You've likely heard of emotional intelligence (EQ). The topic is increasingly relevant in a society filled with challenges. Having emotional tools to manage a wide range of scenarios in personal life is widely discussed, and equally important is leveraging those resources in the corporate environment.
A survey conducted at HR First Class – one of Brazil's largest Human Resources events – reveals that 76% of HR leaders want to implement corporate happiness programs in their institutions. However, putting this into practice often becomes a significant challenge; either due to a lack of buy-in from leaders or a shortage of a genuinely company-wide organizational culture focused on human well-being within corporations. Often there's the rhetoric, a coherent narrative, but in practice, there's no concern for the emotional development of people, and this is a harsh reality in many companies.
Here I want to highlight a very important factor: we all have IE. It's not necessary to acquire this ability, but rather to recognize and develop it. It's an inexhaustible source; an energy we can constantly renew and use to our advantage, but there are paths that assist us on this journey. This is where companies can step in as facilitators and as an inherent part of human development, and consequently the professional development of their employees, by supporting them and offering guidance, support, and conditions for healthy work.
It is important to emphasize that Emotional Intelligence is above all the ability to manage emotions, but when we look at the corporate world and identify a deficit in this intelligence, we encounter numerous problems in the workplace. The leader in this context is fundamental, as they inspire and impact their team. When these professionals possess more well-structured emotional skills, they are admired and followed by others through a connection, and this definitively gives meaning to this relationship, which becomes prosperous and carries within it the shared purpose among the people in that group.
Leaders with high emotional intelligence (IE) humanize relationships; understanding themselves as a crucial part of solving problems and growing companies, but it is through their teams that they become protagonists. These employees are free to propose ideas, suggest improvements, admit mistakes, and ask for help, knowing they won't be judged, but rather supported in their development in an environment where they feel safe and capable. This doesn't mean a leader doesn't need results or goals, nor that they can't give negative feedback or even make termination decisions, but it does mean doing all this in a way that respects the potential and individuality of others.
I reinforce that, beyond everything we've reflected on so far, leaders must be the primary motivators for their teams to begin this process of self-awareness. After all, it's an individual journey that precedes Emotional Intelligence. Self-awareness allows us to understand ourselves as we are, with all the good and bad within us. In this process, one of the most prominent intelligences is EI. We learn to recognize what lies behind our positive and negative emotions, where they come from, and how we behave, feel, and act through them – and without realizing it – how we interact with ourselves and others in the world. Leaders and team members must pursue these paths to curb, as soon as possible, the alarming number of people experiencing emotional and mental health problems stemming from work. We are all responsible for building an environment, both inside and outside of work, where madness does not outweigh our ability to contain it.
