Why emotional intelligence matters in modern workplace

What is emotional intelligence?

In the modern workplace, being recognised as classically intelligent, as in having a high IQ, is not enough. With a dynamic and ever-changing business culture, in order to thrive and succeed in their career, individuals need to excel as a team player and demonstrate a range of leadership skills. While the term "emotional intelligence" (EI) was first introduced in the 90s in papers from Michael Beldoch and B. Leuner, it's not until now that it has become essential in the modern world of business.

While there are a wide range models developed on the emotional intelligence concept, each illustrates its own set of abilities. In this article we will deep dive into the most popular and commonly used: Goleman's model, which is introduced in his book "What makes a leader?". Although the theory was originated long ago, Goleman's book became wildly popular and transformed the author into one of the modern emotional intelligence gurus since it applied EI to the world of business. Goleman portrayed EI as a wide array of competencies and skills that drive leadership performance, which comprises of five key components:

1. Self-awareness

This involves realistic self-assessment and being aware of your emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drives, values and goals and recognise their impact on others.

2. Self-regulation

The component involves controlling one's disruptive emotions and impulses and adapting to changing circumstances.

3. Motivation

This refers to being aware of what motivates you, passion for the work and desire to raise the performance bar.

4. Empathy

The component refers to the ability to read between the lines and consider other people's feelings especially when making decisions.

5. Social skill

This involves managing relationships to get along with others, persuasiveness and networking skills.

These competencies are not innate talents since everyone was born with distinct and unique characteristics. Thus, these five capabilities must be learned, worked on and sharpened to achieve outstanding performance.

How emotional intelligence benefits you in the workplace?

As illustrated by Goleman, the five mentioned competencies are applied to enhance leadership skills. For instance:

• Self-awareness: leaders who see themselves clearly also see their companies clearly
• Self-regulation: leaders who possess self-regulation and control their feelings create a fair and trustworthy atmosphere. This reduces politics and infighting, thus, increases productivity. It also curbs unethical behavior
• Motivation: leaders who set the bar high to themselves also do the same for the company. Thus, the motivation to deliver excellence is contagious
• Empathy: leaders who show empathy are likely someone who excels in teamwork, cross-cultural management and talent management since they will understand the team members to help them collaborate and bond with the company. This also helps reduce staff turnover
• Social skill: leaders who excel in social skills are experts in networking and relationship management, which is helpful to enhance productivity in the workplace

Besides the key characteristics portrayed by Goleman, which mainly focus on driving leadership performance, in order to be emotionally intelligent in the workplace, individuals also need to hone not only Goleman's model, but also other soft skills such as communication and interpersonal skills including empathy, integrity, altruism, respect, ability to delegate and learning agility.

At NashTech, we create an open and nurturing environment where employees can freely develop themselves, not just technically but also personally. Together, we demonstrate amazing team spirit as well as the loyalty between team members, and to the company.

Openness, selflessness or altruism are also the basis of emotional intelligence and the success of any company. As such, through activities and training courses, Nashers are encouraged to develop a wide array of competencies and skills, including emotional intelligence. By embracing individuals' strengths and turning it into team power, each Nasher is a unique colour that contributes to the vibrant spectrum of NashTech.