The Importance and Necessity of Emotional Intelligence
There is a lot written about Emotional Intelligence. And to be honest, when I became aware of it in the mid-1990, I thought it was another clever effort by consultants to make more money. However, over the past thirty years, I have become convinced that Dan Goleman, David Caruso, John Mayer, and Peter Solvay, as well as other social scientists, got it right. I chose Emotional Intelligence as my research and dissertation focus as I worked on my doctorate. I learned a lot through that process. My focus was looking at the influence/impact the manager’s Emotional Intelligence has on their direct reports’ degree of employee engagement.
Emotional Intelligence is a person’s ability to understand their emotions and those they interact with. And they use that information to identify the better way to address the opportunity in front of them. So, Emotional Intelligence INFORMS “¦ makes us aware. The key is their ability to accurately assess emotions and their impact on the circumstance.
To be considered a form of Intelligence, the topic needs to meet three criteria: (1) be a skill/competency, (2) be teachable, and (3) be able to improve over time. There are several forms of Intelligence, including but not limited to the following: cognitive, musical, visual, logical, linguistic, artificial, emotional, etc. The definition of Intelligence is the potential for:
- simplification
- learning
- self-awareness
- emotional knowledge
- reasoning
- planning
- imagination
- critical thinking
- and problem-solving.
Let me simplify to create a better and more practical understanding of Emotional Intelligence’s value. But, first, have you ever heard the saying by Maya Angelou (1928″“2014):
“At the end of the day, people won’t remember what you said or did? But, they will remember how you made them feel.”
Think about it. People remember how you made them feel. So why is this important to you as a leader? The research states that Emotional Intelligence provides a similar impact or benefit to the leader’s success or any business, regardless of business/organization type, whether a hotel, engineering firm, healthcare system, military service, academic facility, or any other organization.
Here is what the research says about the benefit/impact of Emotional Intelligence on leaders and business performance:
- Improves retention (4X less likely to leave)
- lowers absenteeism
- Increases productivity
- improves customer service
- enhances financial performance/profitability
Here are a few practical tips on what you can do to enhance your Emotional intelligence competencies:
1. Learn as much as you can about Emotional Intelligence.
2. Practice identifying emotions when watching a TV show or a movie.
3. Identify your emotions/feelings throughout your day.
4. Ask yourself, was the identification of my emotion correct? And why do I know it was accurate?
5. Keep practicing and reading about EI
It may seem like EI is the magical answer to leading or running a business team. It is “¦ in terms of being a significant foundation of our ability to lead. But, there is so much more about Emotional Intelligence than what has been shared here. It is one of the most researched topics of the past decade. And there are hundreds of books on the subject. Moreover, Emotional Intelligence is the first significant breakthrough demonstrating that soft people skills are essential for better leaders and higher-performing organizations. I encourage you to learn more about Emotional Intelligence and how to improve your Emotional Intelligence to be more successful at what you do. Check out our webinars and other training sources by clicking on www.quantumleadershipinc.com.
