E.I. (Emotional Intelligence) is a must have attribute for today’s recruitment leaders in a business environment that is constantly changing; especially if you want to accelerate your company’s growth and motivate your billing teams to higher levels of achievement.
Daniel Goldman the psychologist and New York Times bestselling author wrote the original book on the subject twenty years ago in 1996. It took the self-development world by storm. In case you haven’t got a copy you can access it on Amazon by searching for this title; “Emotional Intelligence-Why it can matter more than IQ”. It’s a ‘must download’ recommendation from all here at Centredexcellence.
The book was based on research by Peter Salavoy and John Mayer on how managing our emotions and understanding others will impact our results.
The definition centres on:
“the capacity to be aware of, control and express one’s emotions and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.”
Not always the most prevalent skills of stressed out billing managers juggling multiple priorities; are they? Yet if they were…… performance results would improve.
To get us going, here is a quick summary related to what E.I. is all about.
- The Ability to identify your own emotions.
- The ability to identify others emotions; not always as easy as you might think.
- How to utilise emotions and apply them to tasks or activities.
- How to manage and control your own emotions. (Some days we are all better than others)
- How to manage and control another’s emotions; never as easy as you might think!
The good news is that with some practise you can develop your own E.I. and reap numerous benefits from living your life in this way.
To give you a head start here are some classic signs of individuals exhibiting a high emotional intelligence.
They are empathetic
In a previous article on leadership I touched on this subject. In my experience coaching and managing teams for years it all starts with empathy. Being empathetic is a starting point to understanding and reading the emotions of others and then being able to react accordingly.
This might seem obvious on the surface and yet it isn’t to everybody. If one of your recruiters is ranting and raving, it’s useful to ‘seek first to understand’ where the emotional outburst has come from and what was the trigger before you fall foul of reacting in a similar way.
They are self aware
Can you practise self-awareness? Well yes and no. It’s about forming a habit and asking yourself important questions that will raise your awareness.
While I wouldn’t recommend over analysing your every action, it is a good idea to take at least some time regularly (I do this at the end of each day) to think about what you are doing and the effect it has on your staff members. That way you have the opportunity to maximise your impact on others.
They go with the flow
Life will throw you curve balls and unfortunately more than once. Accept it and move on. I am not suggesting that you lie down and let life control you. Instead work on the premise that life will throw surprises our way and that this can be a good thing.
- We become more aware of what we want
- We raise our standards
- We develop resilience
They have a growth mindset
The final key aspect for me is developing a growth mindset. This is about constantly exploring your own capabilities and setting your own goal to consistently work on developing your curiosity and rolling up your sleeves to develop your abilities.
How do you fare on these key areas? Want some support? On our range of programmes here at Centredexcellence we help you develop in all areas of your performance including developing your E.I. Want to know more then get in touch by emailing us here.
Warm regards
Nicky
High performing consultants are the lifeblood of any successful recruitment organisation. The challenge starts when your recruiters underperform. There is a solution and I cover it in-depth in my latest ebook; How to Convert Your under Performers to Consistent Billers in 14 Days or less. You can download it here.
