I was first introduced to the idea of Emotional Intelligence in my “Leadership and Ethics” MBA class this past fall semester at the University of Nevada, Reno. For all that I learned about this concept I have to give huge credit to a wonderful professor that taught the class – Dr. Rafik Beekun. He is truly an expert in this field and all that I am going to talk about in this blog post is a direct outcome of Dr. Beekun’s teachings.
Throughout my life, I always wondered about why people behave the way they do. I tried to understand why they say certain things and why they act in one way or another. I looked at the way people behaved in their personal lives, athletics and in a work setting. Some people could be very nice in a social setting but extremely competitive when they play sports or are tasked with a project at work. Some people would be completely calm in all three areas whereas others could be very outgoing in their personal lives but shy and not comfortable in a work setting and so the list goes. There was not a universal trend in which people would act in the same way regardless of the setting they were in.
When I learned what Emotional Intelligence was all about my questions were answered right away! It became very clear why people act the way they do. It became even more clear why two people act differently in the exact same setting.
And the reason for that laid in the simple fact that – Emotional intelligence is not about being emotional – It is about being smart with your emotions.
I think Emotional Intelligence makes very effective business leaders because it improves communication in the workplace, makes less conflict situations, and increases the likelihood that a given person would make a good leader. Moreover, it does not just apply to work environment – it also applies to the overall development of a person.
Ultimately, I stand by the fact that everyone should have a goal to become very good at being smart with his/her emotions.
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