Emotional Intelligence (EI) Workshop

New age intelligence

Coined by Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (EI) defines an understanding of one’s own feelings and how these impact sentiments of others. After all, man is a socio-emotional animal. Feelings can never be discounted. They always impact anything that man does. According to Salovey & Mayer, Emotional Intelligence involves the ability to monitor one’s own and other’s feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use this vital information to guide one’s thinking and actions. Needless to say, this culminates as success in all personal and professional endeavors.

Heart engine

The brain is considered to be the crucial success determinant. However IQ is not the only factor, which pushes one to triumph. Emotions originate from the heart metaphorically, although literally, feelings arise from the emotional brain or the limbic system. Emotional intelligence is finesse of the emotional brain and is the new age predictor of success in individual and work undertakings. IQ does get you hired but after a while the lack of EQ prevents the much coveted promotion and can even get you fired!

Man without emotion

Everything that any human being ever does is spattered with a multitude of emotions. Be it positive or negative, no one can be emotionless in any task they take up. The worst of negative emotions can persuade people to extreme unconstructive actions while a solitary strong positive emotion can engender constructive outcomes. Either ways, man’s emotions significantly influence behavior. Problem solving requires as much emotion management as it does task control. Often enough people wish they were emotionless and it would ease their decision-making ability in personal or professional encounters. Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. There is no existence without emotion.

EI at different levels at the workplace

EI is not the end of the game; it is one of the core skills one needs in order to play the game rightly. At an individual level EI helps enable employees to communicate with one another, accept conflict as normative and use solution orientation instead of problem focus. At a group level EI helps fine tune the interpersonal dynamics to enable people to empathize and relate to coworkers and team members better. At the managerial level it permits managers to optimize their team and build on achievement motivation. At organizational levels, EI plays a role in appropriate hiring, promoting and performance evaluation.

MINDFRAMES: Reframing Intelligence

There is a symbiotic relationship between employees, managers, leaders, environments, situations and the entire organization itself. Each one needs the other to thrive, survive and succeed in accomplishing their own as well as each other’s goals. Emotional Intelligence is the hidden acumen, not ever mentioned on a resume or assessed in an interview, but it assuredly helps each one reach there.

Tenets of EI

EI or emotional intelligence is based on five basic tenets

  • Self awareness: of flaws too
  • Self management and regulation
  • Self motivation for growth
  • Social awareness and empathy
  • Social communication skills

EI Application at work

Emotional intelligence at he workplace has several advantahes

  • Independent decision making
  • Respecting/ accepting diversity
  • Maintaining work-life balance
  • Handling arguments better
  • Choosing action over inertia
  • Taking greater accountability
  • Maintaining optimism always
  • Embracing challenge confidently
  • Selecting alternate perspectives
  • Being compassionate at work
  • Being client or task centered
  • Having power to negotiate
  • Being honest at the workplace
  • Using listening skills well
  • Empowering self and others

EI workshop

While empathy and socal skills are inculcated over a lifetime, EI can still be inculcated in people previously unexposed to its power.

  • Focus on social skills training
  • Introspection and self realization
  • Empathic role playing exercises
  • Modifying sensory submodalities
  • Inculcating optimistic approaches
  • Building interpersonal acceptance