Emotional Intelligence was our topic for our last blog post. We highlighted how self-awareness is important in understanding Emotional Intelligence and as a manager, it is vital to have an understanding of this topic. Knowing how to manage emotions in yourself and identify them in others will help you manage your workplace more efficiently.

Emotional intelligence is a management skills needed to assist strong management. Management skills like these can be sharpened with management courses at Global Training Institute.

“To effectively navigate your work world, to know what course you are to follow and how to stay on it, you need a gyroscope. Think of your emotional self-awareness that way: it helps keep you centred and immediately alerts you when you are tilting off course.”

Hendrie Weisinger, Emotional Intelligence at Work, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1998, p. 5.

What is emotional intelligence?

“Emotional intelligence involves the ability to perceive accurately, appraise and express emotion; the ability to access and/or generate feelings when they facilitate thought; the ability to understand emotion and emotional knowledge; and the ability to regulate emotions to promote emotional and intellectual growth.”

John Mayer and Peter Salovey, Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence, 1997.

Read further

‘Emotional Intelligence’ by Daniel Goleman, Bantam, 1995.

‘Working with Emotional Intelligence’ by Daniel Goleman, Bantam, 1998.

‘Emotional Intelligence at Work’ by Hendrie Weisinger, Jossey-Bass, NY, 2000.

‘The EQ Edge’ by Steven Stein and Howard Book, Stoddart, 2000.

 

Mini seminar

Here is a workplace example of the five self-awareness components (listed in core topic 138) at work:

‘I walked down to John’s office to ask him a question

[INTENTION]. I saw him typing fast and furiously at his computer [SENSES] and figured he must be very keen to complete the report I had given him [APPRAISAL]. I was very happy [FEELINGS] he was working so hard. I didn’t want to disturb his concentration [INTENTION], so I quietly slipped out of his office [ACTIONS].

Analyse a similar situation in your workplace to clarify your understanding of the five self-awareness elements.

The Road to Emotional Intelligence

The Road to Emotional Intelligence

1920s – Psychologists and social scientists explore the concept ‘social intelligence’.

1980 – Psychologist Reuven Bar-On, studying ‘personal intelligence’ and ‘emotional factors’, coins the phrase ‘emotional quotient’.

1990 – John Mayer and Peter Salovey coin and define the phrase ‘emotional intelligence’.

1995 – Daniel Goleman’s bestseller Emotional Intelligence popularises the concept.

1997 – The Bar-On EQ-i published: ‘the only scientifically based and validated measurement of emotional intelligence’ (www.mhs.com).

 

Wise words

‘Anyone can become angry-that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and the right way-this is not easy.’

(Aristotle, ‘The Nicomacheon Ethics’)

‘Emotional Intelligence refers to the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships.’

(Daniel Golman, ‘Working with Emotional Intelligence’. London, Bloomsbury, 1998, page 317)

‘It is with the heart that one sees rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.’

Antoine De Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince.

 

The Five Emotional Intelligence Skills

  1. Self-Awareness Skills
  2. Social Skills
  3. Optimism
  4. Emotional Control
  5. Flexibility Skills

Emotional Intelligence Works, Kravitz, S.M. and Schubert, S.D., Crisp Publications, Menlo Park, California 2000, p. 9.

 

Predicting future success

Most of us are aware of those people at school with us who were considered ‘intelligent’, yet have not gone on to achieve all that was expected of them in their future career endeavours. An explanation for this apparent anomaly that is gaining an increasing level of acceptance is that the key to success in life is a product of IQ and EQ – a person’s level of ‘Emotional Intelligence’.

Indeed, research suggests that emotional intelligence or attributes of emotional intelligence such as one’s capacity to empathise, judge, relate, sympathise and other emotional skills, are better predictors of success than the intelligence measured by IQ tests.

 

Emotional Intelligence is a vital soft skill and one that is important when working in a management position as well as other roles and responsibilities. 

As a manager it’s very important to be self-aware with your emotional intelligence. Soft skills such as these can be learned through Global Training Institute’s short courses including Emotional Intelligence, Supervising Others, Communication Strategies and more. If you are looking to further develop your management skills, check out Global Training Institute’s management courses including the Certificate IV in Frontline Management, Diploma of Management and Advanced Diploma of Management. Global Training Institute is a Registered Training Organisation that offers accredited online courses. For more information please contact us.