WHY YOU NEED EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AT YOUR WORKPLACE

The most difficult thing about a workplace and or a work environment is getting along with your colleagues. The ability to blend in with everyone irrespective of race, gender, religion, cultural values and social beliefs. Very few people have the ability to blend perfectly well with almost everyone at a work place. But blending, much as it is a very important and highly recommended, you need nothing less than emotional intelligence at your workplace. This is the backbone of creating the kind of atmosphere necessary for bonding with your colleagues. Once you have some level of tolerance towards everything, you’ve nailed it. If you can keep your cool in the most difficult, almost catastrophic situations, you are ready to go.

I’ve once read a phrase that goes, ‘when you squeeze an orange, you get orange juice’. That is because that is nature; you can never squeeze an orange and get lemonade. We human beings can also be squeezed. What comes out of you when squeezed is what you are made of. If dangerous words, spite, hate, cursing are what comes out of you while squeezed, that’s what you are made of. But when you are squeezed and what comes out of you is all smiles, and positive attitude, that’s what you are made of. Apparently, the lemon does not have much of a choice when squeezed. But for us human beings, we have a choice. And it’s that very choice that will determine whether you have a reputable emotional intelligence or not.

We are all different; we act differently to every situation that encompasses us as human beings. But we all have a soft spot. In most cases, our soft spots are usually appended towards an individual, could be a family member or a significant soul. But given the ability to make choice, we can always turn our soft spots towards the human race. Not necessarily your family only. You can also extend it towards your colleagues, the people you meet along the streets, in the mall, generally everyplace you see and meet a human being. You have to show your soft spot.

The other day I was doing my night shift at my place of work, apparently I was with my night manager, so the two of us were handling the front desk. I was finalizing my previous day report roll over when a call came from a guest in one of the rooms. What did not dawn on me was the fact that this guest is a very close friend to my night manager. He calls and I receive, he needs his room cleaned. So I take it upon myself to inform the house keeping team. After about twenty minutes, the guest comes down and complains to the night manager. Of course it’s his right to complain, am not defying that. So my night manager takes up the walky-talky and shouts, “CALLING HOUSE KEEPING, OVER!” The reply comes back, “House keeping copy” He goes ahead, “MAN, WHATS WRONG WITH YOU, I NEED ROOM 555 CLEANED, BECAUSE THE GUEST CANT WAIT, OVER!” I look at him and start thinking; maybe he is on some drug overdose.

Well, if that is anything to go by, then everything is wrong about him. First of all, he has missed all protocols in the walky-talky procedural ways of use. Short and brief, his was wordy and long. Communication skills were lacking, he shouts on the walky-talky. I mean, who the hell does that? His Emotional Intelligence is way below average, almost hitting rock bottom. I didn’t talk about him banging the wall and kicking the door. The walky-talky frenzy is just enough to draw a conclusion about his emotional intelligence. Basically, if someone can do such a thing, then it’s most evident that they lack a lot in the psychological world. According to me, someone who lacks emotional control is weak. Because they vest their strength in shouting and wasting adrenalin on non living objects. Well, may be because he is the manager, I don’t know. But regardless of your position as a human being, how you handle yourself around people, especially when the adrenalin kicks in, really matters a lot.

We all have the ability to restore our cool, we just don’t use it. There is a Nigerian proverb that says, “no matter how hot your anger is, it cannot cook yams” Well, that is enough reason to let you bring in your cool. You don’t have to look bizarre in front of everyone. Keep your cool, practice on your E.I and also I.Q. The next time you want to shout, think, ten minutes from now, what difference will it make?