It Pays Off To Start Actively Developing Emotional Intelligence

Filed Under , Professional Development

This week I felt a need to seriously engage into learning more about emotional intelligence. Juggling a myriad of projects, interests sometimes get on the way of being always present and aware of what is going on in the current environment. I started looking for a good book to immerse into the subject and went through a number of HBR articles. I found a few on leadership, controlling emotions and becoming a master that can perform under stress continously and can make his team deliver quality results.  It takes practice to achieve that and sometimes takes years. For me it is a challenge as my passion for a topic or a project or an idea gets on my way sometimes. It is great in its nature to support continious delivery, but it gets on the way of being a good leader. Can one have both? Yes. I met a few people who were passionate and emphatic. Some people are born with it, some people get it through experience. It is also something that can be learnt as long as you practice every day or at least intensively in the beginning. So, this is hope! Being realistic, learning continously, watching the language and connecting on the emotional level are the basics of EI. I wish I could find bloggers - experts on the topic. Perhaps, it would be a good supplemental reading before going to bed.


Comments

6 Responses to “It Pays Off To Start Actively Developing Emotional Intelligence”

  1. Vince Williams on February 23rd, 2007 6:51 am

    In my experience, women seem to have a more developed natural emotional intelligence, at least in terms of empathy, than most men.

    The reticence of men to give expression to emotional currents might be an advantage in management skills, but I would think that women might have the natural advantage in understanding what resonates emotionally with a target audience.

  2. Yulia Smirnova on February 23rd, 2007 10:24 am

    Vince, this is an interesting point. I wonder how EI is different in relation to gender, if by target audience you mean collegues and subordinates. I only saw one comment on that in an article that it could be detrimental for a male leader to express empathy to a female collegue especially in the male dominated/skewed industry. I will look into that and see what I run into! Thanks.

  3. Galba Bright on February 24th, 2007 11:05 am

    Hello Yulia:

    To be an effective leader in the 21st Century men and women need to understand their emotions and use them as a positive force for communication and decision making.

    I don’t see my self as an expert in Emotional Intelligence. However I’ve tried to live an emotionally intelligent life since 1998 and my vocation is to help other people to do the same. You might enjoy my free Tune Up Your Emotional Intelligence Workbook It’s at http://www.tuneupyoureq.com. Also, do stop by the Tune Up Your EQ Blog http://www.tuneupyoureq/category/blog/ and enjoy the conversation.

    ENJOY YOUR EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE JOURNEY !!

  4. Yulia Smirnova on February 24th, 2007 11:04 pm

    Galba, this is a great surprise! Now I can get more info on that from someone that already spent time researching and trying to understand it and share with the rest. Thank you, I will definetely look up to tune up on your site. I started reading the EQ edge book and I would need more info to feed my interest.

  5. Vince Williams on February 25th, 2007 11:01 pm

    Yulia,

    Thanks for your reply. By target audience, I meant any group one is trying to communicate ideas to, whether it be one’s colleagues, or a demographic market.

    I think that in today’s sexual harassment climate, a man would be well-advised to used caution in expressing emotional empathy with a female colleague (or client, for that matter), because it could so easily be misinterpreted, or the guy might simply be clumsy at it, and still offend unintentionally.

  6. Galba Bright on February 27th, 2007 9:16 pm

    Hello Yulia:

    Perhaps your experience shows that, if you ask for something, there’s every chance that it will arrive. Thanks for your comments over at my blog. I was delighted to hear that you got such great results when you generated some options for yourself.

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      Everything posted on this blog is a product of my own thoughts, ideas, reflections based on the professional interests. It is based on the public information, works of the colleagues and fellow researchers that are cited respectfully and my opinions as an industry professional.