Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace: How Do You Measure Up?

Four factors are paramount in defining a person's emotional intelligence. These factors can strongly affect your performance at work, how much you enjoy the work you do and how you affect the environment and the people around you.

1. Social Responsibility

In the world of work, we live with other people, people with as many problems and challenges as we do, and who are dealing with them as best they can, just as we are. So when negative things happen at work because of someone else's actions, we can either take it personally and lash out in anger, or try to understand the other person's point of view and respond accordingly.

The latter course helps correct the situation instead of placing the blame, and is the choice of people of high emotional intelligence.

2. Interpersonal Relationships

Are you a giver or a taker? When takers some into conflict, there's no compromise and very little chance of resolution.

Givers rarely come into conflict with one another, but can find themselves in conflict with takers. The taker will take advantage of the finer instincts of the giver, and over time resentment will fester.

Learn to recognize the signs in yourself and those who report to you. If you have control over hiring, hire more giving people. If you have inherited a group of takers, use your communication skills to help them understand and learn to care about the consequences of their attitude.

3. Stress Tolerance

You already have a built-in capacity to deal with stress and anxiety, but you can also do a number of things to increase your stress tolerance level.

Learn to recognize the signals in yourself that will let you know when you are about to "lose it" — such as your hands turning into fists or your teeth starting to clench — in time to reverse the reaction. This will help you do some deep breathing or whatever other calming techniques work to reduce your personal stress level.

4. Impulse Control

People with low impulse control can be derailed by e-mail messages, meetings and other situations that can tempt them to react instinctively without engaging their critical thinking mechanism.

People with high emotional intelligence are able to delay their actions or comments until they can be made from a place of intellectual control instead of emotional reaction.

Your emotional intelligence has a huge effect on how you work, how much personal satisfaction you can have in that work and how you contribute to the environment around you.

About the Author:

Helen Wilkie is a professional speaker and workshop leader specializing in workplace communication and skills for new managers. Visit http://www.themanagersjourney.com for your free 45-minute audio program, "The 7 Biggest Mistakes New Managers Make and How to Avoid Them."

Emotional Intelligence

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