emotional intelligence
What does it mean and how do you use it to drive performance?
I would say that emotional intelligence refers to the ability to stay calm under difficult circumstances. If you can keep emotions in check you will be able to think clearly and only when you are thinking clearly can you continue to make good decisions, communicate effectively, see the big picture, be empathetic and gain the respect of others (all the attributes of a leader). When other people see this they are more likely to follow your lead and are motivated to perform.
I have had too many supervisors who will throw a tantrum to prove they are in command. I do not think they understand it causes the rest of the team to have no confidence in them.
Emotional intelligence is being tuned to the feelings, thoughts, and opinions of your staff. An example:
If you have an IT staff in a school, who is frustrated by repeat callers. The emotional intelligence applied would be the staffer get frustrated by repeating the same information to the same customer. The staffer may feel as though the customer is not paying attention or trying to understand. This could be due to the static in the communication line from the staffer to the customer.
They way you would resolve this matter:
Remind the staffer that they are at your organization to help others. They are teaching people to fish, even though they feel as though they are fishing for them. You would then ask them how they would like the information explained to them if they called. Then follow that up with, "What if you had no idea how ____ worked, what would you do? How would you feel?"
Usually people are able to see the frustrations on both ends and work to resolve them. It is being aware of, assessing, and controlling reactions. Once the staffer see that their small contributions to the educational process is making a difference, you generally get them to buy into your mission and increase productivity.
