Welcome to Topic 9: Emotional Intelligence and Developing Resilience. Understanding the importance of these concepts will enable you to enter the workforce with confidence and develop core skills to manage your emotional intelligence and deal with difficult situations through personal resilience strategies.
In this topic, you will learn about:
- Emotional intelligence
- Failure and success
- Managing feelings of failure
- Planning for success
- Your support team.
These relate to the Subject Learning Outcomes:
- Identify how to develop resilience and emotional intelligence.
Welcome to your pre-seminar learning task for this week. Please ensure you complete this prior to attending your scheduled seminar with your lecturer.
Click on the following heading to read more about what is required for your pre-seminar learning task.
- Listen to the TED talk by Brene Brown – The Power of Vulnerability.
- Listen to the inspiring speech at the Harvard Commencement Ceremony, 'J.K Rowling speaks to Harvard', by J.K Rowling on how failure made her the person she is today.
- Listen to the inspiring TED talk by Shona Rhimes, 'My year of saying yes to everything' on how she managed the impact of success and brought balance back to her life.
- Listen to Daniel Goleman’s presentation – The art of managing emotions.
Emotional intelligence
What is emotional intelligence?
The term Emotional Intelligence (EI) refers to a person’s ability to understand, use and manage their emotions and develop themselves on a personal level.
A large amount of research has gone into this relatively new concept, popularised by Daniel Goleman in 1995. Although not an entirely new idea, Goleman brought the theory to academia with his book Emotional intelligence – Why it can matter more than IQ. Goleman (1996) suggests the five(5)domains of emotional intelligence as illustrated in the following figure.
Emotional Intelligence Factors:
- Self-awareness
- Self-regulation
- Self-motivation
- Social awareness/empathy
- Social skills.
Goleman (1995) also argues that these skills are seen as being as important as a person’s Intelligence Quotient (IQ).
If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if you don’t have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.Daniel Goleman (1996)
Why is emotional intelligence important?
Developing an understanding of emotional intelligence, as a student entering tertiary studies or the workforce, can provide many benefits, including:
- emotional awareness of others
- empathy
- professional relationship management
- goal setting.
MacCann et al. (2020) suggest a correlation between EI and improved academic performance with further studies being conducted supporting an increase in job performance.
Failure and success - it takes time
Starting a new job
When we move into any new job or working environment, it takes time to adjust. The estimated time to adjust to a new workplace is three to six months. The building of relationships is a key factor when moving into a new job. Bauer (2012) suggests that employees go through several psychological changes during the first 90 days of entering a new workplace if the organisation completes a successful onboarding experience. This is demonstrated in the following figure.
You will note that these steps happen as a result of successful guidance from the organisation to the new employee into their role. Should you not receive an adequate onboarding experience within the workplace, these feelings of self-efficacy, clarity, socialisation and cultural understanding will not happen as easily and effectively. Should you be faced with this situation and a feeling of uncertainty, get in touch with your Human Resource Manager for support and guidance.
Success in a new workplace
As you start to prepare and get ready to take on your new workplace, keep the following steps in mind to create success. Click on each of the following headings to learn more about each step.
You have completed the difficult component of getting your foot in the door and becoming an employee. Remember, you were hired for a reason. The organisation saw something in you that they felt would contribute to the success of the organisation. Ensure you take the time to gain clarity on your role and what is expected.
Once you have role clarity, ensure that you deliver. The effort is important, however, industry output is the key measurement. First impressions matter and perception is nine-tenths of reality. Work hard to get some early and easy wins under your belt that create value for the organisation and build your personal credibility.
When we start a new position, we are often so motivated to make an impact on the business that we forget to take the necessary time to learn. Research your new workplace, attempt to find out who key leadership personnel are and how they may be able to positively impact your learning and development over time. Spend your first few weeks asking questions and getting a feel for the culture within your team and the organisation. Reserve judgement and do not build factions.
Make a note of your accomplishments. This will help with your assessments and enable you to have a list of examples to integrate into your written documents for submission. Make note of areas in which you have fallen short, so you can put mechanisms in place to reflect on how to better handle situations and tasks in the future. Place your personal goals and key employability focuses up where you can see them so that you can refer to them on a daily/weekly basis. Use a journal to track your successes and failures.
Ensure you find time to meet and get to know your colleagues. Start with your team and then make your way into other social circles within the business. Take note of people’s names and interests to assist in starting and holding conversations. Make use of communal areas such as lunchrooms and employee lounges, this will enable you to join social and casual conversations. Be a part of as many employee social events as possible.
Schedule time to check your organisation’s communication channels – these could be email, intranet, an app, or noticeboards. Stay organised with this information by utilising mediums that work for you.
Update your profile on all social media platforms and review your personal brand. New work colleagues will search for you, and you want them to have the most updated information possible. Use your social media platforms to cement new friendships and assist you in gathering adequate information to network with work colleagues.
Be ready for your bulky welcome pack. It may appear overwhelming but schedule time to read and review all of its contents. It will contain all your potential employee benefits and should answer the many questions you have as you get ready to take on your first official duties. Put this information in a useful place so that you can easily find it should you need to refer to it later.
Managing feelings of failure
As we navigate our new workplace, we may have times where we are challenged, need to learn a new task, make mistakes or have expectations placed on us, which we consider too great. It is during these times, that we can feel as though we are failing. In the early days of a new role, these feelings of failure are normal. We may also feel as though we do not have a place or are not contributing as we would like to the greater needs of the organisation and our personal sense of belonging may be challenged (Tardanico 2012).
There are five(5)key strategies that you can use to assist in the management of failure. Some people may be able to utilise strategies themselves or they may need assistance from family, friends or the College to implement them effectively. Make use of your resources.
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.Albert Einstein (n.d.)
Click each of the following headings to learn more about the five(5)strategies for managing failure.
Look at the failure in isolation. Take yourself out of the situation and look at the failure based on the task or behaviour. Just because you have not managed to complete a task well, does not mean you are a failure. Do you need more training? Does the task require more persistence and practice? Have you been placed in a situation or given a task above and beyond your current skill set? Personalising failure can cause us to bring our confidence and self-esteem into question, rather than focusing on the task as the source of the failure.
Look at the failure strategically, by asking:
- Why did I fail?
- Were there circumstances out of my control?
- Do I already know ways I could improve?
- What advice would I give others in this situation?
After taking the time to gather facts and remove feeling from the situation, look to how you can learn from the experience. Failure is the biggest opportunity to gain the greatest learning outcomes.
Obsessing over a failure or negative incident will not change the outcome. What it will do is intensify your negative feelings and even negatively distort the gravity of the failure. This intensification has the potential to cause a negative spiralling effect, which will likely impact your ability to move forward. You cannot change the past, but you can take positive steps toward the future.
At times the fear of failure stems from a fear of judgement, or the potential to lose respect from those that matter to us. We can easily be influenced by what people say about us and how people perceive our actions or behaviours. Not everyone has our best interests at heart and we need to work on feeling confident in our personal brand and knowing our own personal truths.
It is hard to find a successful person who does not have a back story of struggle and failure which ultimately led to their success. Many will tell you that if they had not failed, they may never have achieved the success they experience today. Looking at failure as the stepping stone to personal growth and knowledge can provide us with a more positive outlook.
I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.Michael Jordan (n.d.)
Activity
Consider the following two quotes.
If I fail, it means I am stupid, weak, incapable, and am destined to fall short.Susan Tardanico (2012)
If I fail, I am one step closer to succeeding; I am smarter and more savvy because of the knowledge I’ve gained through this experience.”
Susan Tardanico (2012)
Which attitude towards failure do you think is more productive?
Consider the outcomes if these individuals gave up...
- If Howard Schultz gave up after being turned down by banks 242 times, there would be no Starbucks.
- If Thomas Edison threw his hands and gave up after 9,999 failures, there would be no light bulb.
Planning for success
We may think that experiencing success makes life easy, but success can also bring with it problems, stress or new challenges. It may bring additional pressures, new administrative tasks and greater communication needs as people engage with your success. Success can also impact the balance you have between work and personal life – as you grow in success so do the expectations of direct supervisors and your organisation (Shury et al. 2017). Being prepared and managing these new challenges and expectations is an important skill. How can we plan for success?
Click on each of the following headings to learn more about the following six(6)steps in planning for success.
Every success is important no matter how big or small. Share it with your family and friends or even treat yourself to celebrate your hard work. Celebrating assists you to keep confident and focused on moving forward. Keep a journal of success to remind yourself during the difficult times of what you have achieved so far. You can use this information for your Industry Placement Assessments.
When we experience success, we sometimes let our guard down and under-prepare for certain situations. Being underprepared due to an increase in confidence can lead to situations where we have an emotional reaction to success and can freeze up and panic. This can also be due to not believing we deserve the success we have achieved. Attempt to overcome this by being grateful for the success and reviewing the steps you took in achieving your success to know that you deserve the outcome and recognition you have received.
We can at times become over-confident about our success and think we can relax and become complacent. Ensure you stay focused on your personal brand and its continued growth. Remember that lifelong learning is now a requirement as the workforce changes and requires us to have portable skills and competencies to continue to gain success in a multitude of job roles. Take time to extend your knowledge beyond your role but also to recognise emerging industry trends and current affairs.
It is important to learn from our failures. However, we also need to take time to review and learn from our successes. Reflect on what actions and behaviours led to your success. Note these in your reflective journal to assist with your assessment. You can access the reflective journal by clicking on ‘Journal’ in the navigation bar for this subject.
Success comes with hard work. At times this additional work can encroach on our personal life. Many people believe that success does not come without sacrifice. However, you need to feel comfortable with what you are willing to sacrifice. Think back to your values and if these still align with your efforts and direction in the pursuit of success, keep moving forward. If you have conflicts with your values, look at what matters most to make the right decision for you. Work hard but always remember to take time for yourself so you can be fresh and motivated to achieve greater success in the future.
Working as part of a team and positively impacting others gives us a sense of achievement and self-respect. Celebrating our success is great but celebrating the success of many creates special experiences, learning opportunities and memories which cannot be replicated. Individually learning something new is a wonderful experience, helping others to learn is a priceless gift for both you and the receiver.
Your support team
Success and failure in the workplace are rarely individual situations. As you become a part of your new workplace, you will have access to a new support group in your direct Supervisor, Department Head or Human Resource Business Partner.
Emotional intelligence is now considered by many employees to be as integral as your intelligence quotient. It will be important to reflect on this topic as you move forward and start thinking about the skills you might need to focus on to develop your emotional intelligence further. You will also need to develop strategies to deal with the inevitable failures you will encounter during your time studying and as you enter the workforce. Refer back to the core concepts in this topic as you continue to develop and reflect on the skills you have and the skills you need to focus on to become a successful employee.
The skills you develop in this topic will be critical as you move towards your career goals and future job prospects. Interpersonal skills, conflict management and collaboration are core abilities that will require time and effort to understand and enhance. Ensure you reflect on the skills you have developed and the skills you still need to work on. It will be important to refer back to this topic as you embark on your career path and enter your chosen job role. These skills may not come naturally, but given time, you will start to notice how much easier it is to implement strategies for a successful outcome.
Knowledge check
Complete the following three (3) tasks. Click the arrows to navigate between the tasks.
Key Takeouts:
Congratulations, we made it to the end of the topic! Some key takeouts from Topic 9:
- Understanding the importance of emotional intelligence in academic studies and the workplace is critical.
- Developing strategies to deal with inevitable failures will be key to a successful career.
- Learning from successes and failures will help to strengthen emotional intelligence.
Welcome to your seminar for this topic. Your lecturer will start a video stream during your scheduled class time, you can access your scheduled class by clicking on ‘Live Sessions’ found within your navigation bar and locating the relevant day/class or by clicking on the following link and then click 'Join' to enter the class.
Click here to access your seminar.
The learning tasks are listed below, these will be completed during the seminar with your lecturer. Should you be unable to attend, you will be able to watch the recording which can be found via the following link or by navigating to the class through ‘Live Sessions’ via your navigation bar.
Click here to access the recording. (Please note: this will be available shortly after the live session has ended.)
In-seminar learning tasks
The in-seminar learning tasks identified below will be completed during the scheduled seminar. Your lecturer will guide you through these tasks. Click on each of the following headings to read more about the requirements for each of your in-seminar learning tasks.
Working in groups, complete Worksheet 1. Research noteworthy celebrity failures and describe the failure and how they dealt with it.
Working in groups, complete Worksheet 2. You will share your thoughts and ideas in the forum 'Topic 9: Forum Activity 1'. You can access the activities by clicking on the links in the topic. You can also navigate to the forum by clicking on 'ESK100 Subject Forum' in the navigation bar for this subject.
Welcome to your post-seminar learning tasks for this week. Please ensure you complete these after attending your scheduled seminar with your lecturer. Your lecturer will advise you if any of these are to be completed during your consultation session. Click on each of the following headings to read more about the requirements for each of your post-seminar learning tasks.
- Read the article by Helen Brown on – What is emotional intelligence? +23 ways to improve it.
- Watch the 6 Steps to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence TedxTUM presentation by Ramona Hacker
Complete the How Emotionally Intelligent Are You? questionnaire. Note your score and use the interpretation table for feedback.
Do you agree with the comments provided?
Reflect on your learnings from this week and contact your lecturer if you have any questions.
Review the requirements for assessment 1 and start drafting a response.
Each week you will have a consultation session which will be facilitated by your lecturer. You can join in and work with your peers on activities relating to this subject. These session times and activities will be communicated to you by your lecturer each week. Your lecturer will start a video stream during your scheduled class time, you can access your scheduled class by clicking on ‘Live Sessions’ found within your navigation bar and locating the relevant day/class or by clicking on the following link and then click 'Join' to enter the class.
Click here to access your seminar.
Should you be unable to attend, you will be able to watch the recording which can be found via the following link or by navigating to the class through ‘Live Sessions’ via your navigation bar.
Click here to access the recording. (Please note: this will be available shortly after the live session has ended.)
- Robbins, A, Kaye, E & Catling, JC 2018, Predictors of Student Resilience in Higher Education, Psychology Teaching Review, 24(1):44-52.
- Serrat, O 2017, ‘Chapter 37: Predictors of student resilience in Higher Education’, in P, Serret, Knowledge solutions, 1st edn., Springer..
References
- Albert Einstein Quotes n.d., BrainyQuote.com, https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/albert_einstein_148788
- Bauer, T 2012, Onboarding New Employees: Maximising Success, https://www.shrm.org/foundation/ourwork/initiatives/resources-from-past-initiatives/Documents/Onboarding%20New%20Employees.pdf.
- Goleman, D 1996, Emotional intelligence. Why it can matter more than IQ. Learning. 24(6):49-50.
- Joseph, DL, Jin, J, Newman, DA and O'Boyle, EH 2015, 'Why does self-reported emotional intelligence predict job performance? A meta-analytic investigation of mixed EI,' Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(2):298.
- MacCann, C, Jiang, Y, Brown, LE, Double, KS, Bucich, M and Minbashian, A 2020, 'Emotional intelligence predicts academic performance: A meta-analysis', Psychological Bulletin, 146(2):150.
- Michael Jordan Quotes n.d., BrainyQuote.com, https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/michael_jordan_127660.
- Serrat, O 2017, ‘Understanding and developing emotional intelligence’, In O Serrat, Knowledge solutions pp. 329-339, Springer
- Shury, J & IFF Research Ltd 2017, Planning for Success: Graduates' Career Planning and Its Effect on Graduate Outcomes,;London: Department for Education.
- Tardanico, S 2012, Five ways to make peace with failure, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/susantardanico/2012/09/27/five-ways-to-make-peace-with-failure/?sh=6a71a2a13640
