Emotional intelligence is a fairly new term, but it is one that is becoming more significant and important, especially when employees are looking for high-level executive candidates to join the C-Suite. But what is emotional intelligence and why is it so highly valued by recruiters now, when it wasn’t heard of fifty, forty, or even twenty-five years ago? Let’s take a look, (before you check out a headhunters agency here for more information and job opportunities).
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is, at its core, essentially getting on with people. If you see an employee, for example, is unhappy in an exposed, customer-facing role, you could insist that they do it more, to become accustomed to dealing with people. However, this betrays a complete lack of emotional intelligence, which would alert you to the fact that if you continually make the employee unhappy and force them out of their comfort zone, they are more likely to put in their notice that somehow magically become comfortable with facets of the job they loathe. An emotionally intelligent boss would work with the employee, find out what it is about being customer facing that they don’t like, and work with them to minimise those tasks and maximising other aspects of the job that they are more comfortable with – and thus, are more competent at! This could be something like shorter periods in the customer-facing role or combining being customer-facing with another aspect of work that they do enjoy. In this way, you help the employee to deal with their issues, without making it into a flaw or a problem.
How to Use Emotional Intelligence at Work
At work, using emotional intelligence to problem-solve in the way detailed above can help to keep the peace in the work-force while still catering for your employees’ or insubordinates’ individual needs and preferences. Of course, this is not always possible, but being flexible in other areas will give your words more impact on the occasions when you cannot accede to those personal foibles.
Why Emotional Intelligence Matters for Senior Executives
The higher up in any business that you go, the more distant and awe-inspiring you will seem to your underlings. This can lead them into saying that everything is fine when it’s really not, or into not confiding in you because they believe you won’t be able to empathise with them. Using emotional intelligence all the time, speaking to people on a personal and interested level – not intimate, exactly, as that can have untoward connotations! – can help to encourage them that you are the right person to help them overcome whatever battle they are facing. And once they have overcome that particular struggle, not only will they be better able to focus on the job, but they will feel warmly towards you as their personal champion, which is an excellent basis for an executive-subordinate relationship.
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