EQ affects individual and organisational performance in a number of ways
Personality Regulates Behavior
Personality Produces Productive and Counter Productive Behaviors
Personality Determines Job Fit and Flow
For the most part we tend to do well and feel comfortable in job roles that harness our deeply ingrained attitudes and patterns of behaviour. If I am outgoing and assertive and my job requires me to interact with and influence people, I will be comfortable in this kind of role. I will be in flow and energised by my job, because it harnesses and plays to my natural strengths. This is a virtuous cycle. If my job requires me as a finance person to be attentive to detail, and attention to detail is one of my personality traits I will find it easy and rewarding to be attentive to detail when preparing financial statements. This energises me, makes me feel rewarded, gives me job satisfaction and makes me feel motivated. I experience a feeling of success and self – affirmation. This “puts the wind in my sails” and lifts my performance.
However, if I am extremely introverted and accommodating, I will feel uncomfortable in a sales role. It will be anxiety provoking for me to go into a sales meeting, or to cold call; to network, relationship build, overcome objections or be persuasive. I will always feel like I am working against my true self. This is a vicious cycle. There is no self – affirmation, I feel uncomfortable, stressed and over – stretched, I am never confident in my performance in these types of situations, and when I compare myself to other sales people who are extroverts, I can see that they actually enjoy what they do, do it easily and do it well. This demotivates me, drains my energy and negatively affects my performance. It results in drag, drift and drain.
So, we thrive when we are utilised according to our strengths and struggle when we are utilised according to our weaknesses. To illustrate this, try the following exercise:
If you are right-handed, pick up a pen and sign your name with your left hand, and vice versa if you are left handed. Now imagine signing your name for eight hours a day with your non-dominant hand, five days a week. You can probably get by but will feel extremely challenged and will not make a very good job of signing your name. This is what it is like to be placed in a job that clashes with your personality and requires you to tap into your weaknesses rather than your strengths. You are unable to perform effectively and it drains you.
It simply does not make any commercial sense to place a candidate in a role where he is primarily playing according to his EQ weaknesses and not his strengths.
It comes back to an earlier analogy. Out of a group of talented sports men and women, why would you:
Place your shortest rugby player in the lineout or in your netball team?
Try to make a high – jumper out of your bulkiest athlete?
A long distant athlete out of your sprinters?
This would be a complete waste of resources. Think about the drain on coaching and other assets when implementing the above, as well as the frustration and sense of failure for the athlete. The inevitable outcome is the drag, drain and drift scenario we discussed in a previous module. Utilizing people according to their natural capabilities makes the most sense and in a job context people should be placed in roles that fit with their personalities and where they can mostly draw on EQ strengths rather than weaknesses. This greatly increases the likelihood of an organisation having wind in its sails. It is essential therefore to assess EQ to ensure that there is sufficient fit between and individual's EQ capabilities and the job.
Personality Regulates Behavior
We have already provided a small window into the way personality regulates how we interact with our working environment and deal with both technical and non – technical aspects. Let’s expand.
It plays a big role in influencing how we handle challenges and adversity (can we maintain emotional control under pressure).
how we handle pressure (can we maintain emotional control under pressure) how we deal with conflict (are we collaborative or confrontational) how we interact with people (can we work in a team) what kind of leadership styles we have (are we directive or participative) how we solve problems (are we innovative or conservative) how we regulate our own behaviour (are we conscientious or expedient) how we fit into an organisation (are we rule following or rule breaking).
These factors all relate to emotional capability.
When personality positively regulates behaviour in these various situations, people and by extension organisations are energised.
The converse is also true . Ask yourself what happens when people:
⦁ Cannot maintain emotional control under pressure
⦁ Are confrontational rather than collaborative
⦁ Are poor at self – management
⦁ Have domineering leadership styles and so on?
EQ therefore has a strong bearing on how people behave in jobs, especially with regard to the non - technical aspects of work, such as:
⦁ working with people
⦁ dealing with customers
⦁ leading others
⦁ dealing with stress
⦁ displaying ethical behaviour
⦁ demonstrating sound work habits
⦁ leading self and managing own performance
⦁ working in a team
⦁ judgement and decision making
⦁ impacting on team mood and morale
⦁ conflict management
Personality Produces both Productive and Counterproductive Behaviours
