Search Inside Yourself

Search Inside Yourself adapts the ancient ethos of “knowing thyself” to the realities of a modern, fast-paced workplace by introducing mindfulness exercises to enhance emotional intelligence.

Emotional and professional lives may seem to have little in common. But when we really understand what emotional intelligence is, the impact it has on our work becomes quite obvious.

Emotional intelligence can be defined as awareness of your own, as well as other people’s feelings – and the ability to use that awareness to guide your behaviors and thoughts. Howard Gardner, who first proposed the theory of multiple intelligences, would describe it as the fusion of the interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence.

According to Daniel Goleman, the author of Emotional Intelligence, it consists of five important elements:

Self-awareness (knowledge of your internal state) Self-regulation (your capacity to control your mental states and behaviors) Motivation (being able to use emotions as fuel towards your goals) Empathy (the awareness of other people’s feelings) Social skills (your capacity to impact others)

Now that we’ve broken it down, it will be easier to understand that the most important skills at work are usually related to emotional intelligence.

Self-awareness and self-regulation are the basics – they allow you to identify your internal state at any given moment and respond accordingly. This encompasses a wide range of issues – from knowing when to take a break, to getting your work relationships straight.

Skillfully cultivating motivation fuels productivity, while empathy and social competences help you collaborate within a team and empower you to be a better leader.

All of that sounds great. But what is the practical way to develop these aspects of emotional intelligence?

Tan sees the development of emotional intelligence as a three-step process. First, you need to master the intentional directing of your attention. This allows you to notice more thoughts and feelings and enriches self-knowledge. Finally, if you gain enough insight into your own mind, you are able to establish mental habits that benefit you – and your work – in the long run. Mindfulness meditation can help with this because it tackles the very first step of the process: becoming the master of your attention. You can train attention like a muscle, so that, over time, it starts serving you in a much more effective way. This also enhances self-awareness, which is the first of the Goleman’s components of emotional intelligence. The reason why self-awareness is so important is that it activates the neocortex – the new part of the brain, responsible for making rational decisions. Our behavior is then less driven by unconscious impulses and more by conscious choices. Tan explains the practical implications of increased self-awareness by sharing a personal story of delivering a…