Let’s take a moment to reestablish the meaning of EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE.

Lately, and especially in these sudden and unfortunate times of quarantine, people are increasingly confusing emotional intelligence with SENSITIVITY and KINDNESS.

THAT IS SIMPLY WRONG.

Emotional intelligence is, first of all, an INTELLIGENCE, a KNOWLEDGE that you can and probably should obtain. When you talk about the atmosphere in a team, or about your feelings and perceptions regarding behaviors of others, or when you are giving and receiving feedback - just stop and ask yourself: what do I really KNOW about emotions and WHY do I feel and perceive things this way?

Think,
What do you know about the way emotions function? How do they influence your perceptions and behavior? What biases we are all vulnerable to in various situations and how well you can recognize and manage them?

And while we’re at it, let’s reestablish what MINDFULNESS means in the workspace. The goal of it is NOT personal serenity, carelessness, or reaching nirvana. We learn mindfulness to be able to OBSERVE NON-JUDGEMENTALLY. To collect pure data, make and verify hypotheses, and come to a knowledgeable conclusion.

Remember, emotionally intelligent people are not necessarily kind. They can be egoistic and manipulative. If you don’t hold knowledge - you are an easy victim for manipulation. At the same time, kind people do not always manage to create a positive impact, and with all the good intentions can create harm because of lack of knowledge.

Don’t be lazy.
LEARN MORE.
START RIGHT NOW.
NEVER STOP.