Emotional Intelligence: A Critical Ingredient for Health and Wellness

By Kelley Ashby, MS

There are several studies showing how emotional intelligence positively impacts performance both professionally and personally.  In fact, emotional intelligence has twice the power of IQ to predict performance and is a better predictor than employee skill, knowledge, or expertise (Mount, G., 2006).

We know that people with high emotional intelligence (EI) are more empathetic and better equipped to create strong interpersonal relationships and positive workplaces.  But what about the personal health benefits of EI especially for those who work or live in a toxic environment?

The emotions that arise from toxic environments seep into every part of your life.  Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford, says the link between adverse health and a lousy workplace is “significant and profound”.  It has become a significant health crisis leading to over 120,000 deaths per year in the United States.

 Here is a shortlist of some health-related issues that are linked to working and living in toxic environments:

• Depression
• insomnia
• negative outlook
• heart attack
• Stress
• Fatigue
• Anxiety
• high blood pressure (Pfeffer, J., 2018).

Just think about how many other health complications some of the things on that list may cause!

So how can EI help? 

First, let’s understand what EI is. Emotional Intelligence is the ability to perceive, understand, reason with, express, and manage our emotions.  It is about being smarter with our feelings and using emotions to generate positive results both in ourselves as well as those with whom we interact (Genos International, 2018).

 There are six competencies in the Genos International Model of EI:

1) Self-awareness,

2) Awareness of Others,

3) Authenticity,

4) Emotional Reasoning,

5) Self-management

6) Positive Influence

 

Self- awareness, and Self-management

The two competencies that I believe are critical ingredients for positively impacting our health and wellness are self-awareness and self-management.

Self-awareness is about being aware of how you feel and the impact your emotions can have on decisions, behaviors, and performance.  On average, people are unaware of what they are feeling about 85% of the time.

By becoming more in-tune with what we are feeling and then understanding the cause of the emotion, we will enhance our ability to know our triggers both positive and negative, and be more present (Genos International, 2018).

Self-management is about managing one’s own moods and emotions, time, and behavior, and continuously improving oneself.  People who can do these things effectively are considered resilient and are able to bounce back to their normal state of productivity more quickly after dealing with negative people, situations, or even crises (Genos International, 2018).

It may be obvious but finding ways to better manage the strong emotions when they occur will help us better deal with the stressors we encounter and help our overall well-being.  Strategies that help build resilience include getting adequate sleep, exercise, meditation, journaling, getting out into nature, developing, and maintaining healthy friendships and relationships, and building a support network.

 

Article’s Sources

Genos International. Alexandria, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia: Genos International Pty Ltd, 2018.

Gerald Mount, The role of emotional intelligence in developing international business capability: EI provides traction. In V. Druskat, F. Sala & G. Mount (Eds.), Linking Emotional Intelligence and Performance at Work (pp. 97-124). Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006.

Jeffrey Pfeffer, Dying for a Paycheck: How modern management harms employee health and company performance—and what we can do about it. New York, N.Y.: Harper Business, 2018.

 

 

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