THE KEY TO SUCCESS: Emotional Intelligence Feelings are a good thing. Companies want to hire people who have high emotional intelligence, and emotions are what differentiates you from an electronic device that can even mimic your voice. But what happens when your feelings overwhelm you? Anyone who’s awoken in the middle of the night with a racing heart and panicked thoughts can relate to this. And it may be what’s keeping you from achieving your goals. are propelling you to achieve your goals, and which are hampering that progress? Make a list of everything that’s causing you stress — going to your doctor’s appointment, talking to your financial planner, calling back your mother — and mark a specific day and time that week to review your list. Chances are, when you come back to it, you’ll find that most of the items on the list weren’t really worth worrying about. For every item that’s still a source of stress, make an action plan for how and when you’ll resolve it. For those worries that can be dealt with immediately, note how much satisfaction you get from taking care of them.
Brianna Wiest, who writes about emotional intelligence, suggests that by organizing our emotions, we can use them to reach our goals. By using aspects of cognitive behavioural therapy and learning to organize your emotions to reach your goals, you can prevent them from controlling you. As Wiest says, you’ll learn “where they come from, whether or not they serve you, and what they are trying to tell you.” TRACK YOUR FEELINGS Start by making this part of your morning routine: When you wake up, acknowledge how you are feeling. If it helps, write down a bulleted list of your feelings. Use “I feel” statements. You might write, “I feel anxious about everything I have to get done today,” or, “I feel happy that I get to work on the new project today.”
LET YOUR SCHEDULE HONOR YOUR FEELINGS Wiest points out that people often have an all-or-nothing mentality. Many think, “I feel great today, so I’m going to get all my work done!” Or, “I’m tired today, so I’m going to put all my work off for tomorrow.” The problem is that this mentality is not sustainable. If you track your emotions, you’ll understand how they influence your behaviour. For example, if you notice that you feel a certain emotion during afternoon meetings, see if you can shift them to the morning.
IDENTIFY SOURCES Are there certain triggers — people, activities, habits — that always cause you to feel a certain way? Which of those
Implement these strategies today and allow your emotions to nurture rather than restrict your goals.
How to Promote Your Greatest Assets
Give Employees Opportunities for Growth
It’s no secret that employees want to work where they feel valued and
give part of the presentation. This builds their investment in the meeting, gives recognition to that employee, develops skills, and gives that employee an opportunity to try out a new role. EXPRESS YOURSELF. You know how much your employees mean to you, but do they? It might be as simple as saying, “You are doing a great job.” When your employee tells you about their goal of writing a book, find ways to support it, even if it’s just checking in now and then to see how many pages they’ve written. If your employees feel that you’re interested not only in their professional development but also their personal development, they’ll feel more satisfied in their work. You’ll improve morale and retention. GIVE CLEAR OPPORTUNITIES FOR INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT. If your employees feel like they can’t achieve their career goals at your company, they’ll begin to look elsewhere to reach them. In addition to highlighting how your company fosters employee development during the hiring process, make good on that advertisement by offering workshops, trainings, and opportunities for promotion. Valiulis suggests encouraging job shadowing between departments. It can help strengthen teamwork and show employees new opportunities within the company. The source of training doesn’t have to come from a faraway conference — look for internal opportunities where coworkers can learn from each other.
nurtured. You also know that turnover is costly — Glassdoor estimates that businesses spend as much as 21 percent of an employee’s pay to find their replacement. So how do you get good employees to stay? Glassdoor’s study points out the importance of employee development. According to Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist at Glassdoor, “Even after controlling for pay, industry, job title, and many other factors, we find that workers who stay longer in the same job without a title change are significantly more likely to leave for another company for the next step in their career.” Glassdoor’s findings corroborate the experiences of many business leaders. Chief Revenue Officer and longtime business leader Christian Valiulis emphasizes that employee development is essential to any company’s growth. Here are a few methods he’s identified to promote it within his company. MEET AT LEAST EVERY MONTH, WITHOUT FAIL. Meetings are an opportunity for you to share where you’re at as a company, where you’re headed, and where your employees fit into that plan. Consider how your employees can be involved in such meetings. For example, at each monthly meeting, Valiulis has a different team member
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