Emotional Intelligence Crucial for Success at Work

Redmarketer joins the Emotional Intelligence (EQ)(EI) bandwagon on his blog. "The idea of emotional intelligence," he blogs, "is central to working with others."

It doesn’t work that way in the professional world. [Finishing a project on his own in school when the others dropped out.] The projects are simply too large and the expectations too high for that kind of strategy to bare fruit. So we work as close knit teams. Nay, we live and die as close knit teams. So improving your effectiveness in working with others and groups is necessary to rise to the top as a marketer, analyst, strategist, CEO or any other important role.

Read more here.

Politicking - it takes emotional intelligence

How to Become a Local Political Power Broker Using 15 Simple Strategies is the name of the article. And political power is what we always need, wherever we are. In its purest since it means being able to work people and work with peoplem, for win-win outcomes.

From the article:

2) Map People's Networks: The secret of political power is understanding and using social networks. The connections of sympathy, obligation, self-interest, allegiance, and affection that flow through the networks of social connections between people is the key to persuading people to help you and those you represent. Human social maps are a very complex and ever-changing landscape requiring diligence, social adroitness, and constant attention to
maintain and use: dealing with the complexity of human relationships is why we have such enormous brains in the first place. Investigating and understanding people's social networks is a key asset for any political power broker. You must understand the social networks to which your neighborhood is connected, who are the key influencers in those networks, and what those influencers' motives and needs are. As to what you have to barter with in order to get those influencers to utilize their networks on your behalf, keep reading...

4) Learn to Ask People for Money: Having the combination of emotional intelligence and bulldog-like determination
... is rare.

For the rest of the article, go here: Blog For Arizona

If you would like to increase YOUR emotional intelligence, go HERE: www.susandunn.cc/EQcourse.htm

If you would like to become a certified coach, email me at sdunn@susandunn.cc for information on my coach training and certification program. Training and certifying coaches worldwide.

The Boss' Mood Affects Productivity

New Vision Online : How a boss’ mood affects productivity

It doesn't take an "expert" to tell us that some bosses are wonderful to work for and therefore get the best out of us, and also have high retention rates of excellent employees ... while others are not. The emotional intelligence of the boss is critical. If you'd like to increase yours, take THE EQ COURSE . Sign up everyone in the office -- it really works!

I was at a workplace the other day that had had nearly 100% turnover in the past 18 months. One of the workers there told me, "How can you work in a place that makes you feel this way about yourself? I'm good at what I do. One week at this place and I felt like a loser. That's never happened before."

If vested self-interest is the only thing that works, this boss puts himself in the position of having to interview, hire, and then train, continually. He is constantly having to work with someone new, which adds to his frustration. Who needs that? It is annoying, costly, and highly ineffective. It is hard to get good systems in place when the faces keep changing.

From the article (and BTW, it's from Uganda - if you think emotional intelligence isn't sweeping the world and giving us a common language for dealing with problems):

A BOSS’ mood and behaviour drive the moods and behaviour of everyone else. The environment an inspirational boss creates is different from the one a cranky and insensitive one would. High levels of emotional intelligence promote information-sharing, trust, healthy risk-taking and learning flourish. Low levels create fear and anxiety.

According to experts, the most effective leaders display moods and behaviour that match the situation at hand, with a healthy dose of optimism. They respect how other people feel. This behaviour, which in management parlance is called resonance, has four components of emotional intelligence in action.

Email me at sdunn@susandunn.cc for personal coaching, business programs, Internet courses and ebooks to improve the quality of your life, success and happiness. Visit http://www.susandunn.cc/ for ideas! Emotional Intelligence really works.

Employee Loyalty: It's all about Emotional Intelligence

You know your employees' points of pain and you know what makes them happy ... begins this article by a true visionary. "If you use this information to meet the special needs of your employees," Ty Freyvogel says, "and even surprise them with a few extra perks, you will be able to build strong relationships with them -- and they, in turn, will be willing to go the extra mile for you."

What's the #1 thing employees want? All studies say "acknowledgement and appreciation."

This article "Operation Employee Loyalty: 12 Ways Small Business Owners Can Ensure Their Best Employees Never Want to Leave" is so full of emotional intelligence.

Here are a few of Freyvogel's gems:

Every entrepreneur knows the hectic lifestyle that comes along with starting and running a company. (Heck, most of us live for the craziness!) But have you ever considered how this work schedule affects your employees?

If too many such days come and go without any acknowledgement from you, you can bet they’ll be handing out their resumes all over town. And since your employees make or break your business, you must keep your best ones around.

Small business owners may feel that they are at a disadvantage compared to CEOs of large corporations precisely because of the lack of deep pockets. Nothing is further from the truth. Because they work so closely with their employees, rather than being separated by layers of bureaucracy, it is easy for them to get to know their employees well.

Provide them with much-deserved time off.

Another option is to set up a compressed work week for your staff so that they get time off at the end of the week.

Give them bonuses at critical times. Presumably, you work closely with your employees and know a lot about their lives outside of the work. Act on this knowledge in ways that benefit them exactly when they need it most. If one of your employees has a new baby or a sick spouse or child, a bonus will help ease the financial burden during these times. She will appreciate your concern for her and her family’s well being.

Constantly recognize a job well done. Everyone likes to be told they've done a good job on something.

Read the full article here: Operation Employee Loyalty: Twelve Ways Small Business Owners Can Ensure Their Best Employees Never Want To Leave CustomerThink

Learn more about emotional intelligence with The EQ Course.

Why you should not make (or accept) a Video Resume

Overlawyered

Is doing a video resume good emotional intelligence? After all, you're a dynamic, attractive person who presents well in-person. Is accepting them from applicants the smart thing to do? You sure get a clot more clues when you can see the candidate "in action." Will it help you in your search for a new job or a better job? If you're interviewing for jobs, see my ebook "Acing the New Interview"

Some have thought it a good idea when applying via such online job sites as Jobster, CareerBuilder and Vault.

According to this article on Overlawyered many labor and employment attorney are warning employers that video resumes creates too much exposure to be "comfortably accepted". That's lawyer-eze for "not a good idea."

"Just don't even deal with them," said Dennis Brown, an attorney in the San Jose, Calif., office of Littler Mendelson whose firm recently advised employers about the dangers of video resumés in a seminar. "My advice to my clients who have asked me about video resumes -- and I have had a lot of clients ask lately -- is do not accept, do not review video resumes."

This lawyer feels video resumes reveal information about a person's race, sex, disability, age -- all details that could wind up in a discrimination lawsuit.... "This is one of those instances where a little bit of unnecessary knowledge is dangerous." ...

Another lawyer, Darlene Smith of the Washington office of Boston's Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, said she was deadset against it.

Comments from attorneys for the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are included in this article on Overlawyered.

How to Write CVs and Cover Letters

THESE ARE TAKEN FROM REAL CVs AND COVER LETTERS
I have lurnt Word Perfect 6.0 computor and spreasheet pogroms.

Am a perfectionist and rarely if if ever forget details.

Received a plague for Salesperson of the Year.

Wholly responsible for two (2) failed financial institutions.

Reason for leaving last job: maturity leave.

Failed bar exam with relatively high grades.

It's best for employers that I not work with people.

Let's meet , so you can 'ooh' and 'aah' over my experience.

I was working for my mom until she decided to move.

Marital status: single. Unmarried. Unengaged. Uninvolved. No commitments.

I have an excellent track record, although I am not a horse.

I am loyal to my employer at all costs....Please feel free to respond to my resume on my office voice mail.

My goal is to be a meteorologist. But since I possess no training in meteorology, I suppose I should try stock brokerage.

I procrastinate, especially when the task is unpleasant.

Personal interests: donating blood. Fourteen gallons so far.

Instrumental in ruining entire operation for a Midwest chain store.

Note: Please don't misconstrue my 14 jobs as 'job-hopping'. I have never quit a job.

Marital status: often. Children: various.

The company made me a scapegoat, just like my three previous employers.

Finished eighth in my class of ten.

References: none. I've left a path of destruction behind me.

_______________________________

Too funny. But not really. I can't help but comment that this one It's best for employers that I not work with people. is perfectly written, logical, and intelligent (IQ), and just has that real touch of low EQ combined with high IQ one sometimes sees -- naive, "true," unaware of the import of what he/she is saying.

Ah well, forgive me, this is an Emotional Intelligence site and sometimes I have to put in a segue.

WHAT'S NEW AROUND HERE?
The Budget EQ Course - an EQ certification is so obviously a good thing to include on your resume or CV, we've created a budget version. Just as good, and fast, effective and affordable. Now there's no excuse not to take it. GO HERE.

Business Communication doesn't have to be Jargon

Creating Passionate Users: When only the glib win, we all lose

Please, please go visit this blogsite. The graphics are so good, all you have to do is look at them and you've got the message.

NO JARGON

If you've worked with me, taken one of my Internet courses, or read one of my ebooks, you know that I hate "jargon" and don't use it. The courses and ebooks are all post-grad level, but they are in plain English.

When I was in grad school and getting a little heady about how smart I was about to be, I wrote a paper full of obfuscations and the professor told me he agreed with Einstein -- if you can't explain it to your grandmother*, you don't know what you're talking about. He said never to be afraid to say it in clearly, with short words.

In fact that's a really good idea in tense situations, like where you're the expert, boss or authority figure. Consider a doctor delivering bad news, for instance. There's a great email going around about friendship, where one of the items is "And when you're upset, I'll speak to you in short words."

(That's an anachronism, of course, grandmother. How about - if you can't explain it to a 10 year old ... )

Now if you were standing in the office instead of at the ironing board, and someone started talking at you that way, wouldn't you RUN?

These graphics are reproduced under the creative commons agreements.

http://headrush.typepad.com/

Isn't that marvelous?

This blogster is a real genius, the kind with IQ AND EQ.

To improve your communication, take THE EQ COURSE. It reinforces some of the other points made on this blog -- that PowerPoint doesn't teach, people teach ... that throwing money at a problem doesn't solve it ... that the more you micromanage, the more you make dysfunctional idiots out of your employees, that two heads aren't always better than one ... and don't start your presentation, book, talk "at the beginning".

It's just a great site. Take some time and browse it.

My life's work is helping people get along better, get more done, have more success in relationships and at work, and enjoy their life more. This takes high emotional intelligence, understanding how you operate and also how the other person does.

Winning at Work

Charlotte Business Journal: Winning at Work

"Work hard," writes Connie Glaser. "Do your best. Know what’s expected. Create value.

Isn't this what we were taught? And since we are smart, capable and doing all the right things, we will get ahead -- right? Well, in today's complex workplace and competitive global marketplace, here is a startling piece of news: it is not enough."

Through coaching, she advises, many are learning the essential ingredients of success.

"The traditional ingredients for a successful career," she writes, "require combining technical and interpersonal skills, along with emotional intelligence. Mix in cultural astuteness, and you've got a recipe for success in today's workplace."

Benjack Glatzer defines culture astuteness as "the ability to get out of your office and your comfort zone, and navigate smoothly through the cultural nuances of your specific company."

And this requires a great deal of emotional intelligence.

The good news is that emotional intelligence (EQ) can be learned. Contact me for more information - sdunn@susandunn.cc .

Everyone's Talking about Emotional Intelligence

A SAFER PLACE by fernety (with permission)

Posts - Discussions of a BlondeVixen

Her friends are bouncing from one work drama to another, so she's reading Goleman to learn more about emotional intelligence. It's the BUZZ WORD in MANAGEMENT she says. Emotional intelligence ... the buzz word in management.

What took them so long?

Of course it's best to actively learn emotional intelligence, which you can through my Internet course, with or without coaching to accompany. The more, the better, though. You can really accelerate your learning curve.

We spend 8, 10, 12 hours a day at work ... 5, 6 days a week.

Won't it be nice when everyone knows EQ??

Take THE COURSE.

Emotional Intelligence - THE training topic

Emotional Intelligence ... making the rounds in the business world.

Why? Because it works.

NHCG consulting writes that they are "evolving due to the changing business climate. The latest training topic is emotional intelligence (EI)" -- what took them so long??

EQ, they say, "describes a person's ability to identify, utilize, understand and manage emotions in the workplace...research indicates that people who have a high competency in emotional intelligence are more likely to succeed that those whose strengths rely on previous experience." For full article go here: "Navigating the Learning Curve," from New Haven, CT

Actually people with high emotional intelligence are more likely to succeed than people with LOW emotional intelligence. It's as simple as that.

We've been at this a long time ... come learn with the best.

Get Emotional Intelligence Certification on Your Resume for Career Success

GET EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE CERTIFICATION ON YOUR RESUME THIS YEAR IF YOU WANT YOUR CAREER TO ADVANCE
email me for information on my program and receive an Emotional Intelligence certificate.
You'll be way ahead of the game in all the ways that count. This is something that will really open doors to you.

Article appearing on the globeandmail.com talks about "trends to embrace and watch out for" in terms of career intelligence. The author, Barbara Moses, lauds coaching, and pegs some big trends.

"Ironically, while organizations talk about the need for broad knowledge, emotional intelligence and the ability to solve complex human problems, they ignore people who don't have specialized degrees. But these general degrees have taught them critical thinking skills -- the very skills that organizations are in search of."

Much of what she talks about could be lumped under "multicultural" - she mentions the generations trying to blend, but it's cosmopoliltan and global on top of that. Having a business lunch in the Renaissance Tower in downtown Dallas today, I heard as many accents as I hear in the dining room of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship where I've often been a speaker.

The cruise ships hire for diversity. It would appear that everyone has it now, whether intentional or not and how are you going to get along and get the project moving??

Clips from the article. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE training helps with every single one of these and is the underlying theme.

• management training
• the important of 'softer' skills such as emotional intelligence
• Coaching -- caveat emptor. Everyone wants a coach but check out the coach's credentials. I agree (and feel free to check out mine.) IVery important to check credentials in an unregulated field such as coaching. I have a master's degree in clinical psychology and a liberal arts background combined with many years experience in the work world.
• succession planning
• young people without specialized degrees are having difficulty finding work, and many older workers are still experiencing age discrimination
• Intergenerational tensions (this is a BIG one and you can only fathom solutions if you have high EQ
• older workers bemoan the lack of work ethic among younger workers
• Young workers want "old" workers out of their way and call the "workaholics"
• In Canada, non-mandatory retirement means "many older workers will choose to stay on in the workplace for both financial and psychological reasons -- leading to continuing frustration among younger workers eyeing those plum opportunities up the ladder."
• Diversity broadens its meaning. No longer women, visible minorities, those with disabilities and gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered people, but ... diversity of age, life situations, personality and motivation. In other words, diversity reflects all differences.
• direction of diversity is changing. Emphasis is on inclusiveness.
• forget balance - you can have it all, but not all at once
• Leadership development - and this is NOT "management." Both are needed.
• younger workers catapulted into management positions with little basic training. (Great opportunity for coaching)
• work that has meaning
• people are defining success in highly personal terms.
• promotion for the wrong reason (demoralizing)
• authenticity reigns. People want to be able to express who they are in their work, and not have to adopt a corporate persona. This means that if they feel they have to compromise their values or repress their personality, they will look for another employer that represents a better fit.
• The employee brand/experience
  Organizations are turning their attention to building their employee brand, recognizing that they can't build a successful external brand for clients if it's not consistent with how internal staff experiences the company.
• The brand represents the personality of the organization whether that be flexibility, family friendliness, or challenging opportunities.
• midlife renewal (a big area in which I coach - I say "60 is the new 40" and I love coaching midlifers in transition - work and dating)

Read the article HERE.

Volga Boatmen - Is that your job?

VOLGA BOATMEN

"Burlaks on the Volga River", this magnificent painting of Czarist Russian, is now in the public doman. Click HERE to see the painting enlarged.


You may also be familiar with the Russian folk song, "The Volga Boatmen."

The lyrics to the refrain are:
Mighty stream so deep and wide
Volga Volga you’re our pride
Heave ho, heave ho



You can hear "The Volga Boatman" here from an old Nelson Eddy movie:



Now take another look at the painting, please. This is an exercise I use in my Emotional Intelligence course, incidentally, and in seminars. In it we see a team at work, doing manual labor. You can probably identify some of the people in the painting. Who is the young golden boy? The one at the rear who seems about to collapse? The leader in the front, old, but apparently doing fine? Which one is you?

Now, on a blog entitled "Volga Boatman," a member of the clergy writes:

"Thinking about liturgical music, the Volga boatmen came to mind. Somewhere in the dim recesses of my mind is an image of men on a towpath, dragging a boat through a canal, accompanied by 'Yo, heave, ho.' And there are times when I feel like one of the guys on the rope line. Dragging the congregation through a Mass, dragging a choir through a new hymn or setting. But those are nothing compared to the way it's going to feel when we try to move forward from what many refer to as 'the four-hymn Mass' to 'ritual music.'

"Anyone who works in the church music world knows that after almost every Mass, someone comes up and tells you that she loves the music because it’s strong/tender/enlivening/
comforting/'real Catholic music'/up-to-date, etc.

That individual is followed by someone who hates it. It’s too loud/soft/fast/slow/traditional/
modern/hard-to-sing,etc.

[I used to be the Outreach Director for a church and greeted people as they came in the sanctuary. I would hear, "It's too hot in here/just right in here for once/freezing cold in here." Everyone should have this experience in order to understand what "leadership" is all about.]

However, that's not my point here. I have a few questions for you, actually.

1. Do you find it odd the clergyman didn't see himself as the man on the boat in the orange shirt? 2. Would there be anything 'wrong' if the leader were on the boat, not hauling?
3. What about if he were pitching in? He appears to see himself perhaps as the man in the front right. Dragging them forward.
4. If you were the man in the orange shirt directing this whole thing, would you feel guilty?
5. Did you even see the man on the boat in the orange shirt?

It's about the big picture:

• Not letting your emotions get in the way of your perceptions,
• About what you 'read into' a painting. We all do this. That's why there are paintings, and why we love them. (The great arts [culture] BTW, are an important component of emotional intelligence).
• The experiences you have had, and the emotions around them that you bring to apainting become your reality.
• Your beliefs and attitudes about labor, i.e., all work is slave labor and you are condemned to do it ... or think-work is lazy, manual labor is "honest labor"
• How much you identify with the people in a painting and why
• How much you know about Czarist Russian and if you can distance yourself to get intellectual; or, conversely, if you automatically intellectualize your emotions
• Your attitudes toward paintings - worthless nonsence, "not for me," "what's the purpose - why are you 'making' me look at a painting?"

Some people identify with the Volga boatmen, and immediately start talking about "slave labor." Others identify with the suffering in general (especially if they are familiar with this time period in Russia's history) and they usually fail to see the men on the boat, or to remember them. Some who are leaders see themselves as the man in the orange shirt, while others who are leaders see themselves as the man front left. Others might start fantasizing about never having to work. There are many reactions you can have.

One suggestion for the New Year, if you see yourself on your current job as one of the Volga boatmen - slave labor, and heave ho, heave ho - it may be time for a new job?

Call me for coaching: 817.734.1471.

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace: Not a Laughing Matter

Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace.
No, it's not touchy-feeling, group-hug stuff, it's serious business when emotions take over. If you aren't in touch with your feelings, when they 're driving you (and that includes pride, pig-headedness, one-upping, and so forth), your life is out-of-control.



You'll laugh when you see this. People observing this sort of male rutting always laugh, but the results aren't always funny.