Paul Doyle on Emotional Intelligence
There is mounting research literature demonstrating that Emotional Intelligence training has a positive impact on healthy development and success. But what is Emotional Intelligence?
Celtic Careers is delighted that our associate in Ology Coaching, Paul Doyle partners with us on our blog post this week agreeing to unravel this complex topic and explain why employers place such importance on candidate’s EI to guide their recruitment decision making. It is interesting to note how emotional intelligence has become one of the main predictors of job performance in recent years.
There is a direct link between the way people feel and the way people perform at work. Leadership and business management is fundamentally about people and their effectiveness in the workplace. Anything that impacts the effectiveness of people’s minds also must impact the businesses they work in. Many experts in the field of human behaviour and performance now believe that a person’s emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) is more important than their IQ and is a better predictor of success, quality of relationships and general levels of overall happiness. Emotions influence our decisions, behaviour and performance both positively and negatively. Research demonstrates that we are not typically conscious of the influence our emotions have on our decisions and behaviour in 85% of situations. This simple fact has huge implications for our individual and collective decision making processes. People in high performing companies feel more valued, proud and motivated than those in low performing companies.
Key Competencies of EI:·
Self- Awareness – knowing and understanding your behaviour and the impact you have on others.
Awareness of Others – adjusting your style to accommodate others and acknowledging others’ feelings and state.
Authenticity – Honouring commitments and expressing oneself openly and honestly.
Self-Regulation – understanding one’s own mood and emotions and striving to understand one’s behaviour patterns in different situations.·
Inspiring Performance – enabling others to perform at their optimum by providing the scope and circumstances to grow and develop in a supportive culture.
Leaders should be skilled at identifying and understanding their own emotions and those of others in their team to help drive the best decisions, behaviour, and performance. The ability to understand what motivates others and to build stronger bonds with others in the workplace makes those with higher emotional intelligence better leaders.
An effective leader recognises the needs of his people and responds in ways that encourage improved performance and workplace satisfaction. In today’s business environment it is increasingly difficult to gain competitive advantage, more and more organisations are looking to EI as a way of developing a competitive edge both in attracting and maintaining top talent. Organisations are looking to EI to improve wellness and stress management in the modern workplace. A high level of emotional intelligence directly correlates to a positive attitude and happier outlook on life.
In the words of Maya Angelou: “people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.