Emotional

Intelligence at work

Manas K Mandal
Head (intelligence) or Heart (emotion)?

 Are these parts friends?

 Is one part the boss?
 How do these two communicate with
each other?
 How do they react in the event of
disagreement?
You find out that the promotion you were hoping for
was given to someone else

a. You forget about it. You didn't want the

job that much anyway.
b. You lock yourself in your office and cry.
c. You obsess over what the other person
had that you didn't and compare yourself
to him or her unmercifully.
d. You continue to do your best; you know
the next promotion is yours.

http://quiz.ivillage.co.uk/cgi-bin/uk_work/tests/eqtest.cgi
You are in a meeting when a colleague takes credit for
the work you have done. What do you do?

A. Immediately confront the colleague saying

that you did the research?
B. After the meeting, take the colleague aside &
tell him/her that in the future you would
appreciate credit for the work you did.
C. Nothing. It’s best not to embarrass
colleagues in public.
D. After the colleague speaks, publicly thank
him/her for referencing your work & provide
additional details
When someone you respect humiliates you by
making a crack in front of others about a mistake
you’ve made, you..

 Go home & vow never to put yourself in such situation

 Make a sharp comeback
 Go home & write a letter to defend your position
 Make light of it, if you can and then privately tell the
person how you felt
Emotional Intelligence

 It is about how we handle ourselves and each other

 It goes beyond intellectual ability and technical skills
& helps in dealing with negative thoughts
 It focuses on personal qualities such as initiative,
empathy, adaptability, persuasiveness

A higher Intelligence Quotient does not guarantee happiness or

success in life. To succeed, it is not IQ, but EQ plays a bigger role.
Salovey & Mayer: Ability Model

• Perceiving emotions: understanding other

people’s body language or facial expressions
• Understanding emotions: Interpreting emotions Source: see list

of others around you

• Reasoning with emotions: using emotions to
promote thinking and cognitive activity
• Managing emotions: regulating emotions,
responding appropriately and consistently
Daniel Goleman: Mixed Model

• Self-Awareness (confidence, recognition of feelings)

• Self-Regulation (self-control, trustworthiness, adaptability) Source: see list

• Motivation (drive, commitment, initiative, optimism)

• Empathy (understanding others’ feeling)
• Social Skills (leadership, conflict management,
communication skills)
How does • Self-awareness: An employee who lacks self-awareness is
likely to struggle with customer-facing roles, often making bad
EI impact impressions or even saying borderline offensive things
your work • Self-regulation: An employee who possesses this skill can
navigate frustrating interactions with colleagues or customers
• Motivation: An employee with low motivation may struggle to
stay on task without constant external reminders
• Empathy: An employee who lacks empathy may not
understand how their actions affect their colleagues
• Social skill: An employee with low emotional intelligence may
not excel in conflict resolution
Why EI is important at work
1. Emotional intelligence can’t be outsourced
to a robot or a factory
2. Emotional intelligence is no longer a “soft
skill” — it’s now an essential skill
3. The higher your EQ, the more likely you are
hired, job satisfied, promoted
4. EI softens the impact of automation; has
much higher shelf-life than hard skill

https://meritageleadership.com/emotional-intelligence-workplace/
 Persons with Low EI
• I am too sensitive; take everything personally
• I don’t know as to why I become depressed at times
• I believe I have suffered most in the workplace
• I am not sure what my boss feels about me
• I express my feelings awkwardly in social situations
• I find it difficult to handle pressure adequately
• I find it difficult to interact with people of opposite sex
Persons with High EI
• I can sense the feelings of others.
• I get pleasure in challenges and try to solve them
• I am quite sensitive to how relationship goes on.
• I can easily make acquaintances and friends.
• I point to the behavior and not to the man during
critical comments.
• I know how to make a positive emotion last when I
experience it.
Why is knowing
‘self’ is hard?… • Blind ambition : Tendency to win at all costs
• Unrealistic goals: Setting up goals that are unattainable
• Relentless striving: Working hard in a compulsive manner
• Insatiable need for recognition: Being addicted to glory;
tendency to blame others for own mistakes
• Preoccupation with appearances: Being overtly concerned
about public image
• Need to seem perfect : Inability to tolerate failure
Knowing ‘self’
better…
• Self-awareness: Knowing how you feel in ‘real time’
• Emotional literacy: Being able to label emotion precisely
• Empathy and compassion: The ability to feel and understand
the emotions of others
• Balance: Being able to take decision striking a balance
between emotion and reason
• Responsibility: Taking primary responsibility for your own
emotions
EI helps in decision-making
Cognitive skills

 Conducting an ‘inner dialogue’ Source: see list

 Reading and interpreting social cues

 Understanding the perspectives of others
 Understanding behavioral norms
 Having a positive attitude towards life
 Developing realistic expectations
Emotional skills

 Expressing, Identifying and labeling feelings

 Managing feelings, impulses
 Delaying gratification & reducing stress
 Knowing the difference between feelings and actions

Behavioral Skills
 Nonverbal skills (facial expressions,
paralanguage, eye contact, gesture, etc)
 Verbal skills (responding effectively to
criticism, resisting negative influences)
 • I can recognize my emotions as I experience them
• I lose my temper when I feel frustrated
• People have told me that I’m a good listener
• I know how to calm myself down when I feel
anxious or upset
• I enjoy organizing groups
• I find it difficult to move on when I feel frustrated
or unhappy
• I avoid conflict and negotiations
Emotional Intelligence • I feel that I don’t enjoy my work
Questionnaire [Mind Tools, • I find it difficult to read other people’s emotions
2019] • I struggle to build rapport with others
 • Can you tell me about your toughest day at work, what
went wrong, and how you handled it?
• Can you describe a time when you were given critical
feedback?
• Can you tell me about a time when you clashed with a
colleague? What was the outcome?
• What makes you happy at work? How do you deal with
changes at work that you don’t agree with?
• When you encounter colleagues who are difficult to
communicate with, how do you handle the situation?
• What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made at work? What
happened, and what was the outcome?
Understanding EI of
work partner…
 Books

Sharma S., Deller, J., Biswal, R. & Mandal, MK (2009 ...

www.researchgate.net › publication › 233387969_Sharma_S_Deller_J_...
Emotional Intelligence: Factorial Structure and Construct Validity across
Cultures. International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management. Vol. 9, No. 2, 217-
236.

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