How Emotional Intelligence Is Important for Managerial Effectiveness And Well Being

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage emotions. The skills used in emotional intelligence include self-awareness, self-regulation, inspiration, compassion, and social skills. Recently, it has become a bit of a buzzword in HR offices across the world, but experts believe it's time for emotional intelligence to be taken seriously. Embracing complexities of human emotion in the workplace may have pragmatic effects, such as improved communication between workers and a healthier workplace. The point is that all day - every day, we are human beings, not just when we leave the workplace.

How Does Emotional Intelligence Help?

With so many fields of psychology, there is a rigorous discussion on how brains function, but Daniel Goleman, a world-renowned behavioral scientist, said that "the part of the brain that serves emotional and social intelligence is the last brain circuit to become anatomically mature, and because of neuroplasticity, the brain is influenced by repetitive experience" Goleman went on to state that this should be taught to children in a comprehensive way." This has been studied in more than 100 schools and there has been a decrease in anti-social activity, an improvement in social behavior, and an increase in academic scores," says Daniel Goleman.

It’s evident then that emotional intelligence is beneficial – both in and out of the workplace.

Addressing Our Emotions

The unfortunate trend that has swept our culture is the failure to adequately understand and address individual feelings. This pattern has extended to other aspects of life, including the workplace. Although feelings are often left behind when you start work, this has devastating consequences not just on companies but also on workers ( from assistant to CEO). We're emotional beings, after all. Businesses are evolving, though, and are starting to provide extensive and individual work arrangements and new programmes (for example, some insurance plans provide mental health coverage) to ensure that people are cared for at work.

This includes hiring psychologists for human resources teams: getting to understand your workforce as best as possible, and offering useful training has direct results on employee/employer relationships.

What Are Elements Of Emotional Intelligence?

Let’s dive deeper into the 5 elements of Emotional Intelligence:

1. Self-awareness is about recognising yourself: discovering your shortcomings, abilities, motivators, beliefs, and effects on others – the power of good instincts, ultimately. If you're a boss, you would know how challenging close deadlines are. A self-aware and emotionally knowledgeable boss can schedule their time well and get the job done well in advance of any deadlines so as to avoid any consequences on their emotional  or physical well-being.

2. Now, self-management is the capacity to harness and redirect destructive emotions and moods. Think of trustworthiness, honesty, and the comfort of transition. It's not encouraging your emotions to cripple you, but rather to conjure up your good emotions and match your emotions with your passions. For example, if a team fails to make a presentation, the leader must suppress the temptation to shout. Instead, they should consider potential explanations for disappointment, explain the implications to the members of their team, and discuss alternatives together.

3. Motivation is enjoying achievement for its own sake. A passion for the work you do, optimism, and energy to improve are the key hallmarks of an emotionally intelligent and motivated person.

4. Empathy is understanding the mental makeup of other individuals. It's about remembering other people's emotions, particularly when making decisions. Any of the trademarks of empathy include experience in recruiting and maintaining top talent, willingness to develop others, and openness to cross-cultural discrepancies. 

5. Finally, social skill is building a relationship with others to move them in the desired direction. Think “influence”, here.

How Do You Become More Emotionally Intelligent?

It's apparent that we're all emotionally intelligent, but we need to take some time to self-assess and reflect on our emotions. As for everything, preparation is required, but even minor measures will make a huge difference. As you work out your biceps or some other muscle on a daily basis, you need to practice your skills to strengthen them.

It is true that when we look at the leaders of some of the most profitable organizations that most of all these leaders have and show high levels of all the core components of emotional intelligence. It's important to bear in mind that there are a variety of skills. Overall, women tend to be more emotionally sensitive on average: to feel what someone feels at the moment, to manage relationships with individuals and classes. Even Goleman's perspective on the relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership is that there are disparities between men and women in this field, but as individuals develop, they acquire expertise in the area they require.

Has Emotional Intelligence Made A Difference In The Workplace?

We make emotionally charged choices every day. We assume that Plan A is stronger than Plan B, and often we make decisions based on our thoughts or intestinal feelings. When we understand the cause and source of these feelings, particularly when we work in a team, we are more attuned to each other. With globalization, emotional intelligence is more important than ever as teams are cross-cultural and multinational, raising the intensity of emotional experiences and how they are communicated. Essentially, on-the-job emotional intelligence is about learning, expressing, and controlling healthy relationships, and problem-solving under pressure.

Benefits Of Emotional Intelligence At Work

Gary Yukl, a leading expert in leadership agrees and goes on to conclude, "Self-awareness makes it possible to consider one's own desires and probable responses as those events arise, thus encouraging the assessment of potential options."

In order for emotional intelligence to be successful, you have to start with yourself. You can't distill or strengthen the well-being, improvement, and sense of self of someone without first knowing how you function on an emotional basis. What separates leaders is typically their level of interpersonal maturity, and it is those qualities that help to create a more productive workplace.