There’s a lot going on in the current news cycle. War rages across the world while mass shootings continue to plague the U.S. Politically, media outlets are preparing to cover the 2024 presidential election and some candidates have already thrown their hats into the ring. As for the economy, it looks very much like Schrödinger’s cat: we are in recession and not in recession, both true at the same time. This can be a lot for anyone to keep up with and emotionally handle.
While emotional intelligence isn’t measured as often in the workplace as factors like performance and productivity, it’s important that you don’t overlook it. Strong emotional intelligence is vital for communication, collaboration, and other interpersonal dynamics within a team.
Meetings are about to die. Particularly since collaborative work has become the staple of modern office life, they are about to die. And after they die, they will move somewhere better, virtual. Somewhere in the cloud, or in a special bundle of apps. But don’t get your hopes up high yet.
After all, there have been attempts to put new life into meetings. Some preach against inherent inefficacies. “Make meetings purposeful”, they say. Others are deluding themselves that theater methods will do. So “treat your meetings like an improv session”, they say. Seems like everyone thinks that “The Office” is a documentary. That we should all turn Michael Scott and do some improv.
We believe communication is incomplete without emotion. This year, Oxford confirmed it. Here’s how it went down.
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Businesses sell products, services and information to other businesses much in the same way they sell to individual customers. There are more similarities between B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) than you would care to imagine. For example, fruitful B2B commerce relies on emotion. Just like you appreciate good design or a catchy ad, so do companies like to be touched deep down inside before spending on services, or products in bulk.
After reading “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” by Carl Gustav Jung, Iulia instantly knew what she wanted to do in life. Passionate people are lucky like that. They realize from a very early age what they want to become, and they will stay on that path regardless of the hurdles that lie ahead.
A licensed psychotherapist and a certified Aware Parenting Instructor, Iulia Feordeanu didn’t settle for a life in the office. At our monthly Labors of Hercules meetup, she shared with us how she helped create the Association Sol Mentis (which she now runs), an NGO that provides emotional support for vulnerable communities. Most of Iulia’s efforts are geared towards finding ever-more-efficient ways to aid disadvantaged individuals everywhere. She believes helping children who’ve had a bad start in life is the best thing she can do with her expertise. So she’s made it her life’s mission.
Few people find happiness in what they do for a living. It doesn’t have to do with the job necessarily. You could be an underpaid gardener but still love to pick at plants all day. The important thing is to approach your job with great attention to a particular set of defining elements that dictate whether or not you’ll be happy there. According to Travis Bradberry, co-author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and President at TalentSmart, there’s a whole bunch of things you could do to be happy at work. Even if your job stinks.
Bradberry cites a study by Gallup according to which just 13% of us consider ourselves to be “happily engaged at work,” that those who do rate themselves as happy are 36% more motivated, six times more energized, and twice as productive as the unhappy bunch, and that 50% of happiness is influenced by genetics, while the rest is up to you.
