What is this and how does this relate to workplace ethics I hear you ask? Well,ethics focuses on our day to day be-haviour which in turn ties in nicely with emotional intelligence and how we mange our emotions and relate to peo-ple at work.
Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to perceive, evaluate, and respond to your own emotions and the emo-tions of others,in simple terms it is our ability to recognize and manage our emotions according to the situation.
According to LinkedIn, emotional Intelligence is ranked as one of the top 5 soft skills employers now look for when hiring, so it is definitely one skill to have/improve on.
Elements of Emotional Intelligence
Self Awareness- This is the ability to understand yourself, know your weakness,strengths,drivers and most im-portantly the impact you have on other people.Knowing this can help you manage situations better at work e.g
In my quest to increase my EI,I have been told (much to my surprise and I am sure yours too ) that I am not much fun to be around when I am working towards a tight deadline.Based on that feedback, I have now learnt to plan well in advance to manage myself better which in turn has helped improve work/family relationships.
Self-management -This is the ability to manage those emotions identified and to wait for the appropriate way/time to express these emotions rather than just reacting impulsively at the moment. E.g- Your manager/colleague speaks to you rudely in front of the customers,an emotionally intelligent employee will not address or provide feed-back to the colleague/manager in front of the customer but would find an appropriate time and place to raise their grievance. James 1 vs 19-20 comes to mind in this example.
Empathy-This refers to stepping into another person's shoes and understanding how they feel. It goes beyond recognizing how people feel but also how you respond to these emotions.This can be very difficult especially at work when you are so sure that your work colleague is wrong however, by adopting empathy it can help you respond to situations better with the insight you have of their rationale, even though you may not agree with it.
In summary emotional intelligence matters in every facet of life and now more than ever companies are looking for people who can effectively make decisions in stressful situations and can empathize with the needs of their col-leagues and clients. We can explore a few tips on how to increase emotional intelligence in next month’s edition.
Stay Blessed
Ufy