“Emotionally intelligent management involves recognizing what we feel, accepting the nature of emotions, understanding and regulating their energy, and channeling that energy into meaningful actions,” said Maia Saps—who holds a Master’s degree in Talent and Human Resources Management from IE University and serves as Director of Innovation and Development at Educación Responsable Uruguay—during the conference “Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace.”
The online event, which was part of the Management and Business Lecture Series organized by the Graduate School of Universidad ORT Uruguay, took place on Thursday, November 12, 2020.
Learning to Read Emotions
First, Saps asked the audience to answer the question “How are you?” without using the words “good” or “bad.” Some of the responses were: expectant, excited, hopeful.
Saps explained that it’s essential to learn to distinguish one emotion from another: “Are you nervous or afraid? Are you anxious or frustrated? Putting a name to what you’re feeling helps reduce the intensity of the emotion.”
The expert emphasized the importance of learning to interpret the message behind emotions. She explained that there are no "good" or "bad" emotions; rather, they can be pleasant or unpleasant and can be felt with varying degrees of intensity.
The way people manage their emotions affects the organization's culture and results.
People with high emotional intelligence tend to be more satisfied at work, more committed to their organization, and less likely to leave. Developing emotional intelligence has been linked to greater resilience, reduced stress, and improved well-being.
“Just as the lights on a car’s dashboard come on to indicate that the temperature has risen or that fuel is running low, every emotion is a light of a specific color that comes on to signal that there is a problem to be solved,” he said.
It is not the emotion itself that is troubling, but rather the fact that we have not yet learned how to interpret and make use of the information it conveys. For example, anger is the perception of injustice or a violated personal boundary, while fear arises when a threat seems greater than the resources we have to cope with it.
“It’s essential to understand that emotions will change over time and to be able to regulate their intensity, so that they can be beneficial when we need them—just like turning the volume on the radio up or down.”
“Interacting better with others, building rapport, being assertive, knowing how to say no, and setting boundaries without feeling guilty,” Saps added. “All of these tools are necessary for living and working better.”
The Contagious Nature of Emotions
“It’s really important for leaders to work on their emotional intelligence,” said Saps. Emotions are contagious. For this reason, the expert emphasized that leaders must be mindful of the ripple effect they can cause.
“Emotions don’t work automatically as a stimulus-response; rather, they depend on your past experiences, the context in which you experience them, and the information your body provides,” Saps added. “No two brains are alike. Sometimes we try to say, ‘If I were you, I’d do such-and-such,’ but it’s almost impossible to know what we’d actually do. Everyone reacts differently.”
Saps recommended keeping a daily record of the emotions that arise from work, whether in a journal or an app. This record helps identify behavioral patterns and provides real-time information that allows for timely intervention, without having to wait for the satisfaction survey.
He also recommended that, when recognizing unpleasant emotions, you try to identify “what other, more positive thought about that same situation might help me feel better.”
Another technique he recommended is to write down the thoughts that trigger those fears and, next to them, more rational arguments or evidence that can help you reinterpret the situation. “It’s our thoughts that trigger our emotions. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, not to feel afraid; the key is to prevent that fear from turning into paralyzing panic.”
“It’s important to understand how each person in the company feels in order to resolve conflicts. In a project, the ideal situation is to have a database you can refer to in order to identify each person’s strengths and take that into account when assigning roles. For example, having both a creative person and an analytical person on the same team,” he said.
Finally, Saps noted: “Companies used to wonder if they could afford the ‘luxury’ of prioritizing their employees’ emotional well-being. Now the question is: How can they afford not to?”