How to develop your emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) awareness and development in an individual, team, and organization increase performance, decision making, engagement, and a sense of well-being. All of these attributes add up to increased ability and capacity in leadership.

EI requires the competency, ability, and practice of reading and understanding yourself in the context of reading and understanding others in a social or work environment. Sound simple? This is tough stuff! Achieving a level of EI that matters in work and social context is done through being vulnerable, asking for feedback from those who have gone before you on a similar journey, and no longer being a legend in your own mind (starts on the bottom of page 22 section 6).

Developing EI is a multidimensional effort. Monitoring your emotions as an information guide to your thinking is not a practiced competency, unfortunately, in many families. Hence, we enter the workforce with one perspective—our own!

Over the lifetimes of organizations, many still have deep roots, perhaps unconsciously, in a mechanistic environment, rather than a humanistic one. These roots might translate into a low organizational EI coupled with an undeveloped EI for those in leadership roles. Gaining a competitive advantage requires employees who adapt to changing environments.

 

continue reading »