EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, A WORK & HOME BALANCING ACT

Society often talks about intellectual abilities and the “intelligence quotient”, but what about the development of emotional intelligence at home and in the workplace? To understand and nurture awareness of one’s emotions, are home and workplace helpful environments, making dealing with stress easier, skills that are nurtured and developed over time?

Humans are meant for connection. Building positive relationships and developing cooperative connections helps in enriching our lives, and could even assist with productivity.

According to VeryWellMind, the key signs of emotional intelligence are said to be ability to identify and describe what people are feeling, awareness of personal strengths and limitations, self-confidence and self-acceptance, ability to let go of mistakes, ability to accept and embrace change, strong sense of curiosity, particularly about other people, feelings of empathy and concern for others. Indeed, showing sensitivity to the feelings of other people, accepting responsibility for mistakes and ability to manage emotions in difficult situations is often seen to be lacking in modern society.

In an academic setting, students who demonstrate high emotional intelligence, especially in the areas of emotional regulation and empathy, may be less likely to experience stress, unhappiness and anxiety. 

According to various studies, a high EQ can help  people around you achieve success, particularly in group projects, so it is no surprise that these are indeed transferrable skillsets to many leadership and management roles.

Emotional intelligence has been extensively researched by psychologists like Daniel Goleman, as we explore the essential elements of emotional intelligence. The components include, perception of emotions which involves accurately pinning them down, in order to interpret the drivers and meaning. Then comes reasoning with emotion as we tap into reasoning for better cognition and thinking. Understanding emotions is another important tool which involves interpretation of the variety of meanings attached to emotions. Finally, we have to manage our emotions to develop emotional intelligence.

There are so many layers of cognitive understanding that it can help employees in the workplace adapt to a myriad of situations, indeed useful across many industries. According to a survey of hiring managers almost 75% of respondents suggested that an employee’s EQ is more important than their IQ.

When we look at Studying the most important skills critical for workplace and team coheson, TalentSmartEQ found emotional intelligence to be the strongest predictor of performance, accounting for 58% of success across all job types.

Additionally, they found that 90% of top performers scored high for EI. But what’s the benefit of the employees in developing their emotional quotient? It enables job satisfaction and makes decision making more smooth for the employee, enabling better mental wellness for the employee.

High emotional intelligence results in strong interpersonal skills, especially conflict management and communication – important skills in the workplace. Functioning with empathy can help improve team work, understanding emotions helps in building employee relationships. This goes without saying, but getting there is often where these very skills are most needed.

Being self-aware of our own feelings can help in better interpretation in others assisting in conflict resolution and productivity. Employees who can regulate their emotions are  able to avoid making impulsive decisions and can think objectively.

Effective leaders are often very emotionally intelligent. Effective leadership involves understanding strengths and weaknesses and acting with humility. Moreover, leaders who exhibit strong EI deeply understand how their actions can affect their team members.

We are often aware and see the signatures of emotion in great leaders, but it is regulated with great skill and execution.

Strong emotional intelligence enables leaders to read body language, gestures, understanding employees who want more support. In the workplace, giving continuous constructive feedback to employees and nurturing emotional intelligence by practicing the management of stress in an efficient and healthy way can be very effective.

Emotional intelligence is as much needed in the home as in the workplace. Emotional intelligence at home strengthens family relationships and it is especially useful while parenting children.

It is said to be  incredibly powerful in the family because it puts people  in control of  relationships with parents and children, siblings, in-laws and extended family.

When you know your feelings, you can’t be manipulated by other’s emotions; nor can you blame family conflict. Most of the techniques for improving family relationships are based  on communicating feelings with near and dear ones because close relationships have foundations in feeling.

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Whilst we constantly learn these skills across an entire lifetime, in parenting, emotional intelligence has a major role to play. Depending on the styles practiced, identifying emotions can serve in developing better relationships with children.

Social-emotional skills are life skills that help us to navigate our world, connect with others, and build life-long relationships. It is important to teach children to identify, express, and manage emotions in a healthy way. But in order to express and manage those emotions, one must first be able to identify them. This journey of discovery is equally important.

Naturally, Discussing emotional experiences is often that first step towards deepening emotional cognizance.

Once children are able to identify emotions, discussion about them can be accomplished through conversation, books, watching and discussing movies, playing games, and having emotional check-ins.

Reading great books can be also beneficial like reading aloud certain specially selected books  offers many opportunities for learning, especially when it comes to identifying and understanding emotions.

When reading aloud, take it slow. Turn the book into a socio emotional learning experience by asking questions regarding the emotional responses of characters, sharing stories if same emotions were felt in real life.

Thus emotional intelligence can be developed in workplace amongst employees and leaders and at home midst family members and while parenting through myriad of ways.