Emotional intelligence at work
When it comes to professional development, many work cultures place emphasis on advancing employees’ rational intelligence and technical skills. Practical and rational skill development is key to ensuring employees excel at their jobs and drives technical innovation in the workplace. However, leaders in business and higher education agree that another key type of intelligence is critical to success in the workplace: emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence can be described as a person’s ability to understand their own emotions and the emotions of others, and how these emotions come into play in a variety of contexts—including the workplace. The University of Southern California’s M.S. in Applied Psychology program describes emotional intelligence as containing two forms:
- Interpersonal Intelligence — Detecting and responding to others’ moods, motivations and desires
- Intrapersonal Intelligence — Being self-aware and attuned with one’s own values, beliefs and thinking
USC goes on to describe the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace and its benefits to both employees and leaders:
- It helps leaders motivate and inspire good work by understanding others’ motivations.
- It brings more individuals to the table and helps avoid the many pitfalls of groupthink.
- It empowers leaders to recognize and act on opportunities others may be unaware of.
- It assists in the recognition and resolution of conflict in a fair and even-handed way.
- It can produce higher morale and assist others in tapping their professional potential.
Despite the benefits of honing and practicing emotional intelligence in the workplace, it isn’t always at the forefront of our interactions at work. Forbes Business Council member Alexander Argianas states:
“Depending on the crowd, I believe the importance of emotional intelligence in the workforce holds the same importance as IQ. EI is often the darling of the HR department but, to the chagrin of team members, not always modeled by the company. At a 50,000-foot level, EI is treating everyone on your team the way you want to be treated—with empathy, compassion and self-awareness.”
Alexander Argianas for Forbes
The Elevating Cougs Conference offers opportunities for WSU staff and faculty to learn how to foster and implement emotional intelligence at work. Employees and leaders interested in developing their emotional intelligence in the workplace can get started now by:
- Registering for the conference
- Exploring the conference schedule and the following sessions focused on emotional intelligence:
- The Developing as a Coug track features the following sessions focused on how employees can develop their own emotional intelligence:
- Emotional Intelligence 101
- Multigenerational Team Collaboration
- Communication Tools
- The Leading as a Coug track offers sessions focused on emotional intelligence as a leadership attribute:
- The Emotionally Intelligent Leader
- Leading Multigenerational and Culturally Diverse Teams
- Managing Conflict
- Active Listening
- Addressing Difficult Behavior
- The Developing as a Coug track features the following sessions focused on how employees can develop their own emotional intelligence:
Want to learn more? Visit the Elevating Cougs conference page, or be the first to hear what’s new by signing up for the Elevating Cougs monthly newsletter.
Elevating Cougs is brought to you by Modernization and HRS’ Learning & Organizational Development. The conference will be held virtually October 19 & 20, 2023.