs and perspectives. Consequently, you can pick up on subtle emotional cues and have the ability to empathise. Above all, you will gain stronger interpersonal skills.
- Relationship Management – You know how to combine points one to three to develop and maintain good relationships. This helps you to communicate clearly, inspire and influence others. It also helps you to work well in a team and manage conflict.
Unlike your Intelligence Quotient level (I.Q.) which is said to be fixed from the age of 20, your Emotional Quotient or E.Q. (The measure of Emotional Intelligence) can be developed. How then can developing your E.I. be useful in business?
Three Measures of Success
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- Performance
Your decision making and problem solving skills will improve. As a result, you can harness employee potential and increase performance by working on E.Q. Leading to people feeling empowered, which ensures high morale. - Communication
Those who have developed or have naturally high E.Q. will take feedback well. Therefore, they are able to deliver it in a way that will be productive. Therefore, they can improve ability to empathise, and recognise their own and other’s emotions. Allowing them to adjust their own communication methods to best effect. - Efficiency
With greater E.I. comes motivation and awareness and therefore success. Notably emotionally intelligent people are more optimistic. Increasing ability to rise to challenges and remain positive in challenging times, essential qualities for all staff but fundamentally important for leaders and managers. But those who lack it may find their staff increasingly dissatisfied at work. As the saying goes – people do not leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers.
- Performance
Closing Thoughts
There are plenty of studies and research which say that developing Emotional Intelligence in the workplace is certainly a wise choice for most organisations who want to be productive and efficient. Supported by Daniel Goleman when he says: “By teaching people to tune in to their emotions with intelligence and to expand their circles of caring, we can transform organisations from the inside out and make a positive difference in our world.”
Further Reading
Have a look at how to increase your own Emotional Intelligence here: How to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence at Work (stl-training.co.uk)
