Emotional intelligence
When you’re trying to be successful in your career, it’s not enough to simply show up, work hard and persevere. It’s not even enough to take risks, think outside the box or be creative and innovative.
There’s an essential part of work that must be mastered if you want a high level of achievement. Without it, success will be elusive. What I’m talking about is emotional intelligence.
According to Wikipedia, “Emotional intelligence… is the capability of individuals to recognize their own emotions and those of others, discern between different feelings and label them appropriately, use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt to environments or achieve one’s goal(s)”.
The advantages of emotional intelligence
When you have emotional intelligence, you have a tremendous advantage in the workplace, compared to someone who is lacking in it. You’re able to know how you feel about people and situations, and this empowers you to take the best action.
You’re also able to understand where your colleagues, employees and supervisors are coming from, and with this information, you’re empowered to deal with them in the most strategic manner possible.
Whether you’re one of the hundreds in a crowded workplace or part of a very small team, how you interact with the people around you is a crucial part of your success story.
Even if you work alone, you’re still going to have to interact successfully with other people if you want to reach your goals.
Being talented, driven, confident, curious, creative, courageous and ambitious are all necessities if you want to be a success in any field, but these attributes are never enough. The interpersonal component can make or break even the most promising career.
The bottom line is that if you have challenges dealing with other people it will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve lasting success in your career.
Studies have shown that people who have a high degree of emotional intelligence are more successful than those who don’t, and that the higher up the person is in their organization, the more crucial this is.
Forging strong alliances
One major aspect of emotional intelligence is the ability to forge strong alliances with others, within companies and between organizations.
When you create strong connections with other people at work, you create win-win situations in which everyone benefits; you learn and grow from each-other and you support each-other in creating mutual success.
On the other hand, when you can’t connect with people; when you can’t see a different point of view or make meaningful compromises, it doesn’t matter how smart or talented you are. Without these skills, it’s more likely that someone else will be assigned the key projects and that you’ll be passed up for a promotion or maybe even let go.
Connecting with others
Individuals and businesses value personal loyalty, and will reward it with a raise, a contract or a promotion. They value reasonableness, a positive attitude, a pleasant demeanor and a cooperative nature. These attributes will enable you to take your career to the next level.
Even if you’re not that high up in your field, being able to connect with your colleagues is essential if you want to advance as opposed to moving backward.
Making positive connections with the people at work gives you other advantages: people will open up to you and as a result, you’ll have access to strategic information.
Connections create opportunities
With good workplace relationships, people will vouch for you if a problem arises and you’ll develop an excellent reputation which will make everyone trust you more and in a pinch, give you the benefit of the doubt.
When you have good connections at work, people will choose you to work on their teams and to take on more responsibility; you’ll discover so many more opportunities.
Your supervisors will believe in you more when you’re seen as someone who gets along with their co-workers. People who are more isolated or disconnected in the workplace don’t inspire the same trust or confidence as those who have strong social connections.
Connections improve the quality of your work life
This doesn’t mean that you should be using your workplace as the source of your friendships, but rather that you should recognize the importance of establishing positive and supportive professional connections.
Just the other day, I was speaking with a potential guest for my podcast series, and she complimented me on how pleasant and agreeable my assistant was. In this case, my assistant’s ability to connect reflected well on both her and me.
Having good connections at work makes the days more pleasant. It’s always more enjoyable to have people to chat with on your breaks. The days go by more quickly and the stress is mitigated when you feel a sense of connection with the other people at work.
Good work connections will also protect you. If your boss is angry at you, others will come to your defense; if you make a mistake, people will stand up for you; if you want to advance, others will speak positively on your behalf.
Good connections have no downside and multiple benefits. So, if you’re hoping to be successful in your career, you should never underestimate the importance of emotional intelligence at work.
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