Writing for The Leaders Council, Harvard University alumna and senior leader Dr Kulneet Suri highlights the importance of emotional intelligence for working professionals and how it can make one more desirable in the professional environment.
With every other task being automated by the day, you must possess the one skill that robots cannot replicate any time soon. The way you handle a pressure situation, how you communicate with other human beings or provide some creative ideas that can make the company grow. A computer can crunch numbers faster than you but can never lead a team. In fact, corporations are now looking for emotionally intelligent people to join as professionals rather than the ones with high levels of IQ.
What is Emotional Intelligence?
In simple words, being emotionally intelligent is to be aware of your feelings and how they affect your work environment. When your emotional quotient is high, you can recognise your mood, better control your impulses and develop a sense of internal motivation to help you excel. You also understand and tend to empathise with other people’s feelings and reactions and manage professional relationships better. The overall effect is high EQ makes you the employee of the hour as you are driven to get the work done with minimal external motivation.
How do you develop it?
By working on your social skills. For instance, if you enrol yourself into one of the top mass communication courses after the 12th standard, understanding human relations will be one of the primary focuses. If you use the knowledge to find out about your inner strengths and weaknesses, you start developing emotional intelligence. Along with your academic subjects, you must find time to work on your social skills, improve on how you communicate and enhance your ability to help others grow.
Why is it important for working professionals?
To break down the necessity of EQ even further, here is a list of several skills that you inherently develop which hiring managers will always value. These will make you the cream of the crop and really help you to stand out.
1. You are self-motivated
And the firm does not have to go to extra lengths to get a job done by you. Studies have shown that bonuses and incentives can only motivate up to a certain limit and are not effective ways to increase productivity. Emotionally intelligent people, on the other hand, work for personal development and function better. For instance, if you are fresh out from any of the journalism courses after the 12th standard and you had taken up the subject due to personal liking, you are proficient to deal with challenges and least likely to give up.
2. You become an asset to the company
Self-driven people have the tendency to help others to grow and this helps the whole company. As a leader, you can better understand the team members and help them to gel. You are goal oriented, more focused and work with minimum micromanagement. As a member, you can boost the morale of the whole team and any manager will understand your value. The company will be naturally willing to give you more responsibility and professional development rate will see new heights.
3. High EQ will keep you stress-free
When you are aware of your feelings and goals, you tend to have less stress. You perfectly understand a situation and know how to act during a crisis. Less stress increases productivity and you naturally stand out as the employee with the best potential. You remain healthier and fitter, and all these do act together to enhance your professional career. You use your skills to the maximum extent and understand when to quit and start over.
4. You know how to manage your emotions
The one thing that companies value. Experts believe that most of the wrong decisions are made during an emotional outburst, both positive and negative. You can hire the wrong person while being elated or fire the right person in a fit of rage. Emotional intelligence gives you control over your feelings, and you can make professional decisions. You become tolerable in the company environment and other will feel comfortable around you.
5. You are more flexible
Any job after the best mass media courses after the 12th standard may involve odd hours and substantial pressure. While most may complain about the issue, high EQ people will weigh the opportunities on offer. You become flexible and you are well-aware of the purpose. You can accept a situation or evaluate a new idea. Your response to change is far better which will render you a professional that firms want to bring on board.
So, get started right away
And work on your emotional intelligence. The best institutes like IMS Noida will always encourage you to work on your social skills during your course. Unlike IQ, EQ is something that you can work on, and this is indeed what managers will look for in the near future. Emotional intelligence will help your work life, personal life and everything that surrounds it.
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