A KEY for Success: Integrity and Emotional Intelligence

I’ve been thinking about emotional intelligence and integrity again recently since the news is full of questions regarding certain people’s integrity.  Integrity is needed for any REAL success, in my opinion.

When you add Emotional Intelligence to Integrity you come up with a winning combination whether it comes to a new hire, to a new start-up team member, or also, when meeting new people.  These are the people, even if they are of the introverted type, that your potential clients and partners are drawn to.

One of the best ways to view integrity is to see it as when what we do, how we do it and why we do it is our all unified.  Our integrity is going in that positive direction with our whole hearts and keeping our trustworthiness and conscientiousness foremost in our actions.  

Remember that our direction is lost when we do something that is not in congruence with our character and goals.  When we try to take short cuts by hurting others and climbing over their backs, we are actually hurting ourselves.  Thus, being transparent about decisions when you are a manager or in any kind of leadership will keep you true to yourself and to your goals.  It will keep you accountable and on track for success.

So, keep your eyes on the good goal and remember what Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet, “To thine own (and to others, I might add) self be true”. There is a reason why the Golden Rule is golden, after all.

 Emotional intelligence is how we apply our personal and social emotional skillsto reach our goals.  

Our personal emotional skills are listed under two sub categories:  self-awareness and self-regulation.  Both are important in helping us to be a whole and integrated person:  self-awareness is about whether we know what we are feeling, if we are able to clearly assess ourselves and if we are healthily self-confident whereas self regulation is about self-control, being trustworthy, being conscientious, being adaptable, and being innovative (creative).  All these qualities and skills makes you a healthy (and successful) human when it comes to yourself.  But we don’t live in vacuums, so the social aspect of EQ is also very important.

Our social emotional skills focus on our reactions to others (from within- empathy) and our inter-actions (working with the others - social).  The empathetic skills are: understanding others, developing others, serving others, leveraging diversity, and political (systemic) awareness.  The social skills are influencing, effective communication, conflict management, leadership, change catalyst, building bonds, collaboration and cooperation, and team capabilities (both as a member and leader).

So, take care of yourself by being one in heart and mind with good goals that do not use or abuse people in any way.

Have a great summer!

Patricia Jehle

www.jehle-coaching.com

NOTES:

Integrity

Definition: noun

1. 
the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. "a gentleman of complete integrity"

synonyms:

honesty, uprightness, probity, rectitude, honour, honourableness, upstanding-ness, good character, principle(s), ethics, morals, righteousness, morality, nobility, high-mindedness, right-mindedness, 

noble-mindedness, virtue, decency, fairness, scrupulousness, sincerity, truthfulness, trustworthiness

"I never doubted his integrity"

antonyms:

dishonesty

2. 
the state of being whole and undivided. "upholding territorial integrity and national sovereignty"

synonyms:

unity, unification, wholeness, coherence, cohesion, undividedness, togetherness, solidarity, coalition

 "internal racial unrest threatened the integrity of the federation"

 —From Wikipedia: “In ethics, integrity is regarded by many people as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions.“- reflected in transparent honesty and complete harmony in what one thinks, says, and does (my thoughts).