If you were to ask most people, they would probably say that they would like to be more effective at work. After all, who wouldn’t? The ‘prize’ that awaits for doing so could be formidable. 

Wouldn’t we all love to be more productive, to work more impactfully with our colleagues, to achieve better outcomes for our employers, and to do all of this without feeling the ‘burnout’ that so many of us do feel these days? 

This brings me onto the subject of emotional intelligence, or EI. It hasn’t always been as valued by organisations as it ought to have been, probably in part because most of us don’t immediately understand what ‘EQ’ is, compared to ‘IQ’. 

In recent years, though, that has begun to change. It’s why many more employers have even seen the value of enrolling their staff in acting workshops that would enable them to get more ‘in touch’ with their emotions, and how those emotions can be managed and harnessed for positive ends in a work setting. 

But what really is emotional intelligence? 

To better understand the relevance and usefulness of emotional intelligence in work environments, it helps to know what it is. The term was coined by Peter Salovey and John D Mayer in 1990, and later popularised by the author and psychologist, Daniel Goleman. 

Essentially, the term ‘emotional intelligence’ refers to one’s ability to recognise and understand emotions. As you might imagine, this has potential applicability not just to the handling and management of your own emotions in the workplace, but also to how you comprehend and help with the emotions of other people you come into contact with in your job, such as colleagues and clients.

A person being emotionally intelligent doesn’t mean that they are never impulsive or always find it easy to manage their, or other people’s emotions. There isn’t even a single, universally trusted way to measure someone’s EQ level. 

But possessing the characteristics that are typically associated with a high level of emotional intelligence – such as self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation, and social skills – could help you become more effective in your professional life, in so many ways. 

It could help you achieve more positive interactions and relationships with your co-workers, for example, and it could help you motivate other people who may be struggling. And of course, it could certainly help make you more of an asset to your employer, while bolstering your all-round career prospects. 

Could acting classes seriously help me achieve all of this? 

The short answer to that question is: they certainly could. But I also appreciate that before you consider booking any acting workshops with me for you or your staff, you might be eager to have a conversation about the bespoke package I can put together to help you build the emotional intelligence of your workforce. 

In fact, I very much recommend that you do precisely this. Enquire to me by email today, and we can discuss the best ways we could work together to help imbue your staff with the emotional intelligence that will help them achieve so much more. In the process, you can be supporting your organisation’s fulfilment of its values, and the health of its bottom line.