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| | Emotional Intelligence: 7 Reasons to Start Hiring For It
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| Emotional Intelligence. What is it? And why do we need it?
According to Psychology Today, emotional intelligence is “the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others.” It is generally said to include three skills: - Emotional awareness, including the ability to identify your own emotions and those of others;
- The ability to harness emotions and apply them to tasks like thinking and problem solving; and
- The ability to manage emotions, including the ability to regulate your own emotions, and the ability to cheer up or calm down another person.
Obviously, these are all valuable qualities in any person. They’re especially valuable for leaders and those they lead. But as important as emotional intelligence is today, our rapidly changing world is making these skills even more valuable. Emotional intelligence is becoming as important (perhaps even trumping) hard skills like knowledge base, organization, delegation, and discipline. As technology continues to advance and more and more tasks are taken over by algorithms and machines, human qualities like emotional intelligence will be even more important. Building connections with customers and coworkers will be the most challenging for machines to replicate. Fast Company’s recent article provides 7 reasons why you should be hiring emotionally intelligent people now.- They can handle pressure healthily. Consider workplace stress, which costs companies over $300 billion each year (click here to read our blog post on it). “People with higher levels of emotional intelligence are more aware of their internal thermometer and therefore better able to manage their stress levels.”
- They understand and cooperate with others. In an increasingly globalized workplace, being able to get along with and understand people across a wide array of cultures and backgrounds is a valuable asset to any work environment.
- They’re good listeners. Everyone wants to feel like they’re being listened to and understood. And while a lot of people think they’re good listeners, most of us aren’t as good as we think. It’s not totally our fault though. The human mind processes words much faster than the average person talks. We get bored. You have to really want to hear what the other person is saying to stay focused. This is where emotionally intelligent people come in. “Because of their ability to understand others, highly emotionally intelligent people are in a better position to put their own emotions and desires aside and take others into account.” (Check out our Active Listening tool in The Playbook for tips on improving your listening skills and emotional intelligence.)
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| | Check out our new book! The Approachability Playbook: 3 Essential Habits for Thriving Leaders and Teams |
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