2011 01 Jun
Why do you cry at work? Or when was the last time when you didn’t know how to respond when someone blow up at you? How many times did you hear the statement “It’s not personal, it’s the job requirements”. Well, yes it’s personal, and you are not alone facing this!
Khalil, 32 years old, project manager at one of the leading IT companies in Lebanon, focuses a lot on “Emotional Intelligence – EQ” and woks on how to understand and controls emotions in workspaces. Khalil says that "emotional intelligence is one of the major skill areas that can influence your career and create abilities that improve your worth at work".
Obviously, when human beings are brought together to complete tasks, emotions will play a role—theories to the contrary notwithstanding. “Don’t bring your personal problems to work” is one variation of the argument that emotions are inappropriate in the workplace. Business decisions, so the argument goes, should be based on information, logic and calm cool reason, with emotions kept to a minimum.
To light up on the influence of emotions in workplaces let’s suppose that you and your spouse work in the same workplace and you share the same colleagues! So interacting with everybody around you will be based on both, your emotions and your spouse’s emotions. In addition, your teammates will act with you as both, your and your wife’s personal feelings, as they will always think that you both back one another up, and that all sorts of things is happening, such as taking leaves without it being recorded; using the workplace for private purposes; going to lunch together regardless of the needs of the unit, and the most bad thing is that you both will lose respect as you always will interact together as family what will send negative signs to your teammates.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle, in his Nicomachean Ethics, says: "Anyone can become angry -- that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way -- that is not easy."
People with high Emotional Intelligence (EQ) can manage their emotions, communicate effectively with others, manage change well and solve problems. They also have empathy, remain optimistic and are skilled at influencing and persuading others.
Emotional intelligence also helps you understand, anticipate and navigate the expectations of those around you. This is helpful when dealing with customers, prospects, vendors, business associates and even employees and contractors. If you can help the people around you feel appreciated by anticipating their expectations and managing them before they’ve even realized, then you’re way ahead of the game.
People who cannot relate to others because of they can't control their emotions could benefit from EI training, as they would be better able to understand both their feelings and those of others, and this would help them doing better in their workplace. Emotions will continue to be the first and last skill area controlling humans behaviors, how do you, dear reader, suggest to enhance productivity and performance in workplaces!?
