Some time ago, we were contacted by a client who was having
\na significant challenge within the organization.\u00a0 The company was experiencing significant
\ngrowth and was promoting managers and supervisors who were not trained to handle
\nthe stress and challenges of managing others. Even senior managers were
\nstruggling with the stress of rapid growth. \u00a0After doing a little investigation, we
\ndiscovered the main culprit \u2013 poorly developed \u201cemotional intelligence\u201d among
\nmiddle and senior management.<\/p>\n
Emotional intelligence, often called EQ, is the ability to
\nrecognize, understand and use the power of emotions to facilitate high levels
\nof collaboration and productivity. In essence, it is the ability to effectively
\nmanage one\u2019s own emotions.<\/p>\n
When emotional intelligence is low, managers find themselves
\ndiverting time and energy to dealing with emotion-driven conflict among team
\nmembers. And in some instances it is the manager\u2019s own emotions that sabotage
\nperformance.\u00a0 An organization suffers the
\ngreatest productivity loss when a manager\u2019s low EQ behavior impacts others
\nwithin the organization. If managers are unable to manage their own emotions,
\ntheir negative behavior can sap the energy of staff.<\/p>\n
The emotions with the most potential to cause negative
\nrepercussions in the workplace are anger and fear, which can temporarily impair
\nthe brain\u2019s ability to think rationally. The brain is wired to be on alert
\nstatus from a threat of any kind, whether real or imagined. Anger and fear
\nactivate the brain\u2019s \u201cfight, flight or freeze\u201d response, as the part of the
\nbrain that generates emotion floods the area in charge of executive functions
\nwith hormones.<\/p>\n
As a result, attention, problem solving and access to memory
\nare all impaired. A person\u2019s planning and organizational abilities are
\ndiminished and his or her ability to concentrate is all but eliminated amid the
\ndistraction of trying to process their reactions and plan a response. \u00a0Since logic and critical thinking are
\nexecutive functions of the brain, the person\u2019s ability to calm down is reduced
\nas the emotional flooding continues. The longer the emotional flood gates are
\nopen, the more difficult it gets to get back on track.<\/p>\n
Typically it can take up to four hours for the person\u2019s
\nthinking process to return to normal. Anyone who has ever struggled to stay
\nfocused after an emotional interlude knows this to be true.<\/p>\n
So how do we help clients develop and improve their
\nworkplace EQ so they can stay on track?
\nFirst, we establish the clear understanding that EQ is NOT about
\navoiding emotions at the workplace \u2013 that is an unreasonable expectation to
\nset.\u00a0 Instead, EQ assesses how quickly
\nyou can move beyond your emotions to a point where you can effectively become
\nproductive.<\/p>\n
There are two phases to EQ:
\nIntrapersonal EQ (what happens inside a person), and \u00a0Interpersonal EQ (what happens between oneself
\nand others).<\/p>\n
There are three
\ndimensions to Intrapersonal EQ:<\/p>\n
Self-awareness:<\/b>
\nThe ability to recognize and understand your own moods, emotions and drives, as
\nwell as their effect on others.<\/p>\n
Self- Regulation:<\/b>
\nThe ability to suspend judgment so as to think before acting, and to enable
\noneself to choose to control or redirect disruptive impulses and moods.<\/p>\n
Motivation:<\/b> A
\npropensity to pursue goals with energy and persistence, sometimes with a
\npassion to work for reasons that go beyond a desire for money or status.<\/p>\n
There are two dimensions to Interpersonal EQ:<\/p>\n
Empathy:<\/b> \u00a0The ability to understand the emotional makeup
\nof other people.<\/p>\n
Social Skills: <\/b>A
\nproficiency in managing relationships and building networks.<\/p>\n
The first step to developing EQ is to become more
\n\u201cself-aware.\u201d\u00a0 This self-awareness is the
\nessential building block for EQ development.
\nWhat does it feel like to be in an emotional state?\u00a0 When do you know you are in such a
\nstate?\u00a0 When have you recently felt out
\nof control to your emotions?<\/p>\n
Once individuals are aware that they are in an emotional
\nstate, they can work toward \u201cself-regulation,\u201d where they practice techniques
\nand methods for controlling their disruptive emotions.\u00a0 These are the two critical steps in managing
\nEQ.\u00a0 Once individuals have worked on
\nself-awareness and self-regulation, they are more able to quickly become
\nmotivated to act and to work collaboratively with others using empathy and
\nsocial skills.<\/p>\n
Our work involves helping individuals understand EQ
\nconceptually and work on developing their skills at each step of the EQ
\nspectrum. \u00a0In some cases, we administer
\nan online EQ assessment that helps individuals identify their own emotional
\ndevelopment in each of these five dimensions.<\/p>\n
And here\u2019s the good news:
\nOnce people learn about emotional intelligence and its components \u2013 and
\nI do mean simply becoming aware of the dimensions of emotional intelligence \u2013 they
\nare better able to develop and improve their own EQ.\u00a0 It\u2019s a learning that lasts for life \u2013 once
\nthey learn to manage their emotions, they will always be better able to do so.<\/p>\n
In our client\u2019s case, it was clear that their managers had a
\nhigh potential for superior performance but had been falling short of it due to
\na lack of emotional stability. Fortunately, by simply learning about emotional
\nintelligence \u2013 being able to recognize when and why they are in an emotional
\nstate and then knowing the techniques that can regulate their emotions \u2013 their
\nabilities as managers improved dramatically.<\/p>\n
In other words, a little bit of EQ training went a long way
\nin enabling managers to develop themselves and their direct reports in profound
\nand sustaining ways \u2013 a win-win for the whole team and the company at large.<\/p>\n
By Claudia St. John, SPHR, President – Affinity HR Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some time ago, we were contacted by a client who was having a significant challenge within the organization.\u00a0 The company was experiencing significant growth and was promoting managers and supervisors who were not trained to handle the stress and challenges of managing others. Even senior managers were struggling with the stress of rapid growth. \u00a0After […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n