Are you aware of your emotions at any given moment? And, how effective are you at managing them at work? Dr. Mitchel Adler, author of “Promoting Emotional Intelligence in Organizations”, joins me, Brian Moffitt, this week on “Good Work NOW!” for a discussion of emotional intelligence, what it is and why it’s important at work.

Unlike general intelligence (ie, “IQ Scores”), emotional intelligence can be learned and improved over time. Dr. Adler shares some tools that anyone can use to improve his or her emotional intelligence. We begin the show by exploring the four domains of emotional intelligence:

• Self Awareness is “knowing our own internal state”. Dr. Adler adds that there are four basic emotions – sad, glad, mad and scared. Our feelings consist of one or some combination of these four emotions. Jealousy, for example, is some blend of mad, sad and scared. Self awareness, which is the foundation for EI, means knowing at any given moment what you are feeling. For example, how do you feel when you receive negative feedback at work?

• Self Management is the “ability to manage our impulses”. This also includes self control, adaptability, taking initiative and having achievement drive. How many times have you impulsively acted on your emotions at work , committed "career suicide" and later came to regret it?

• Social Awareness is “ones ability to be aware of others’ needs, feelings and concerns”. The foundation for this domain is empathy. Not just the ability to sense the state of an individual, empathy also means the ability to sense what is going on in the organization. For example, employees with strong empathy are able to “read a room and know who has power”, says Adler. They can also sense the proverbial "elephant in the room".

• Social Skills means “having influence, the ability to induce desirable behavior in others”, explains Adler. This is essential for leadership, conflict management and collaborating with others.

Dr. Adler cites his own research that proves that emotional intelligence can improve the bottom line, such as increased productivity and decreased absenteeism, grievances, worker’s compensation claims and health problems. He also shares many tools that employees can use to strengthen their emotional intelligence.

The complete 30 minute episode will air on Sunday, June 28, 7:30 – 8:00 PM on Access Sacramento Channel 17. An abbreviated, 10 minute archived episode is available for free at www.goodworknow.com.

Background / Disclosure:

Good Work NOW! is a weekly, non-commercial public access television show produced at Access Sacramento and is a volunteer effort by Dr. Brian Moffitt, his guests, and crew. Brian earned his doctorate in educational leadership from the University of San Diego, is the Organizational Development Manager for the City of Sacramento and teaches for the University of San Francisco's Master's in Organization Development program.  This 30 minute talk show features local experts to help viewers find a job, develop their career or business or improve morale or productivity. It airs every Sunday evening at 7:30 – 8:00 PM on Channel 17 and streams at www.AccessSacramento.org, with an encore streaming every Monday, 11:30 – 12:00 noon. The purpose of this weekly column is to share key points and tips from each week’s episode and invite readers to watch the program if they want more details. If you have any questions or comments or have a story or expertise that will help others find or create good work, please contact Brian at brianmoffitt@comcast.net or visit www.goodworknow.com.