ON OTHERS IN THE WORKPLACE 1.1 Identify own emotional strengths and weaknesses Emotional intelligence The concept of emotional intelligence in terms of leadership and management is relatively new, becoming popular en masse in the mid-1990s. Prior to this, intelligence was measured by an individuals intellectual ability, or their IQ. Intellectual intelligence and emotional intelligence are two completely different functions and very often, do not go hand in hand. So what is emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence is an individuals ability to recognise their own emotions and feelings, manage their own behaviour in response to these emotions and make balanced decisions in emotional situations. It is also an individuals ability to recognise the emotions and feelings of others and interact with them in a way that manages their behaviour and relationships with others. It is the ability to recognise heightened emotions in both yourself and others around you, remove yourself from the stress and manage the situation objectively, taking into account the feelings of those involved, to arrive at a resolution agreeable to all involved. There are variations in models but it is widely accepted that there are four components to emotional intelligence which are categorised in pairs by both personal and social competence, and recognition and regulation. For effective leadership, a manager must demonstrate all of the four components in each given situation or predicament.
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Personal competence Social competence
Self-awareness Social awareness
Emotions Empathy (recognition and Behaviour understanding of emotions Confidence and behaviours of others) Recognition Accurate, honest and Awareness and reflective self-assessment understanding of feelings, emotions and behaviours of the organisation
Self-management Relationship management
Maintaining emotional self- Conflict management and control in emotive or volatile resolution situations Inspirational and influential Being honest and leadership and management transparent style leads by example Able to adapt behaviour and and models good emotional Regulation intelligence approach according to the situation and changes in the Collaborative approach to situation management involves the Initiative and innovative team in decision making and approach to management resolutions Optimistic uses every Develops others situation as an opportunity
Why is emotional intelligence important?
Intellectual ability is obviously important in management and leadership; it is a quantifiable level of knowledge and understanding about the organisations processes and procedures, productivity, mission statement and objectives. This knowledge is the foundation of management, and is an essential requirement for running an organisation or a department or team within an organisation. You cannot effectively manage a production line if you do not have a full understanding of the required processes and procedures. Emotional intelligence, however, is not necessarily regarded as employers as an essential requirement for managers. It is not absolutely vital to the management of a team, but it is highly desirable. To return to the point made about a manager needing to understand how the production line works in order to keep it running smoothly, this is absolutely true of understanding how the members of your team work, why and how they might react emotionally to a situation or behave inappropriately, and what you, as a manager need to do and how you need to behave to resolve the problem and lead by example. It could be argued that emotional intelligence is more important than intellectual ability when managing people. Humans emotions are, after all, much more complex to understand and deal with than a broken conveyor belt, and can have a huge impact on the performance of employees. Employees are human beings and regardless of deadlines, targets and other work place stresses and demands,
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they quire rightfully expect to be treated as such; ignoring or avoiding their
emotions and needs makes for a bad feeling in the organisation which often has a negative effect on productivity, work ethic and performance of individuals and/ or teams. Embracing their needs and emotions by proactively and collaboratively managing a resolution makes employees feel valued and gains their trust and loyalty which in turn makes them more committed and motivated to perform to high standards.
Identify own emotional strengths and weaknesses
Your emotional strength is your mental stability and resilience to pressures and stresses. Some pressures may affect your more than others, and often in our personal lives, we react differently to how we would in the workplace; for example, a police officer who deals with household burglary on a daily basis in a calm and supportive manner would probably not react quite so professionally if it was their property that had been burgled. The first step in developing emotional intelligence is to acknowledge and understand your own emotions and behaviours. Before you start to consider what causes you stress in the workplace, first identify your personal, generic, emotional strengths and weaknesses. You need to be honest and transparent in your self-assessment. Below is a list of possible examples but not a definitive list.
Emotional strengths Emotional weaknesses
Open-mindedness Narrow-mindedness Objectivity Subjectivity Perseverance Defeated quickly Honesty and integrity Tell people what they want to hear Emotional strengths Emotional weaknesses Generosity Selfishness Kindness and loving Spite and isolation Loyalty Betrayal Self-control No self-control/temper Trust Jealousy Optimism Pessimism Forgiveness Holding grudges/vengeance Empathy, compassion Inability to understand other peoples emotions Sympathy Inability to feel sorry for other people Calm and reasonable under pressure Irrational behaviour Dedication and commitment Indifference Honesty Dishonesty
WORKBOOK | 2017 YOUNG RABBIT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PACIFIC COLLEGE
BSB51915 DIPLOMA OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT & BSB61215 ADVANCED DIPLOMA OF PROGRAM MANAGEMENT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE_V1.5 4
Activity 1.1
1. What are the four components of emotional intelligence? Explain what is
meant by each one.
2. Being completely honest and transparent, document all of your own
emotional strengths and weaknesses.
WORKBOOK | 2017 YOUNG RABBIT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN PACIFIC COLLEGE
BSB51915 DIPLOMA OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT & BSB61215 ADVANCED DIPLOMA OF PROGRAM MANAGEMENT EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE_V1.5