Emotional Intelligence or E.Q. (Emotional Quotient) is your ability to manage your own emotions as well as the emotions of others. Since we are all emotional and ego-driven beings, it is our powerful emotions that influence us to buy in to any person, service or situation. Therefore, if you are not able to read the emotions of the people around you, you will not be able to choose the appropriate approach nor have the skills to build the necessary relationships to obtain the necessary buy-in to achieve your chosen goals."
Emotional Intelligence combined with excellent communication skills ensures that you handle yourself professionally and effectively within every professional situation, whether you are selling, negotiating, or managing your professional work relationships. By developing and using your Emotional Intelligence skills, you can boost both your personal life and your career and facilitate more successful and stress free work relationships:
People who develop their Emotional Intelligence (EQ) are generally healthier than those who do not. In a survey of managers in a leading UK supermarket chain revealed that those high on EQ experienced less stress, enjoyed better health, demonstrated higher levels of morale and performance, and reported a better quality of life.
Daniel Goleman, the father of EQ stated "In a study of skills that distinguish star performers in every field from entry-level jobs to executive positions, the single most important factor was not IQ, advanced degrees, or technical experience, it was EQ. Of the competencies required for excellent in performance in the job studies, 67% were emotional competencies."
John Gottman, Ph.D confirms "In the last decade or so, science has discovered a tremendous amount about the role emotions play in our lives. Researchers have found that even more than IQ, your emotional awareness and abilities to handle feelings will determine your success and happiness in all walks of life, including family relationships."
A growing number of organizations are now convinced that it's people's ability to understand and to manage their emotions that improves their work performance, their team effort with colleagues, and their successful interaction with customers. After decades of businesses seeing "logic" and "emotions" as separate domains, emotional competence may now be a way to close that divide and to produce a unified view of workplace performance."
Why Emotional Intelligence is so very important in communication is that it is not what we communicate as much as how we communicate our messages that makes the impact. Your actual words account for only a minimal 11% of your final communication message. Your body language conveys a massive 55% and your vocal ability and tone 38% of your overall communication message. Your Emotional Intelligence colours both your voice and body language.
It is your individual personality that makes you shine in any environment. Your personal brand gets you noticed and your emotional qualities give you your own individual magic that attracts business and builds relationships. By getting to know and understand your emotional being you can develop your own personal dynamism. It was-Erich Fromm who said "Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality."
Negotiating is often seen as the most complex and challenging form of communication. Negotiators need to skilfully manage their own emotions as well and manage and manoeuvre the emotional state and stance of the opposition in order to win the negotiation game. This takes incredible Emotional Intelligence and skills of perception.
When it comes to customer service, it is essential that companies understand and perceive how their customers are feeling. Emotional Intelligence becomes even more vital and critical when the customer becomes dissatisfied or irate. Managing the emotions of the irate client is vital as the heightened emotion becomes a barrier to communication and resolution. As Daniel Goleman says: "The emotional brain responds to an event more quickly than the thinking brain."
The best leaders of the 21st century are those with heightened Emotional Intelligence. With the rise of worldwide human and worker rights, leaders now have to work with and for their employees and have to gauge the prevailing public mood. An Ethics Resource Centre study found that 90% of employees value leaders with integrity as highly as they value income.
When it comes to selling, buy-in is largely an emotional thing. Sales staff have to read customers correctly and choose the correct approach and manner to sell their products and services effectively and achieve customer buy-in. Hard sell and insensitive sales people who have no insight do major reputational damage to their organisations.
The Centre for Creative Leadership found that 75% of careers are unfortunately derailed for reasons related to emotional competencies. This includes the inability to handle interpersonal problems, unsatisfactory team leadership during times of difficulty or conflict, and the inability to adapt to change or elicit trust.
John French summarises: "Emotional Intelligence is one of the most important skills we need to develop in the 21st century. Ironically, this relatively new social and corporate phenomenon goes way back to the ancient Egyptians who believed the heart was the centre of intelligence and emotion. The Egyptians thought so little of the brain that during mummification, they removed the brain entirely from bodies."
Corporate Intelligence Training is the training consultancy that believes in creating empowered conscious communicators who have the ability to communicate and express themselves with confidence, clarity and Emotional Intelligence in the corporate world. With over 100 years of collective experience in the field of soft skills training, the company is a leading exponent of communication skills training into the 21st century. For more information go to www.corporateintelligence.co.za or call +27 (0) 21 434-5462 or +27 (0) 11 467- 4229, John French +27 (0) 83 235 9796 or Sue Parsons (az.oc.ecnegilletnietaroproc@eus) on +27 (0) 82 572 5700.
