Why Is Emotional Intelligence Important? – 5 Critical Points

Why is Emotional Intelligence important in these times, when the world has turned upside down, and is it connected to the obvious lack of authentic leadership everywhere?

In my experience as a trainer, coach, and speaker, and in many of my transformational leadership training courses I discovered the tremendous importance of getting to grips with why is Emotional Intelligence important and how to put it into practice in the organizational fabric.

I saw the evidence of the importance of emotional intelligence as a vital soft skill for professionals throughout the 25 years of my training experience.

The results clearly showed that transformational leadership training opened minds and hearts from negative to the power of positive thinking, which has a critical effect on the workplace environment generally, and the workforce specifically.

Conversely, I also saw what happens when there’s emotional intelligence in organizations, and how when negative emotions take over, everything deteriorates fast, resulting in low morale and low levels of productivity and effectiveness.

It’s curious, however, that most leaders ignore that leadership parameter, even in times of crisis, when clearly what people everywhere, need more than anything, is some peace of mind so that they can think for themselves and not panic.

This article will focus on why is emotional intelligence important to leadership and organizations, specifically how to put to practice one vital soft skills tool and get many results.

 

Emotions Overview

Emotion=The Motion of E (energy)

Emotions have very powerful energy, much more than thinking, and therefore it is important as a motivation tool to either do well or do terribly.

Why is emotional intelligence important, is because Emotions are a double-edged sword which, can work for you, or against you.

It depends on the skill of Emotional Intelligence and whether you learned to distinguish between positive and negative emotions and learned how to use them.

There are different levels and qualities of emotions that have different consequences.

High-level emotions inspire and motivate, the low-level emotions oppress and diminish natural abilities.

There are fine, positive emotions, which tap into the power of positive thinking, and there are coarse, negative emotions that seem to be used much more in today’s world but are actually weak.

The emotions and thinking are meant to be in sync and produce a productive level of action.

The intelligence of Emotions when complemented by Strategic Thinking & Strategic Planning, demonstrates time and again why emotional intelligence is so important.

High-level, elite Strategic Training and Mental Toughness are necessary to learn to think in a way that summons the right emotions.

As it is called “mind over matter” in this case to mean, to decide in your thinking capability and fit it the emotions that are needed.

Now

Why is emotional intelligence important now?

I think the answer to that question is really clear.

• Now we are in a pandemic.
• Now we are in crisis.
• Now people are in panic mode, worried about their families, their livelihood, their safety, and it all goes in one direction.

Downward to the emotions. This is the place where everything is channeled to these days and that’s the most intelligence is needed.

We don’t see it yet but if there was a way to evaluate the emotional damage that was caused by this crisis and the lacking response to it I would bet that the long term emotional damage is far greater than any other damage the pandemic caused.

We just don’t see it yet because it is long-term damage and we in the 21st century have trained our minds to focus on the short term, which will come to bite us.

More than ever we need intelligent emotions to explain, communicate, stabilize, the emotional stress endured by many.

We need NOW leadership that cares, empathizes, that sees people’s hardship,s and speaks their language.

Their language is not political, it’s fear-induced that needs to be understood and responded to. Otherwise, the damage of COVID-19 will be much, much greater than we can ever suspect.

It’s coming…that’s why emotional intelligence is important now.

Explanation & Analogy Of The Power of The Emotions

Emotional energy is much more powerful than “thinking” energy.

The difference can be likened to torrid water that runs fast and furious, as compared to slowly streaming water that could be likened to thinking.

It is curious that each needs the other for different effects. Thinking can cool or fire up emotions and emotions can do the same to thinking.

Emotion can be very explosive so it is necessary to exercise caution to minimize the point of friction or Flash Point as it is referred to, as the case may be in conflict resolution or negotiation.

As you well know, when the stress is too much for a person to be able to think clearly, their emotions take over and control their response, which they usually regret later.

Much more could be written about the Emotions but for the purpose of this article, we have a sufficient base of information from which we can continue.

Why is Emotional Intelligence Important to Becoming More Intelligent?

Intelligence is all about putting to practice what we know. Knowledge is about gaining information, while intelligence is learning vital lessons from our own efforts of putting our knowledge to practical use.

When we apply our knowledge to everyday tasks we gain the emotional intelligence that is attached to it by experiencing say, expectations, frustrations, disbelief, and disappointment as examples for all human range of emotions.

We know what it takes from us to do it and not just know it and, therefore, we attain emotional intelligence that we learned on our own.

Now we have the values that belong with acting out our knowledge, which if we are leaders we can appreciate the difficulty our reports may encounter.

This is a sure path to EMPATHY which is a key parameter in emotional intelligence.

This leads us to why is emotional intelligence important to leadership.

The Importance of EQ to Authentic Leadership

Empathy is a direct result of acquiring emotional intelligence by putting knowledge to practice. This is what Lead By Example is about and is the main building block of Authentic Leadership.

How can authentic leadership exist if the leader asks of their reports things they have never done themselves or never tried to do themselves?

In the case of authentic leadership, therefore, it means that the leader can apply the emotions that are needed with different tasks, and different people to empathize, motivate, inspire, or anything else that is needed.

Emotional intelligence is intelligence that is added to emotions, which tells you that there is (often) a lack of intelligence added to emotions.

It simply means that a leader has the skill to apply the right emotions to the right situations.

Why is Emotional Intelligence Important To The Decision-Making Process?

Following are 5 steps of thinking that are the basis for the correct decision-making process and how they connect to emotions.

1.    To know the facts without labeling, distortion or bias – this brings emotional stability

2.    To find out the reasons behind the facts- this inspires

3.    To seek for the big picture and discover the first principle – this brings more security

4.    To involve as many as possible in seeking for views – this makes people trust one another

5.    To define the greater purpose that is the lighthouse of what next – this brings hope

This is a simple example of how the correct thinking process provides for emotional stability and why is emotional intelligence important to the decision-making process.

Why Is Emotional Intelligence Important in Changing times

1. To know the range of emotions that we, as human beings, are capable of having at times of change and crisis.
2. To develop and rediscover natural sensitivity and compassion for others and practice them effectively.
3. To start exercising internal conscious control upon what Emotions we want to express and why.
4. To realize that the E-motions are a powerful tool in human engagement and employee engagement training, and to use that tool in a natural, team building, power positive thinking way, that makes people feel at ease about each other and their work environment.
5.  To never think we “know it all” and to keep evolving in the territory.

 

Finally

The thing to take into account, fathom, and understand is the significance of why is emotional intelligence important to authentic leadership.

It is a subject that is largely ignored because most leaders think it’s all about hard skills, when, in fact, many, many studies show that it isn’t.

It is 90% about soft skills in which emotional intelligence figures very highly.

Whatever business you are in it’s always about people and that is a principle that must be held close by authentic leadership.

Why is emotional intelligence important? well, just look around in these days of COVID and tell me that it’s about hard skills. of course, it isn’t!

It is all about people and their feelings and emotions and how much they are thrown off at times of crisis. To Lead people these days emotional intelligence is key.

The question that needs to be asked of many so-called leaders is:

Is there anybody out there that has genuine sympathy without politics?

Politics had become a low toxic emotion that pretends to care for people but if you understand why is emotional intelligence important you also know that empty words cannot cheat genuine CARE, which is what unfortunately much of leadership has become today.

We are at a crossroads and many people are hurting because they need leadership that has empathy, cares, knows how to listen and has their best in mind.

Are you that kind of leader and do you truly understand why is emotional intelligence important?

The Thinking Coach Professional Training Seminars

Well, here it is, offered by me The Life Coach For The Pros, a highly effective emotional intelligence training seminar for leadership, management, and the workforce, as part of the soft skills for the workplace training program, which is ongoing.

In my seminars, people will get to know and feel exactly why is Emotional Intelligence important to their personal and professional lives. They will get tools with which to develop the skills they need way beyond the seminar.

Tools that will make them much more effective in their interpersonal skills, communication skills, thinking skills, and…sensitivity skills. (yes, there’s such a thing)

Feel free to reach out and call me for exceptional corporate training seminars and life coaching that make a difference!

Eli Harari

The Life Coach for Professionals™

 

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