Finally! We’re starting to study the neuroscience behind  altruism and generosity, charity and empathy, and other positive emotions. How does it affect the brain, as opposed to other things we have studied, such as fight or flight responses, and addictions, etc. Check out this recent press release  http://tinyurl.com/yh2t8f2

Often when I bring up the topic of emotional intelligence in the corporate setting, decision makers start crayfishing.  They are afraid they’re going to pay big money for some touchy-feely group seminar thingy, and it’s going to blow a day of work. 

Wait a minute!  First of all, who said it was touchy feely?  Who said it was even a seminar at all?  Your mind went right to some past negative experience when some expensive “consultant” had everyone out of their comfort zones getting up and doing things and you never did figure out the connection between that day and real life. So now your brain is already going into fight/flight response. 

Okay, so now we’re over that.  But every company has some issues with disengagement, lower-than-ideal productivity and morale, and many on the team feel overworked, especially after last year. I hear many employees talking of their “no-motions” of 2009.  (That’s the term used when given extra responsibilities at work, with no promotion or increase in pay: “I got a no-motion this year”)  People on your own team have their resumes out and are taking personal calls on company time to talk to other companies about new jobs; don’t kid yourself. 

Let me say something about emotional intelligence.  EQ (sometimes called EI) will trump IQ every time. Just think about someone you know who is really brilliant and has no control over their emotions. We all know people like that. Emotions produce powerful neuro-chemicals that stay in your body for hours after they are released. Ever been so mad you started shaking?  You know what I’m talking about then.  Emotional intelligence is not about touchy-feely crap, it is about leading high functioning workforce, aware of what elevates your human capital to the next level and aware of what will bring them down. 

Don’t you want to have every edge you can have in your work (not to mention your life outside of work?)  Do you ever notice how a bad mood can ruin your golf game? Have you ever had a small outburst of anger leak out in the workplace?  If you say no, and you are a senior executive, you are lying. Or you aren’t counting your passive-aggressive behavior.  Sorry to say that, I’m just a no-nonsense kind of person.

So, what does all this crap have to do with the net-net bottom line?

Let me  say this..if you are in HR or any kind of senior level management or leadership position, simply email me by January 10th, and I will provide you with an absolutely free, confidential Emotional Intelligence Assessment you can take on line in 15 minutes. Just put ”EQ test” in the subject line and I will send you a link, and pay for it out of my own pocket.  That is how strongly I feel that every person in leadership needs to have knowledge of EQ and tools to leverage it. This assessment is validated and backed by extensive research over the last decade and a half.  EQ is not a trend. The same people who say it is thought the Internet was a trend as well. It’s an absolute must for every company, of every size. You will immediately see how you can get the edge on your competitors while they are wasting their money attending an expensive touchy-feely seminar, and going right back to their desk to be the same as they were before. 

julia@mentaliron.com

PS I hope I didn’t offend anyone by using the word crap, but let’s face it….crap is crap.  We all know it when we see it.  I couldn’t think of another word as effective.

Tags: EI, Emotional Intelligence, EQ, Executive Coach, executive coaching, Executive Consultant, Executive Performance, HR, human resources, Neuroscience, Validated assessments

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 30th, 2009 at 10:22 am and is filed under Behavioral assessments, Best Practices, Brain Function, Business success, Communication, Disengagement, EQ, Emotional Intelligence, Engagement, Executive Coach, Executive Performance Coach, Executive pERFORMANCE cOACHING, Increasing Sales, Leadership, Leadership Development, Leadership Skills, Management Consulting, Uncategorized, executive coaching, positive attitude. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.