Much has been said about motivation and leadership, about motivating staff or self-motivation, and giving a twist to the subject I am going to raise motivation and emotional intelligence.
What does it mean to be motivated? Do day-to-day tasks with passion, without apathy and without additional energy.
Many people find the possibility of professional development at work and this is their own self-motivation, but there are also others that work is a burden and they are filled with frustration.
Motivation (Maslow) is articulated with human needs, that is, we have a need (motivation) and once we satisfy it or get it, it stops motivating us.
The motor of motivation is passion, which is irrational and totally emotional, we have to be clear about our professional, work and personal passions because many times occupying the role of driver of a team we want to motivate our people but… do we know what they are the things that they are passionate about or what is their emotional profile?
I have discovered over the years that in companies it does not have good press to talk about emotions, about our sensitivity. Why are they covered up?
All human beings have a state of mind when we get up and go to work, it is our "context" we always live in a state of mind.
Leadership has to do with a state of mind, acceptance and validation of the other, to agree.
Seeing our boss with leadership or decision-making power motivates us. We must know our degree of competence but also incompetence to know where we are capable of succeeding and where we are not.
When we are not recognized - motivated, this generates a "state of mind" that often damages performance and commitment decreases because the employee asks himself why am I going to work better if the company does not recognize what I am doing?
We can ask ourselves what a person feels who has done his job well and does not receive any comment or is told that it is urgent and he spends a week and sees his forms on the desk in the same place where he left them…
Many times we base the motivation on the salary increase or a hierarchical change that is obviously well received by all but we have to rethink more effective HR policies. What is the use of a performance evaluation if it does not reflect a motivational aspect to the evaluated one? (Equity theory).
It is convenient to "stop" and begin to re-think if what we are doing is done out of habit, because it has been done this way for a long time and put into practice the phrase "what is important is our people" through concrete actions.
How do we relate emotional intelligence to motivation?
EI has 4 pillars:
1st Pillar - Emotional Knowledge: made up of honesty
Energy, feedback and emotional intuition
2nd Pillar - Emotional Aptitude: Authentic presence, amplitude of the radius of trust, ability to listen, handle conflicts and make the best of constructive discontent, flexibility and renewal.
3rd Pillar - Emotional depth: unique potential and purpose, influence without authority, commitment, responsibility and conscience, applied integrity
4th Pillar - Emotional Alchemy: creating the future, intuition, reflection and perception of opportunity, flow with problems and pressures increasing your perception.
We are going to take the pillar of emotional knowledge since emotions affect all aspects of life, if we increase our emotional intelligence, that is, our self-knowledge of these "states of mind" we can change our work experience and relationships. This will avoid a work climate of fear, uncertainty, injustice, resentment and hostility.
Let's get off the autopilot and do more of the same.
In general, when we think of an idea, product or service we base ourselves first on emotions and then we rationalize and justify our decision with facts and numbers.
How many times have we responded to the question of who we are or having to talk about ourselves, most of the answers begin with academic aspects, acquired degrees, travel or experience abroad, but it is difficult for us to talk about how we got to the position we have, what we learned, what difficulties we encountered, what our vocation is, what risks we take. This is emotional intelligence.
Many times people are demotivated because they waste time and energy pretending to accept decisions that they do not share, being silent, tolerating a hierarchical order, repressing perceptions or opportunities.
The emotions provoke, creativity, initiative, cooperation and collaboration, commitment, strengthen organizations.
In the latest research, emotions have a definition of high performance that is present in companies (AQF) being valued and recognized for being:
- Sign of strength They are indispensable in business They explain and clarify They are indispensable for good judgment They motivate and help learning People become real They create trust and connection They activate ethical values They generate creativity and innovation They generate influence without authority
In short, our attitudes, such as acting, empathy, cooperation, sociability, self-control, laughter, reflection, courage or bravery, creativity, communication and feelings such as affection, friendship, love, passion, self-esteem, self-reward, Confidence, loyalty, ingratitude, dignity, feeling part of a team, influence in a positive or negative way our motivation.
Motivation is an emotional factor that is enhanced when we exercise it every day, believing in our dreams, projects, aspirations.
Let us use our emotional intelligence to empower our employees, let us remember that when the other respects me I feel good and when someone belittles our work and diminishes its importance and value, we get down emotionally.
Bibliography consulted
Emotional intelligence applied to leadership and organizations-R.Cooper, Norma editorial
Our emotional engine - motivation- M. Espada García - editorial Díaz de Santos
Emotional intelligence - D.Goleman
