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Download Print version EI - Why it Matters
Other readings on EI by The Change Forum
10 Dimensions for EI Teams
Leading with EI
EI at School
Connective Leadership
EI, Values & Behaviour
Culture, Connectivity & EI
More insights on EI in
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Emotional Intelligence - Why it Matters
by Bill Cropper, Director - The Change Forum Download PDF version: FactFile-17 There’s an emotional revolution going on. It stems from a growing realisation emotions do matter for good work, good relationships and a good life. Office, factory, work, school or home, emotions affect how we think, who we are and how we live. They:
EI is not just a random concept – it’s a real brain function. We’re equipped with emotional circuitry hard-wired into us, but instructions on how to use this well has to be learned. Family and school are where we pick up our first, often most ingrained emotional patterns. But these can be learned and unlearned throughout the lives, because our brain is capable of constantly re-moulding its pathways. What is EI? Very simply put, it’s about:
Many of us were brought up believing we should keep emotions to ourselves – that they get in the way of rational work practices. You can’t keep emotions out of workplaces – thankfully. Because they play a positive role in doing good work – just as much as they do sometimes get in the way.
EI skills like perseverance, resilience, empathy, self-confidence and self-motivation are essential to work and life success; for workplaces that are welcoming, warm, inspiring and connective and for decreasing dysfunctional emotional patterns like anger, apathy and anxiety that turn teams toxic and poison relationships. EI has a lot to do with how much respect, support and positivity there is in a workplace. When it’s not there, we notice.
The prevailing pattern and frequency of positive/negative emotions generated in any workplace is an often unnoticed determiner of the health and productivity of a work culture. Related to this, are two core concepts that make EI such a potent force for positivity or negativity at work.
Learning how to manage our feelings, moods and stress reactions helps us avert or lessen hijacks. Why bother? Well, that’s the second EI concept. Emotions are contagious. We catch them like ’flu, but much faster. When we manage moods well – we’re cheery, optimistic, supportive or connective – people act the same. We ‘resonate’ emotionally with each other. This helps us retain energy, handle stress and remain emotionally balanced and creates a positive emotional work climate. Bad moods are equally infectious. When we act cranky, impatient, intolerant, cynical or sullen, we infect others with toxic feelings and people treat you the same. If you’re abrupt, they’ll be rude back. If you blame, they’ll blame back. When you attack, expect a counter-attack. It’s the amygdala at work again – defending us from threats!
People who can’t, or won’t, control their negative feelings, set off negative emotional chain-reactions that create toxic work climates. Research is showing toxic emotions may pose a serious health threat, just as if they were real, physical bio-hazards. Toxic emotions infect every workplace. They’re:
The costs of toxic emotions are often invisible. Apart from resignations and absenteeism, they blunt our sense of purpose, poison people’s experience of work, rob them of vitality and resilience and drain workforce productivity. Toxic emotions – generated by you or picked up from others, leave a residual in the body. Unless we learn how to emotionally insulate ourselves from their effects, they can play havoc with our health, behaviour and sense of well-being.
The stress of non-stop change, the demands to deliver more, cope with more complex work environments, work longer hours and meet tighter deadlines is taking its toll in terms of fatigue, rising stress levels, more caustic work climates, alienation and illness. Workplace stress costs Australian organisations hundreds of millions of dollars every year, not to mention costs in lost productivity, accidents, mistakes and staff turnover. What’s the EI link? Well, EI plays a big role in how well we cope with stress and work pressure. Stress is an emotional reaction first. Depression, acute anxiety, chronic pessimism and many other disabling conditions, are connected to the way we think and react emotionally to stress situations.
When our stress levels go into the red, the same chemicals that energised and made us alert, like cortisol and adrenaline, work in reverse. They build up in our system – drain us, fatigue sets in, we can’t focus, anxiety increases, we feel out of control. These feelings affect our behaviour. We start relating in scratchy ways with people. We snap at them as we start to snap inside. This diagram traces the escalating cycle…
What can we do to manage stress, combat toxic emotions and look after our well-being at work? Here’s a few suggestions to practice:
We hear more often these days about the need for work-life balance. Research and common sense, supports the idea that people perform at their best when they’re healthy, positive, emotionally-balanced and feel valued by their organisation. Many organisations (not nearly enough) are providing staff with services to encourage them to look after their health and wellbeing: emotional self-management, healthcare and happiness classes, stress seminars, work-gyms, massage, meditation-relaxation sessions, Tai-chi, pilates, yoga, even colour and aroma-therapy.
Cultivating ‘well-being’ at work acts like stress inoculation. It also lifts motivation when exercise, relaxation and meditation are incorporated as regular routines into work-life. Workplace well-being programs can be effective on all these levels, either as a preventive strategy to combat stress before it manifests physically or as a way to identify and contain it before it gets critical. While initiatives like this are great, getting at the systemic causes of toxicity by creating more emotionally intelligent, supportive, compassionate workplaces is still the ultimate solution. _________________o0o_________________ This FactFile is derived from our program participant Guide: EI at Work – Working with Emotional Intelligence copyright © Bill Cropper - The Change Forum 2005-12
Sources referred to: Boyatzis, Richard E. and McKee, Annie 2005, Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion Harvard Business School Press, Boston Mas. Bradberry, Travis & Greaves, Jean 2009 Emotional Intelligence 2.0 TalentSmart, SanDiego CA Frost, Peter (2003) Toxic Emotions at Work, Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge Goleman, Daniel (1996) Emotional Intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ, Bloomsbury, London Goleman, Daniel (1998) Working with Emotional Intelligence, Bloomsbury, London McKee, Annie, Boyatzis, Richard, Johnston, Frances 2008, Becoming a Resonant Leader: Develop Your Emotional Intelligence, Renew Your Relationships, Sustain Your Effectiveness, Harvard Business School Press, Boston Mas. _________________o0o_________________
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Forget intellect. Emotions are the main part
of our make-up – the background to everything we do. Learning to live with
our emotions, to understand them and harness them for good effect, takes
Emotional Intelligence (EI).
The first is emotional hijacks. The amygdala
is our fear and anger centre. In situations where emotions run high, we’re
at risk of being hijacked by them. Feelings control what we say and do
because our brain is wired to feel first, and think second. When our
amygdala takes over, our rational brain takes a backseat. We act in ways
that make things worse, escalate bad feelings, damage relationships and we
generate negative, unhealthy emotions. That’s an ‘emotional hijack'.
