Emotional Intelligence

Concepts, Utilities
Emotional Intelligence is the ability to recognize and respond to the emotions and feelings of
others as well as the skill to help others manage their emotions.
It is important to have emotional intelligence because it helps you to

Solve problems by using logic and feelings

Be flexible in changing situations
Help other people express their needs
Respond calmly and thoughtfully to difficult people
Keep an optimistic and positive outlook
Express empathy, compassion and caring for others
Continuously learn how to improve ourselves and the organization
Enhance our interactions and communications with other culture people

Ei embraces two aspects of intelligence- Intra Personal and Inter Personal. Intrapersonal is
understanding ourselves, our goals, intentions, responses, behavior etc. Interpersonal
intelligence is understanding others and their feelings.
Elements that make up Emotional Intelligence
1. Perceiving Emotions
a. The foundation of EI is the ability to perceive emotions in ourselves and others
b. Emotionally Intelligent people recognize quickly if they are angry or envious or
feeling guilty or depressed
c. They have empathy and are good at reading facial expressions, tone of voice and
other signs of emotion
2. Reasoning with emotions
a. EI people use their feelings to enhance thinking and decision making
b. Emotions can be used to promote growth and improve relationships with others
c. Emotionally smart people share the good news with others that comes their way
and it almost always strengthens relationships and increases emotional well-being
3. Understanding Emotions
a. EI people understand what causes emotions and what they mean and how they
affect their behavior
4. Managing Emotions
a. EI involves the ability to manage our emotions and those of others
b. EI people have an ability to amplify or restrain emotions depending on the situation
Key elements of Emotional Intelligence
Self Awareness

It is having a deep understanding of ones emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs and

desires
With awareness comes the ability to make better choices
Emotional self-awareness, accurate self assessment, self-confidence are competencies
related to Self Awareness

Self Regulation
It means handling our own emotions so that they dont interfere but facilitate
Self control, trustworthiness, conscientiousness, adaptability, achievement orientation and
initiative are competencies related to Self Regulation
Motivation

It extends to the deep inner desire to achieve for the sake of achievement
Highly motivated people constantly raise their performance expectations for themselves,
their team and organization
They remain optimistic even though they have experienced a setback

Empathy

It means being aware and considerate of others feelings

An empathetic person combines others feelings and other factors in order to make
decisions
Empathetic leaders can be astounding leaders because of their abilities to recognize and
understand their opinions

Social Skills

It is the ability to build rapport easily with someone by finding some common ground with
everyone, thus establishing a broad circle of acquaintances
Influence, Leadership, Developing Others, Communication, Change Catalyst, Conflict
Management etc. are some of the competencies related to Social Skills

Emotional Intelligence, Leadership Style and Organizational Effectiveness

An EI organization needs to

Promote a culture of openness and transparency

Respectful awareness must exist
Encourage diversity
Tolerate constructive disagreement
Value flexibility and communication among its various departments

Characteristics of leaders

Set goals that are clear and mutually agreed upon

Prefer praise a tool for training and inspiring employees
Rely on decentralizing for achieving goals
Focus on employees and their feelings
Act as role models

Use of EI in different leadership styles

Coercive style

It is used to kick start a turnaround or with problem employees with an objective of

immediate compliance
Competencies needed: drive to achieve, emotional self control

Authoritative Style

It is used when change requires a new vision or clear direction with an objective to
mobilize others to follow the vision
Competencies needed: Self confidence, empath , change catalyst

Affiliative Style

It is used to heal rifts in a team or to motivate during stressful times with an objective to
create harmony
Competencies needed: Empathy, Building Bonds, Conflict Management

Democratic

It is used to build buy-in or consensus or to get valuable input from employees with an
objective to create commitment through participation
Competencies needed: Competition, Team leadership, communication

Pace Setting

It is used to get quick results from a highly motivated and competent team with an
objective to perform tasks to a high standard
Competencies needed: Conscientiousness, Drive to achieve initiative

Coach

It is used to help an employee improve performance or develop long term strengths

Competencies needed: Developing others, emotional self awareness

Gender Play in Emotional Intelligence

Women are on average more inclined than men to instantly sense other persons emotions
and women are most likely expected to engage in emotional labor in an organization.
Engaging on regular basis in emotional labor most likely enhances emotional intelligence
since it is a skill that prospers on experience
Organizations with more female public servants at the street level are characterized by
superior organizational performance including overall productivity, employee turnover and
customer satisfaction

EI Application in administration and governance

EI in public administration is an ability to understand and to solve problems that involves

Managing emotional responses of stakeholders in public sphere

Understanding emotions and emotional meanings of others
Appraising emotions arising from situations
Using Emotion for reason based decisions and policy making
Identifying emotions in faces, voices, postures and other content during public
management

Importance of EI in bureaucracies
1. Leadership and teamwork improvement
Since emotions are intrinsic to the human condition, they doubtlessly arise whenever a group of
people work together. Hence it is essential that leaders know how to deal with circumstances
that include emotions.
Improving EI should be a constant process of reflecting and learning which indicates that not only
the selection of leader with already good people skills is favorable but also the development and
improvement of emotional skills over the course of time is essential.
Some of the methods of improving EI are

Feedback: Managers who provide coworkers with in depth responses about their social
skills sharpen their own awareness of emotional intelligence too
Modeling: Expecting managers to display socially appropriate behavior in front of their
coworkers also increases self awareness and EI
Mentoring: Finding a mentor preferably from outside the organization for reflection and
discussion of complicated peoples issues
2. Improvement of customer service
The interaction between the customs and the public servant should produce a desirable outcome
for both sides. This work is known as emotional work and requires adequate levels of emotional
intelligence
Building Emotional Intelligence
Studies have shown that a high emotional quotient (or EQ) boosts career success,
entrepreneurial potential, leadership talent, health, relationship satisfaction, humor, and
happiness. It is also the best antidote to work stress and it matters in every job because all
jobs involve dealing with people, and people with higher EQ are more rewarding to deal with.
1. Start With Yourself
One of the best ways to help your people develop EI is to lead by example. So, start by making
sure that you're leading with emotional intelligence. This means staying aware of your own
thoughts and feelings, and managing them, so that you affect other people positively.
2. Communicate the Benefits

Your team members might be more open to developing their EI if you communicate the benefits
that they can expect. For example, sales professionals who have higher Emotional Intelligence
often achieve better sales than colleagues with lower EI. Let your team members know how
developing their EI will benefit them, both personally and professionally.
3. Develop Self-Awareness
People who are self-aware understand their own thoughts and emotions, as well as
understanding how their actions affect others around them. Encourage your team members to
keep a daily journal even writing for just five minutes a day can help people develop selfawareness.
You can also help team members build self-awareness by asking for their opinions on decisions
this is especially important for quieter people, who might not speak up that often.
It's also important to set aside time to talk about difficult situations or issues, and to address the
resulting emotions. This can take place one-on-one, or informally over lunch.
4. Strengthen Communication
People with high EI typically have excellent communication skills. Develop better communication
in your team by teaching people to understand body language. Give your team avenues for
"venting" negative emotions or frustrations about setbacks in a constructive way.
For example, if people are upset, set aside five minutes of each meeting for complaints and
frustrations, and let your team know that their criticisms won't be frowned upon.
Teach everyone on your team to use active listening skills, and to respect other people when
they're speaking.
5. Build Optimism
The ability to think positively is an important part of EI. You can help your people think positively
by stopping self-sabotaging behavior or statements.
For instance, if you hear someone say "I'm not very good at writing reports," or "I'll never be able
to make a presentation in front of the group!" remind them of their strengths and thank them for
the good work that they're doing.
6. Encourage Healthy Conflict
People with high EI know how to engage in conflict in a healthy way, where everyone's
perspective is respected when they communicate their views. This type of conflict can
strengthen people individually and within a group, and can lead to personal growth.
Teach your people good conflict resolution skills. Make it clear that conflicts should never get
personal. Set ground rules, so that everyone knows what is and isn't fair behavior.
7. Set Specific Learning Goals
Your team members will have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to their own EI.
First, help each person discover their strengths and weaknesses. Next, set clear, specific goals
to help each person work on their weaknesses. For example, one person might be a poor listener,

so, his goal could be to use active listening techniques four times per week for the next four
weeks. Personalized goals like this will keep each person motivated.
Last, make sure that you provide constructive feedback on each person's progress, but
remember to do this sensitively for team members who may have low EI.