Why this rapidly growing Job Skill is no longer a nice-to-have but essential?
The Mindspa Institute acknowledges the gap between knowing and doing. Our soft skills training courses are designed to overcome challenges so as to adjoin book-smarts with streets-smarts. Although IQ or Cognitive Intelligence is important in business, Emotional Intelligence aka EQ is what gets you the business success. Here is why:
- Healthy Stress Management
Stress brought on by workplace pressures, can make you respond to conflict negatively, can make you take irrational decisions, can bring on health problems and can make you lose control to eventually suffer from workplace burnout. Now-a-days most jobs are stressful and demanding which requires a skillset to manage our emotions. Having a higher level of EQ, means you are more self-aware which in turn gives you the ability to handle stress better. - Empathy is Key
Emotionally intelligent employees have empathy. They will rather put their own feelings, needs and wants aside so as to focus their attention on responding to the feelings and concerns of their co-workers in a positive way. By doing this, employees with high EQ skills are more sensitive towards a situation and this ultimately builds trust which makes them great team leaders. - Decision-Making
Talking about making irrational decisions, the advantage emotionally intelligent people have is that they are always reasonable and calm in a hostile or argumentative situation. - Listen Linda!
Every one of us wants to feel heard be it personally or professionally. People with high EQ skills practice active listening skills and pay attention to non-verbal communication like body language which helps in understanding people better in order to build stronger working relationships. - Playing Nice With Others
When you get along with a diverse team you become an asset to the company because Emotional Intelligence is at the heart of this success. Your EQ skills equip you to become a team player and handle criticism without taking offence. You will therefor rather see criticism as areas of improvement without getting angry. - Marco! Polo!
True leaders create followers through their positivity, motivation and yes you guessed it, their EQ. Team members follow leaders they respect and can look up to. Leaders with a higher EQ will gain admiration and enhance their leadership skills.
Employees with a high level of EQ, will be able to positively function in a diverse working environment, adapt well to and manage change effectively because they have their emotions intact. They are the ones who will make rational decisions and lead their teams to success. These employees stand out because they care enough about others. This is what makes them an asset to any company.
The Mindspa Institute offers a comprehensive Emotional Intelligence course specifically aimed at South African Businesses and can be tailored to any business needs or to suit any industry.
The course outline can be viewed here