Emotional intelligence is a hot topic these days, and rightly so. It is a critical factor in both our professional and personal success.
American psychologist Daniel Goleman identified five components that go into our emotional intelligence: awareness of our own emotions, ability to regulate our own emotions, internal motivation, empathy, and social skills.
Cy Wakeman, author of the book Reality Based Leadership, has been featured in a Levo League Office Hours, and I appreciate the insight she shared about how we can improve our emotional intelligence and get better results. Here are three of the tips she shared:
- Understand your true worth at work. Are you adding value to the workplace? She says your value at work is a combination of your performance plus your potential minus your emotional expensiveness. How much drama do you cause?
- Ditch the drama. Most drama and suffering in the workplace is completely optional. Most of our workplace angst and stress is caused by our story about the reality. Instead we can regulate our emotions by sticking to the reality. For example, your boss called and wanted to see how you are coming along on a project. Before getting upset that he is micro-managing you, ask yourself, what do I know for sure? My boss called. You don’t know that he thinks you’re doing a bad job or that he thinks you’re incompetent to get your work done independently or anything else. Stick to the reality. He called and had a couple of questions.
- Say yes to what’s next. Be open to change and focus on adding to your value. We add more value when we bring our expertise, rather than our opinion. Expertise says, “Yes, here’s how I can help.” Opinion says, “No, this won’t work.” Things are always going to change. Say yes to what’s next and be ready for what’s next. Keep your skills up and add to your value.
To your success-
Blessings,
