While a degree is still important, there are human skills that are increasing in value at rapid speed especially for those looking for more opportunities. Those skills include empathy and the ability to connect which all link to emotional intelligence.
Gary Vaynerchuk, a successful businessman, speaker and marketing guru recently wrote an article listing the reason why it makes sense to fire your most talented employee. His exact message is “If there’s someone in your ranks who consistently causes drama or division in your team, be prepared to fire them.” He emphasizes that this applies to ANYONE in your business including your most talented or productive employees. Why? Success isn’t guaranteed, it has to be maintained every single day. If you are an employee or leader who happens to be someone the rest of the team finds difficult to work with, what will likely happen? Trust, collaboration, and engagement will decrease and that ultimately leads to turnover, increased cost and a slowdown in productivity. How does that affect success?
Emotional intelligence is defined as the capacity to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. What this means is that your behavior towards every single person you interact with should make the person feel considered, valued and respected. Even if difficult situations, an attempt should be made to get to this place. When an authentic attempt is made to make others feel this way, your life at work becomes easier and you can accomplish more. It’s important to understand that every individual has a past, circumstances, talents, beliefs, and motivations that are different than yours. The goal as a leader is to identify those for every employee and use them to the advantage of your team. As a team member, the goal is to connect with your colleagues to understand this and use that to collaborate as a team.
The goal of any business is to produce results and the goals of the leaders are to make sure their employees are in the best position possible to guarantee those results. The expectation to move ahead when your behavior is consistently causing issues that deter from the bottom line is not realistic. While it may serve you in the short run, remember that we are all separated by a few degrees and your reputation will need to precede you when you’ll need to look for a new career opportunity.
If you have a question or are interested in learning more, connect with me.