I believe the skill of Emotional Intelligence is the single most significant discriminator between highly successful supervisors and those who struggle.
While Emotional Intelligence (called EI for short) is of critical importance at all levels of management, it is essential for supervisors who have to juggle the needs of first line employees simultaneously with those of upper level managers.
First we will explore what EI is and why it is critical, and then I will describe the process of how any supervisor can gain higher EI.
While the first recording of the phrase Emotional Intelligence was by Michael Beldoch in 1964, the concept was popularized by Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence published in 1995.
Goleman hypothesized four quadrants of Emotional Intelligence as follows:
1. Self Awareness – Ability to recognize your own emotions
2. Self Management – Ability to manage your emotions into helpful behavior
3. Social Awareness – Ability to understand emotions in others
4. Relationship Management – Ability to manage interactions successfully
HENRY KOTULA 