‘You think, therefore you feel’
UKZN has defined wellness as ‘optimal functioning in all areas of an employee’s life’. This definition is in line the World Health Organization’s definition: ‘wellness is an optimal state of health for individuals and groups…the realization of the fullest potential of an individual physically, socially, spiritually and economically, and the fulfillment of one’s role expectations in the workplace, family, community, place of worship, and other settings.’
UKZN endeavors for all its employees to function optimally in their private lives as well as meet all expectations in terms of performance and responsible community engagement in order to ensure achievement of institutional goals and attain personal fulfillment. All areas of a person’s life impact on each other; i.e. if a person is emotionally unwell, it is highly likely that it may manifest as a physical ailment or even poor performance. Therefore in order to be well one needs to look at all areas of their functioning in order to ensure optimal functioning and success.
Emotionally intelligent individuals tend to be more successful, happier and healthier - a heightened emotional intelligence is said to enhance performance, leadership, teamwork, decision making, relationship building, work-life balance and ability to solve problems, handle interpersonal conflict, and dealing with change
Developing EI is a self-reflective and iterative process where one has to be constantly attuned to their thoughts and feelings as well as how these lead to certain behaviour – productive and nonproductive.
Some strategies for developing Emotional Intelligence include:
- Practice mindfulness; which enhances the ability to regulate emotion. This involves ‘paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment
- Name your feelings; to increase awareness and provide an opportunity to evaluate emotions realistically and devise appropriate responses
- Keep a self-reflective journal; to increase awareness, introspection and tracking progress
- Understand your ‘hot buttons’ or situations that are likely to cause you to behave in a certain manner.
- Use mood regulating techniques i.e. physical exercise, listening to music, social interaction, and cognitive self-management, and pleasant distractions
- Visualization - imagining oneself being successful at the action that causes anxiety and apprehension
- Attend training on EI - training should be supplemented with coaching or self-coaching in order to embed the EI strategies learnt.
Read more:
http://hbr.org/2004/01/what-makes-a-leader
Working with Emotional Intelligence (1998) by Daniel Goleman
The EQ Edge-Emotional Intelligence and Your Success (2011) by Steven Stein & Howard Book
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