You’ve probably heard it a thousand times … business is business and what’s personal should stay personal. Keep those parts of your life separate. Don’t let your personal life affect your work or spill into the company’s performance. That’s the prevailing thinking in a lot of organizations.
And we couldn’t disagree more.
Thankfully, we’re not alone. Recently, the narrative has been shifting (for the better). There’s a growing body of compelling research correlating high emotional intelligence with success at work. Emotional intelligence in the workplace (EQ) is becoming a pretty hot topic for business, maybe even bordering on buzzword territory. But don’t be tempted to ignore this as just another fad. Emotional intelligence in the workplace is critical to being successful in your career and as a whole organization.
Why?
Because the truth is we’re whole people, who can’t and shouldn’t separate the rational from the emotional. Emotion is core to being human. And our own research and experience has shown that businesses can only go from good to great when the people inside them can say they’re the same people at work as they are at home.
Healthy emotion absolutely does have a place in business. In fact, it makes businesses better…if you create a safe environment filled with hope for a brighter career future, where high emotional intelligence can really thrive.
