EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

The Role of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in the Workplace:

Enhancing Leadership, Collaboration and Performance

Submitted by:

Maryum Talib (30015)

Khadija Rehman (28516)
Inza Nadeem (60495)
Arsh Noor (58950)
Fatima Malik (60800)
Aima Sara Nadeem (48413)
Course Name: Organizational Behavior

BS Public Administration

Submitted to:

Mrs. Muntaha Hassan

RIPHAH INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC POLICY

RIPHAH INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

ABSTRACT

The paper outlines the concept of Emotional Intelligence (EI) that is the ability to understand one’s
own emotions as well as emotions of others. Secondly, the application of emotional intelligence
in organizational context that is leadership, collaboration and performance as well as its impact on
overall organizational success. Emotional intelligence is a vital skill that empowers individuals to
navigate interpersonal relationships, manage emotions effectively and achieve personal and
professional success. The paper also comprises of models that are ability model, mixed model and
trait model of emotional intelligence; these are also demonstrating the various aspects of emotional
intelligence in organizational context. Emotional intelligence is a building block of interpersonal
relationships that are crucial for the success of any organization. By cultivating self-awareness,
empathy and strong communication, individuals as well as organizations can better make
decisions. Number of challenges are also highlighted such as lack of awareness, limited resources
and resistance to change etc. Finally, there are strategies that can enhance emotional intelligence
in professional context, so that organizations can move on successful trajectories.

Key Words:

Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Collaboration, Performance, Interpersonal

relationships, Emotions.

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

WE ARE DANGEROUS WHEN WE ARE NOT CONSCIOUS OF

OUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR HOW WE BEHAVE, THINK AND
FEEL.

MARSHELL B. ROSENBERQ

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

INTRODUCTION

Emotional Intelligence (EI) refers to the capability to identify, understand and manage one’s own
emotion as well as the emotions of others. It is also referred to as emotional quotient (EQ).
Emotional intelligence is also characterized as a measure of social ability of every human being to
regulate his or her emotions as related to the others in the society. The term emotional intelligence
was proposed by two researchers, Peter Salavoy and John Mayer in their article “Emotional
Intelligence” in the journal Imagination, Cognition, and Personality in 1990. It was later
popularized by Daniel Goleman in his 1995 book Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence
is comprehended to have comprised of skills that enable people to steer their social relationships
and interactions effectively and make decisions according to the specific context. The most
important aspect of emotional intelligence is self-awareness, which allows individuals to have a
pure understanding of their actions and reactions. This understanding helps them to control their
emotions and allows them to respond according to the specific situation and context. Emotional
intelligence plays a pivotal role in personal and professional life as it improves communication,
decision making, emotional regulation, and empathy and conflict resolution. People with high
Emotional Intelligence can better recognize how they are feeling, what the meaning of those
feelings is and how these feelings influence their conduct as well as others. High level of emotional
intelligence intersects with strong interpersonal skills that are crucial at workplace. This enables
an individual to think objectively before taking any action.

Components of Emotional Intelligence:

American psychologist Daniel Goleman identified five key components of emotional

intelligence.

 Self-Awareness
 Self-Regulation
 Empathy
 Motivation
 Social Skills

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

 Self-Awareness:
Self-Awareness refers to the ability to know about one’s own strengths and weaknesses. So
the people who are aware of their own emotions and feelings, can better explain them and are
also well aware of the results of their behaviors. This component serves as the foundation of
emotional intelligence as it gives people more realistic view of their abilities that’s why they
can better play their part, resolve conflict, manage stress and other emotional challenges.
Emotional self-awareness also ensures fair decision making as it also unveils biases and
prejudices of a person.
 Self-Regulation:
Once the individual has achieved the component self-awareness, then he/she can move on to
self-regulation. Once the individual knows about his/her emotions, he/she can better manage
them. It involves being able to regulate instincts and remained focused on long-term goals.
Self-regulation is a critical skill for effective leadership, allows an individual to express
himself/herself calmly and properly. It does not mean to suppress our natural emotions rather
there are various aspects of self-regulation; these are emotional control, impulse control, stress
management, adaptability and accountability.
 Motivation:
Motivation is defined as the process of stimulating people to take actions in order to achieve
their goals. It is also characterized as persistence, intensity and direction towards a specific
goal. Motivation allows a person to remain true to their goals even during difficult times.
Developing motivation involves setting clear goals, drafting a plan, recognizing the principles
that drives one’s actions and looking for inspiration. Motivation helps people to remain focused
and achieve success. It is a crucial component of Emotional Intelligence because it impacts all
other factors.
 Empathy:
Empathy refers to the ability to take on others’ viewpoints to understand, feel, share and
respond to their experience. Empathy involves compassion toward others. Individuals with
high levels of empathy can build stronger relationships and interactions, helpful for others
and resolve conflicts in better way. Empathy is at the heart of emotional intelligence, as it
labels the capability to step into other people’s shoes and analyze circumstances from their

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

point of views. Empathy serves as the foundation of an inclusive professional environment that
advocates for involving the diverse perspective through sympathy and compassion.
 Social skills:
Social skills refer to the capability to communicate effectively with others, shape stronger
relationships and work in coordination towards common goals. It includes being able to
express oneself openly and confidently, as well as listen to others and respond with empathy
and kindness. Social skills involves various key aspects like effective communication,
teamwork, coordination, networking, leadership etc., as emotional intelligence is not only
concerned with managing one’s own emotions but also of how an individual interact with
others. It is also one of the crucial elements as applied in real-world interactions, a sort of
outward expression of overall emotional intelligence.

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Factors affecting Emotional Intelligence:

There are several factors that have influence on emotional intelligence. These are personal,
biological, environmental and social in nature.

 Personal factors:
Personality traits like conscientiousness, openness and agreeableness etc., has an impact on
emotional quotient. Personality traits have also role in understanding one’s own emotions as
well as of others, which is the foundation of emotional intelligence.
 Social factors:
Communication means, cultural norms, societal roles & expressions and interpersonal
relationships also influences the emotional intelligence and shape one’s behavior and conduct
within the society.
 Environmental factors:
Environmental factors like education, training, upbringing, parenting styles, childhood
experiences and work environment, all have a great impact on emotional intelligence.
 Biological factors:
Biological factors like genetic outlook and function of nervous system play crucial role in
processing emotions and decision making.
 Life experiences:
Life experiences which includes significant life events like trauma, stress, self-reflection
mechanisms triggered by some stimuli or others have also influence in shaping emotional
intelligence.

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Significance of Emotional Intelligence:

Emotional intelligence serves as the point where cognition and emotion meet. In context of
organizational behavior, emotional intelligence plays a vital role in leadership, collaboration,
performance and overall organizational success. It is a soft skill that is important in organizational
context for several reasons. First, it can enhance collaboration and communication because when
an individual understand one’s own emotions as well as emotions of others; then he/she can better
communicate and build networks with their coworkers in the organization. Effective
communication leads to better teamwork and inclusiveness, which ultimately leads to job
satisfaction and reduced turnover. It not only impacts the performance of an individual but the
performance of overall organization. Finally, emotional intelligence can improve leadership skills
and positive work environment.

SELF- PERSONAL INDIVIDUAL

AWARENESS CAPABILITIES PERFORMANCE

SELF- CONFLICT STRESS

REGULATION RESOLUTION MANAGEMENT

EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE MOTIVATION DIRECTION GOALS

INTERPERSONAL
EMPATHY RELATIONSHIPS TEAMWORK

SOCIAL SKILLS COMMUNICATION LEADERSHIP

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

MODELS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE:

Mixed
model
Ability Trait
model model

EI

 Ability model:
The ability model of EI was developed by Mayer and Salovey in 1997. It is a model that
visions Emotional Intelligence as a true intelligence and is made up of four related abilities.
 Perceiving emotions: The capability to perceive and interpret emotions in expressions,
images, voices, and cultural relics.
 Using emotions: The ability to use emotions to enable cognitive activities, such as
thinking and problem-solving.
 Understanding emotions: The ability to understand emotion language and to grow
complex relationships among emotions.
 Managing emotions: The ability to regulate emotions in both oneself and in others.

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The first two branches of the emotional intelligence model, Recognition and
Facilitation, are referred to as “experiential EI” because they are directly linked to
feelings. They encompass the ability to accurately discern emotions in others and the
ability to leverage emotions to enhance cognitive processes. The latter two branches,
on the other hand, fall under “strategic EI,” as they involve analysis and planning
based on emotional insights. The third branch, Understanding Emotions, investigates
the evolution of emotions over time and their influence on individuals and their
behaviors. The fourth branch, Emotional Regulation, emphasizes the integration of
logic with emotion to facilitate effective decision-making. While these four skill
domains are interconnected, each remains functionally distinct.

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 Mixed Model:
Mixed model of Emotional Intelligence was proposed by Daniel Goleman, which
associates personality traits and mental capacity in order to define emotional
intelligence as a set of skills and abilities that impacts leadership performance.
 Self-Awareness: Recognizing one’s strengths, weaknesses, feelings, emotions, goals,
values etc., and their impact on others.
 Self-Regulation: Managing or controlling emotions and adapt oneself according to
surroundings.
 Social skills: Developing and managing relationships and interactions.
 Empathy: Considering emotions and feelings of others in decision making processes.
 Motivation: Stimulating others toward achievement of a goal.

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 Trait model:
The model was developed by psychologist Konstantin V. Petrides, who categorized
emotional intelligence as a personality trait not an ability. Here are the few key features of
this model.
 Self-Report: This model uses self-report questionnaires capabilities such as trait
emotional intelligence questionnaire to evaluate the emotional intelligence of a person,
rather than computing actual capabilities.
 Personality framework: This model is studied within a personality framework.
 Relationship to big five personality traits: Scores on the questionnaire are related to
big five traits.
 Alternative label: Trait EI is also known as trait emotional self-efficacy.

Emotional
self-
perception

Part of
individual
personality
Emotional
traits

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Generally emotions is considered something very personal to be discussed at workplace, but the
people who understands that emotions have impact at workplace has an advantage on those who
neglect them. It is much more important in the sense that the capability to manage the emotions
successfully leads to handling the stress, disappointments, frustrations and joys.

Role of Emotional Intelligence in enhancing leadership:

Leadership denotes the ability to guide, inspire, and affect individuals or groups toward
achieving a common goal. Effective leadership requires a combination of skills, including
communication, decision-making, and emotional intelligence, to align team activities with
organizational objectives.

Leaders need emotional intelligence (EI) for several important reasons. EI helps them recognize
their own emotions as well as those of others, which enables them to differentiate between genuine
and deceptive expressions. Leveraging emotions can enhance decision-making, foster creativity,
and increase openness to diverse viewpoints.

Effective emotional management can reduce negative feelings and encourage a positive
environment. Leaders who are able to manage the emotions and shows self-control act as a role
model for others. Leaders’ emotional expressions significantly impact team dynamics, creating a
relationship between EI and effective leadership.

Higher EI correlates with leadership success, identifying traits such as self-confidence and the
ability to drive change as essential qualities of effective leaders.

The integration of emotional intelligence into leadership can be understood through various
frameworks.

 Goleman’s EI Model of leadership

The model was introduced by Daniel Goleman, concentrates on Emotional Intelligence as a wide
range of capabilities and abilities that drive leadership performance. Goleman’s model summarizes
main EI paradigms in “What Makes a Leader” review.

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Self-awareness: Understanding personal emotions and their impact on others.

Self-regulation: Managing emotions to maintain composure and concentration.

Social awareness: Recognizing the emotions of others and responding with empathy.

Relationship management: Building and sustaining healthy relationships through effective

communication and conflict resolution.

 The Ability Model of Emotional Intelligence and leadership

The four-branch model of emotional intelligence, introduced by Salovey and Mayer, clearly
delineates four distinct domains of emotional intelligence abilities: recognizing emotions, using
emotions for reasoned thought, comprehending emotions, and managing emotions.

Salovey and Mayer structured four branches of emotional intelligence to show a progression from
basic to complex functions. The lowest branch focuses on recognizing and expressing emotions,
while the highest deals with reflective emotion regulation. Their research indicates that abilities
acquired earlier in life are found on the left side of each branch, with later-developed skills on the
right. They assert that individuals with high emotional intelligence progress faster through these
skills and master a broader range.

Specifically, this four-branch model defines emotional intelligence as encompassing the following
abilities:

1. Recognize Emotions: Humans universally acknowledge nonverbal cues and facial

expressions such as joy, sorrow, anger, and fear. The skill to accurately perceive emotions
communicated through others’ facial cues and vocal tones is essential for a profound
understanding of emotions.

2. Utilize Emotions to Enhance Thinking Processes: Emotions significantly impact cognitive

functions, directing thought toward genuinely meaningful issues. Numerous scholars
emphasize the importance of emotions in fostering specific types of creativity.

3. Comprehend Emotions: Emotions reflect distinct patterns of potential messages and

associated actions, alongside the capacity to reason through these interpretations.

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4. Manage Emotions: Emotions are often governable. Through effective self-regulation,

individuals can remain receptive to emotional signals, only filtering out excessive ones when
necessary. Within one’s emotional comfort zone, it becomes entirely feasible to manage both
personal and others’ emotions to achieve targeted personal and social objectives. A teacher
with high emotional intelligence is better equipped to provide effective support to students.

Correlation between Models and leadership:

The Goleman Model and the Salovey-Mayer Model of Emotional Intelligence (EI) are
closely correlated, as both emphasize understanding, managing, and leveraging emotions for
personal and social effectiveness. Goleman’s model expands on the Salovey-Mayer
framework by incorporating additional competencies like social skills, empathy, and
motivation, making it more applicable to leadership and workplace dynamics. While
Salovey and Mayer focus on EI as a set of cognitive abilities such as perceiving,
understanding, and managing emotions. Goleman integrates these abilities with
practical applications such as building relationships, influencing others, and fostering
teamwork. Both models complement each other by highlighting the role of emotional
awareness and regulation in achieving personal and organizational goals.

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Organizational Implementation of Leadership Emotional Intelligence (EI) Skills:

 Leadership Development Programs

Train leaders in self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, social skills, and motivation through
workshops and coaching. Use real-world scenarios and coaching to boost EI competencies.
Example: A multinational company like Google might conduct number of workshops, and
one of the programs is “Search inside Yourself” for its managers and team leaders that
emphasizes empathy and self-awareness through real-world situations.
 Recruitment of Emotionally Intelligent Leaders
Incorporate EI assessments, like Goleman’s Framework or Bar-On’s EQ-I, in hiring. Assess
candidates on managing emotions, conflict resolution, and teamwork.
Example: PepsiCo incorporates EI assessments into hiring process for managerial roles.
Applicants are assessed on their capability to promote teamwork and resolve conflicts in
stressful situation like managing supply chain challenges.
 Embedding EI in Leadership Practices
Leaders should integrate EI into decision-making, conflict management, and team building,
promoting trust and open communication.
Example: Southwest Airlines focuses on emotional intelligence in its leadership approach.
Directors and managers are taught to integrate EI into their daily matters like resolving
passenger or employee concerns compassionately.
 Creating an EI-Centered Culture
Senior leaders must model EI skills and be recognized for demonstrating empathy and
interpersonal excellence.
Example: An international consulting firm like Deloitte promotes an EI-centered culture by
rewarding senior leaders for showing strong interpersonal skills and empathy like by giving
flexible work arrangements and constant developments.
 Continuous Improvement
Conduct regular EI evaluations through 360-degree feedback and performance reviews.
Provide ongoing training and mentoring.

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Example: Procter & Gamble conducts continuous EI evaluations for its leaders through 360-
degree feedback and employee satisfaction surveys. A manager receiving feedback on being
too result-driven might get extra mentoring in interpersonal skills.

Benefits

 Stronger Teams: Improve trust and reduce conflicts.

 Higher Satisfaction: Enhance employee engagement and retention.

 Effective Leadership: Foster balanced decision-making and resilience.

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IN COLLABORATION & PERFORMANCE:

Emotional intelligence has the main and deeper link with collaboration and performance in the
organization. EI has been considered as a relevant non-observable variable associated with
organizational success. Effective team building and work culture is the result of effective use of
emotional intelligence. EI enhances the ability to work effectively with others with the help of
following factors:

 Communication: Communication is the exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or

using some other medium. Two-way communication is the basis of any successful
organization. It relates not only to the exchange of information but also to feelings, opinions,
and responses. EI enables you to communicate effectively, clearly, respectfully, and
empathetically. Good communication entails communicating clearly and understanding what
the other person is saying. With emotional intelligence, you can better understand the feelings
and needs of others and respond in a way that meets their needs. In short, emotional
intelligence is essential for anyone who wants to be a successful communicator in the

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workplace. Emotional intelligence is critical for both effective communication and overall
business success. When emotions are well-managed, they can become a powerful tool for
achieving organizational results. By training employees on emotional intelligence, businesses
can create a more positive work environment, improve communication and decision-making
and increase productivity.

 Adaptability: Understanding one’s own emotions as well as of others enhance flexibility that
is adaptability to the changing environment of organization. Emotional intelligence (EQ)
plays a momentous role in directing and accepting change. Emotionally intelligent individuals
make decisions based on a stable valuation of emotions and rational thinking, leading to more
adaptable choices.

 Teamwork: Emotional Intelligence also improves teamwork and collaboration which allows
employees to exchange information as well as valuable feedback that leads to improvement
in performing individual and group tasks. It also helps employees to develop skills and creates
a learning environment, which ultimately improves performance.

 Conflict resolution: Conflicts are bound to arise in any group since individuals have different
perspectives and preferences. However, conflicts may also be a chance to learn, innovate, and
improve if managed constructively. EI enable an individual to resolve conflicts in a just,
respectful, and positive way. He/she can identify the roots of the conflict, the feelings attached,
and the needs and interests of every party involved.

 Goal setting: Goal setting is a fundamental aspect of personal and professional development.
EI helps in attaining the goals in an aligned and realistic way that can adapt to change. While
it is commonly linked with interpersonal dynamics, emotional intelligence also plays a vital
role in goal setting. One can therefore clarify and communicate the vision, mission, and values
and get everyone working towards the same goal.

 Mutual support: One of the important factor of emotional intelligence is it enables mutual
support and trust. A person who is emotionally intelligent understands others and help them;
that is fruitful for the organization as employees tends to work in coordination. Emotionally
intelligent leaders contribute to a positive work environment. By demonstrating empathy and
compassion, they build trust and respect among team members. This positive atmosphere

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encourages engagement and loyalty, reducing turnover rates and improving overall job
satisfaction.

Framework:

The above framework is representing the impact of these components and practices, which is
the preliminary and basic step for developing emotional intelligence at individual level. After
achieving this intrapersonal level, next step is to develop interpersonal relations that is in
social context. Finally, the broader organizational level comes up that includes
communication, motivation and collaboration which leads to overall organizational success.

Flexibility
Self Awareness Communication
(adaptability)

Motivation &
Self Regulation Empathy
Leadership

Impulse control
Social Self-Actualization
awareness

Stress
management Social skills Team capabilities

INTRAPERSONAL INTERPERSONAL ORGANIZATIONAL

LEVEL LEVEL LEVEL

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Case study of Telenor Pakistan:

Telenor Pakistan is one of the top digital service providers and mobile network operators, which
began its operations in 2005 with a customer base of over 49 million users. Telenor Pakistan
provides various services.

 4G broadband services.
 Data services and mobile voice.
 Business-to-Business solutions such as cloud and hosting services, security solutions,
digital financial solutions etc.
 Digital financial services like Easy paisa is one of the largest mobile banking platforms in
Pakistan.

The company operates in a fast-paced and high-pressure industry under strong competition and
technological changes. Therefore, the company acknowledged the significance of human
capital and emotional intelligence in meeting with the modern standards as well as in upholding
its competitive edge. So, the organization emphasized on constructing an inclusive and
collaborative organizational culture. Following were the initiatives that have been taken by
Telenor, Pakistan for enhancing emotional intelligence of the work force.

1. Leadership development programs: The Company initiated EI-focused training

modules training modules for the team leaders as well managers. These programs focused
on self-awareness (assisting leaders understand their emotions and their impact on
decision making), relationship management (promoting collaboration and conflict
management) and empathy (teaching managers to understand the emotions of others).

2. Emphasis on customer relations: Employees who mainly deal with the customers
received specialized EI training. They were educated that how to deal with the complaints
with emotional stability and empathy to ensure positive customer experiences.

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

3. Employee engagement activities: Consistent interactive sessions and workshops were

organized to enhance EI skills among employees across all levels. Other activities
included such as team-building exercises, role-playing situations and mindfulness
training to develop interpersonal relationships and emotional regulations.

4. Performance management integration: Another important initiative was that the

company also incorporated EI metrics into performance management and evaluations.
Employees and managers were evaluated on their capability to demonstrate emotional
intelligence in tasks like teamwork, conflict resolution and collaboration.

Results:

Telenor Pakistan got several benefits. These are as follows.

 Organizational performance: Groups with higher emotional intelligence showed

greater problem solving skills and creativity, which increased overall productivity
backing to Telenor better market performance.
 Leadership effectiveness: Managers with higher EI validated better decision making
and stress management. The teams that were leading by managers with high emotional
intelligence reported higher job satisfaction.
 Collaboration: EI training improved workplace interpersonal relationships and reduced
conflicts among employees. Teams became more organized and cohesive that enhance
collaboration.
 Reduced turnover: Employees sensed more esteemed and understood by their leaders,
which enhanced their commitment and motivation. Employee retention and engagement
has been increased.
 Customer satisfaction: EI-trained employees dealing with customer service were more
skillful at handling complaints leading to better customer satisfaction. The company saw
Net Promoter Scores (NPS) as a result of emotional intelligence trainings.

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Challenges of employing EI in the workplace:

Implementing Emotional Intelligence (EI) in the workplace comes with some challenges, and these
can make it difficult to fully integrate EI into a company’s culture.

 Lack of Awareness:

Many people in the workplace are not aware of what Emotional Intelligence is or why it is
important. Employees and managers may not understand the benefits of being emotionally
intelligent, such as better teamwork, communication, and leadership. Without awareness, it’s hard
to make EI a priority.

 Resistance to Change:

People are often comfortable with their current habits and may not want to change how they behave
or think. Some employees or managers might think that emotions have no place at work. Others
may feel uncomfortable discussing or addressing emotions, making it harder to adopt EI practices.

 Lack of Training and Resources:

Employees need proper guidance and tools to develop Emotional Intelligence. Without training
programs, workshops, or support from leadership, people won’t know how to improve their
emotional skills like empathy, self-awareness, or managing emotions in stressful situations.

 Time Constraints:

Organizations often prioritize tasks, deadlines, and productivity over personal development. There
may not be enough time set aside for activities like EI training or team-building exercises. This
can make it hard to integrate EI into daily work.

 Cultural Barriers:

Workplaces have diverse cultures, and not everyone views emotions the same way. In some
cultures, showing emotions might be seen as a weakness, while others value emotional expression.
These differences can lead to misunderstandings and difficulties in promoting EI.

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

 Measuring Progress:

It’s hard to see or measure how much Emotional Intelligence has improved. Unlike technical skills,
which can be tested, EI involves personal growth and behaviors that are harder to quantify. This
makes it challenging to track results or prove its benefits.

 Lack of Leadership Support:

If managers or leaders don’t practice EI, it’s harder to encourage others to follow. Leaders who
are not emotionally intelligent may not value its importance or may struggle to model EI behaviors
like empathy or active listening. This can discourage employees from adopting EI.

 Emotional Mismanagement:

Misusing emotions can lead to conflicts instead of resolutions. Without proper training, employees
might misinterpret or mishandle emotional situations, leading to more tension or
misunderstandings instead of better relationships.

How to Overcome These Challenges:

 Educate: Raise awareness about what Emotional Intelligence is and its benefits.
 Provide Training: Offer workshops and resources to teach EI skills.
 Lead by Example: Encourage leaders to demonstrate EI in their actions.
 Make Time: Allocate time for EI development alongside work tasks.
 Celebrate Diversity: Recognize cultural differences in how emotions are expressed.
 Track Progress: Use feedback and surveys to measure improvement.

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Strategies for enhancing emotional intelligence at workplace:

Emotional intelligence is an important factor for both personal and professional success. It involve
the understanding and manage our emotions at interpersonal and intrapersonal level. To strengthen
and cultivate the emotions these are the few strategies to develop emotional intelligence in the
workplace that how we interact with others and ourselves. Here are the five ways that we use to
develop emotional intelligence in the workplace to foster better work environment.

Below is the explanation of the common practices that needs to be adopted at the workplace that
fosters emotional intelligence in the organization.

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Common practices

1. Stress management:
Stress is an unconscious physical, mental and emotional response to a challenging event. It is
a mutual part of everyone's life. When it is used in positive sense, stress can lead to growth,
achievement and change. But negative, long-term stress can lessen your quality of life both
personal and professional. Stress management is a need to regulate and balance the cycle of
life. One can do nothing by being stressed and depressed. Stress suppresses all the
competencies and capabilities of an individual and he/she cannot perform well in both personal
and professional life. Therefore, at workplace there is a need to take various steps in order to
reduce stress level.

Promote • Introduce short breaks betweeen tasks to recharge

Healthy energy and reduce burnout.
Workplace • This helps employees return to work feeling
Habit refreshed and more productive.

• Build a workplace culture where employees feel safe

Cultivate a discussing their challanges without fear of judgement.
Supportive • Enhance self reflection and encourage effective
Environment communication.

Promote a • Help employees sets realistic and meaningful goals.

• Achieving these goals give a sense of accomplishment
Goal-setting and satisfaction,reducinf stress and enhance
Culture fullfilment.

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

2. Open communication:
Workplace communication is the exchange of information in a work environment. There are
several ways of delivering information in the workplace, including one-on-one conversations,
larger team meetings, emails, and video calls. Therefore, at workplace open and seamless
communication is very crucial. Culture of two-way communication is something that makes
an organization more collaborative and cooperative. Encouraging communication at workplace
makes it more cohesive and leads to goal sharing. Following are the steps that can enhance
open communication in organizational context.

• Regular meetings allow employees to relax

Schedule up,resulting in more open communication.
Regular • They dont have to be strictly buisness related and
Meetings can include activites like book clubs and sharing
thoughts.

Encourage • Sharing insecurities can help employees become more

Employee To selfaware and understand thier own strength and
Share their weakness.
Insecurities • This can guide thier growth and devolpment .

Manage • Constructive feedback encourages dialogue and

opennes among members .
Feedback • Create a supportive atmosphere where employees feel
Constructively comfortable sharing ideas and thought.

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

3. Encourage empathy:
Empathy is the capability to understand and connect with the emotions of others. Enhancing
empathy improves relationships, resolves conflicts, and fosters collaboration. Empathy is a
significant component in enhancing interpersonal relationships at workplace. It is the best way
to understand others’ situation. Following are the steps that need to be taken to enhance
empathy.

• Genuine praise is an essential tool for creating a

Giving Genuine positive and productive workplace environment. When
employees feel recognized and appreciated for their
Praise efforts, they are motivated to maintain and enhance
those behaviors.

Manage • Conflict is a natural part of any workplace but can

Conflicts become destructive if not managed properly.
Constructive conflict resolution focuses on
Constructively understanding, collaboration, and growth rather than
blame

4. Foster collaboration:
According to Gallup, team collaboration within the organization encourage workplace success
through two important points: First, experts in an organization who know their skill set and
strengths can form strong relationships with other professionals who match their strengths.
Secondly, these team dynamics can strongly influence business outcomes. When workplace

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collaboration is fortified, employees can maximize their strengths and work together to
diversify their skill set through collaboration and help the company reach new goals.

Create a Culture • Trust is the foundation of collaboration. When

Of Trust employees trust their peers and leaders, they feel
more comfortable sharing their ideas, taking risks,
and contributing openly.

Create
Opportunities • Networking among employees helps break silos and
promotes better collaboration. When individuals
For Employees connect, they understand each other’s skills, roles, and
Network perspectives, enhancing teamwork.

Provide Tools
For Effective
Effective • Collaboration isn’t just about being physically present;
it requires effective tools that enable employees to
Communicatio work together seamlessly, even remotely.
n

5. Motivation:

Motivation is the drive to achieve goals and overcome challenges. Cultivating intrinsic motivation
helps maintain focus, persistence, and resilience, leading to better personal and professional
outcomes. Motivation is a key component and a preliminary condition for achieving any goal.
Therefore, in organizational context motivation of leadership as well as the staff, can accomplish
the desired organizational goals because in an organization individual goals are aligned with the
organizational goals. This strategic alignment motivates an individual to perform best with full
potential and capabilities. Here is the framework of motivation, which is aligned with growth,
goals, adaptability and positivity etc.

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EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

 GOALS
 GROWTH

Achievement

 DEDICATION
 TRUST

Optimism Motivation Commitment

 POSITIVE
 RESILIENT

Initiative
 PROACTIVE
 ADAPTABLE

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Conclusion:
Emotional Intelligence is a crucial component in flourishing the leadership qualities,
collaboration and performance of overall organization. Emotional intelligence is something
that is expressed in the behavioral conduct of an individual. There are various models of
emotional intelligence; all of them have applicability in personal as well as professional
context. Leaders also have to face number of challenges like organizational culture, stress,
limited training, and resistance to change etc. Success of an organization depends on its
leader who is usually an inspiration for others. Therefore, a leader must be emotionally
intelligent by knowing the emotions, regulating them and communicate according to the
context and situation and make decisions smoothly and calmly. So, enhancing emotional
intelligence at the organizational level is a transformative process that requires dedication
from leadership and the active participation from the workforce. By promoting a cohesive,
empathetic and inclusive environment, organizations can improve employee satisfaction,
teamwork and collaboration. These modifications not only improve organizational
performance but leads to sustained business growth.

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RECOMMENDATIONS
Changes at organizational level:
Following are the changes that need to be made at organizational level to enhance emotional
intelligence framework.
 Understand emotional intelligence framework: Emotional intelligence is mostly
understood by the preliminary model of Daniel Goleman; therefore, first of all it is very
important for the top management to understand the means by which emotional
intelligence of employees can be enhanced. Training sessions should be held that are
more relevant to enhance skills that leads to emotional intelligence.

 Conduct an EI assessment: Organizations needs to use authenticated tools like the

emotional quotient inventory (EQ-i) to evaluate individuals’ emotional skills through its
various components.

 Enhance communication practices: Encourage a culture of open communication

among the employees by creating smooth and robust feedback mechanism in decision
making process of an organization.

 Develop supportive culture: Provide recognition to the employees as well as rewards

to employees on showing interpersonal skills, empathy and collaboration. Work-life
balance is also a crucial factor in enhancing emotional intelligence as it is fruitful for the
mental peace of employees that ultimately leads to emotional stability.

 Integrate EI into performance management: Integrate EI metrics into performance

evaluation along with task-related and practical goals. Secondly, use appraisal feedback
to understand the emotional intelligence gaps.

 Track progress: Monitor and measure following components using key performance
indicators (KPIs) such as team collaboration, retention rates and employee engagement
etc. Cultivate strategies based on organizational performance and employee feedback.

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References:
https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/emotional-intelligence/
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Daniel-Goleman-Model-of-Emotional-
Intelligence_tbl2_353452520
https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/why-emotional-intelligence-is-critical-for-
developing-adaptability-skills
https://iammoulude.com/2013/08/27/emotional-intelligence-basic-overview-part-1/
https://hbr.org/2017/02/emotional-intelligence-has-12-elements-which-do-you-need-to-
work-on
https://www.slideshare.net/AishwaryaTyagi7/emotional-intelligence-and-its-models
https://eajournals.org/ijbmr/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2024/02/The-Role-of-Emotional-
Intelligence.pdf
https://medium.com/@ojorumili/the-role-of-emotional-intelligence-in-effective-goal-
setting-891b8c3db7d7

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