People Strategies: Emotional intelligence can make, break success

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High stress jobs which all jobs are cause people to lose it sometimes. Writing an angry e-mail with personal attacks, slamming the phone down in mid-conversation or throwing a laptop at the wall are symptoms of emotions that are unproductive. If unproductive emotions come out often, they will devastate a career.|ret||ret||tab|

A new concept has entered the business world "emotional quotient" or EQ. A great deal of research has resulted in an astounding view of the human psyche in the workplace. Profound statistics show that people with a high EQ are far more successful than those who are less proficient at managing their emotions. |ret||ret||tab|

Probably the most foundational book about EQ is "Working with Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman. Goleman defines EQ as "the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves and for managing emotions well in ourselves and our relationships." He makes the case that EQ is "the single most important factor in job performance and advancement."|ret||ret||tab|

Another book, "The Emotion-al Intelligence Activity Book" by Adele Lynn, gives less information and more practical application to the subject by providing 50 activities for promoting EQ at work. In particular, Lynn defines five sets of talents that are well-articulated and universal. The following includes excerpts from her book.|ret||ret||tab|

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Self-awareness and control|ret||ret||tab|

The self-awareness component demands intimate and accurate knowledge of one's self and one's emotions. It also demands understanding and predicting one's emotional reactions to situations. One who is emotionally competent is also fully aware of one's values and core beliefs, and knows the impact and effect of compromising these core beliefs. The self-control component requires full mastery of being in control of one's emotions. |ret||ret||tab|

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Empathy|ret||ret||tab|

Empathy requires the ability to understand how others perceive situations. This includes knowing how others feel about a particular set of events or circumstances. Empathy requires knowing the perspective of others and being able to see things from the value and belief system of the other person. It is the ability to fully immerse oneself in another's viewpoint, yet be able to remain wholly apart. |ret||ret||tab|

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Social expertness|ret||ret||tab|

Social expertness is the ability to build genuine relationships and bonds with others that are based on an assumption of human equality. It allows people to genuinely express feelings, even conflict, in a way that builds rather than destroys relationships. It also enables a person to choose appropriate actions based on his or her feelings of empathy. The talent of social expertness allows caring, support and concern to show for fellow human beings in all of life's situations. Resolving conflict without compromising core beliefs or values is important.|ret||ret||tab|

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Personal influence|ret||ret||tab|

Personal influence is the ability to inspire others through example, words and deeds. It means to lead others by way of social expertness. Personal influence is the ability to read situations and exert influence and leadership in the desired direction. It is also the ability to confront issues that are important or debilitating to relationships, goals, missions or visions. Personal influence also is exhibiting motivation for one's visions, missions, core values and beliefs.|ret||ret||tab|

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Mastery of vision|ret||ret||tab|

Mastery of vision requires the ability to set direction and vision guided by a strong personal philosophy. The ability to communicate and articulate with passion regarding direction and vision are also essential. This talent serves as the inner compass that guides and influences one's actions. It also guides resilience and strength to overcome obstacles. Mastery of vision allows us to know who we are and what we are compelled to do with our lives. When our actions and words are consistent with this personal philosophy, it is our sense of authenticity. When inconsistent, it is our sense of stress and discomfort.|ret||ret||tab|

There's an old saying, "I like me best when I am with you." That's how most people feel when working with someone who has a high EQ. |ret||ret||tab|

This concept may catch on, and suddenly we will all have to be responsible for our behavior at work.|ret||ret||tab|

|bold_on|(Linda Bower is a speaker, executive coach and human per-formance improvement consul-tant in Rogersville. Send questions about people, problems and productivity c/o SBJ at PO Box 1365, Springfield, MO 65801 or sbj@sbj.net.)|ret||ret||tab|

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