Emotional Intelligence For Geeks: Why Brains And Heart Are Needed To Thrive

Innovation Emotional Intelligence For Geeks: Why Brains And Heart Are Needed To Thrive Christian Espinosa Forbes Councils Member Forbes Technology Council COUNCIL POST Expertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based) Sep 21, 2022, 06:30am EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Veteran.

Coach. Alpine Security Founder. Author of ” The Smartest Person in the Room .

” 24x Ironman Athlete. getty Emotional intelligence is an attribute that can serve anyone in any facet of life. It’s a relatively new term in the lingo of intelligence.

Psychologists Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer coined it in 1990. Emotional intelligence describes a person’s ability to process, perceive and regulate emotional information.

It’s a set of skills usable within yourself and with others to process information that will then influence your thoughts and actions, as well as others. While it’s easy to see the application of emotional intelligence in many roles, you may wonder why technical folks need it. They’ll need more than rational intelligence; to survive and thrive, they need leadership skills, which are closely tied to high emotional intelligence.

Let’s look at why this can be a powerful thing for geeks. What Are Emotional Intelligence Skills? Looking back at the definition of emotional intelligence, a key part is managing emotions—not ignoring them or holding them back. Regulating emotions can enable you to communicate effectively and be empathetic toward others.

Strong emotional intelligence can allow for deeper connections and stronger relationships, all necessary to excel in cybersecurity. These are the four emotional intelligence skills that matter most: • Self-awareness. You can identify your emotions and how they impact your behaviors and thoughts.

Reaching self-awareness means you know your strengths and weaknesses. MORE FOR YOU Google Issues Warning For 2 Billion Chrome Users Forget The MacBook Pro, Apple Has Bigger Plans Google Discounts Pixel 6, Nest & Pixel Buds In Limited-Time Sale Event • Self-management. You can control behaviors or feelings that might be impulsive and can appropriately manage emotions.

Self-management also means you follow through, take initiative and are adaptable to change. • Social awareness. You have empathy and understand the needs and feelings of others.

You can be comfortable in social settings and perceive emotional cues. • Relationship management. You can develop and maintain good relationships so that you can inspire others, communicate well and be collaborative without conflict.

These attributes all describe ideal places to arrive for emotional intelligence. Having emotional intelligence and a high IQ is a great indicator of doing well in high-stress, highly cooperative work like cybersecurity. The challenge is that many geeks don’t show up to the workforce with emotional intelligence skills.

Why Emotional Intelligence Is Often Absent In Technical Folks I believe many technical people haven’t developed emotional intelligence skills because they often don’t think they need it. They are “smart” where it matters in their world of ones and zeros. Being emotionally intelligent requires transparency and vulnerability.

Many technical people can be very good at ignoring emotions. As a result of this mindset, they can be off-putting to others, as their communication can be aggressive. They can simply bypass any tasks or activities that require interaction, and this can elevate the risk of cybersecurity threats.

It can also stagnate their careers. A Lack Of Emotional Intelligence Skills Can Keep Smart People From Progressing Having high technical aptitude is critical to working in technical fields. However, it’s only the foundation for achieving leadership roles in cybersecurity.

I’ve seen many intelligent and talented individuals who got in their own way. They couldn’t adapt or communicate in a manner conducive to the situation. Emotional intelligence can pay off in careers, as 90% of top performers have a high level of emotional intelligence.

Further, emotional intelligence is responsible for 58% of job performance , and those with it earn an average of $29,000 more than their lacking counterparts. These data points and others related to emotional intelligence and job successes substantiate its critical value. How do you cultivate emotional intelligence in your technical team? Are geeks too far disconnected from tuning in? Helping technical people transform from a black-and-white world to one of many shades is a big change.

They must be willing to evolve and realize its significance in their careers and lives. Reaching these people requires a framework that develops attributes that increase emotional intelligence. I refer to this framework as the “Secure Methodology,” and it consists of seven key steps that focus on awareness, mindset, acknowledgment, communication, monotasking, empathy and Kaizen.

Awareness is typically the first step in any methodology or framework. Without awareness, we are blind to our thoughts, feelings and actions as well as to those of others around us. Awareness is only useful if we can put it into action.

I don’t believe that “knowledge is power”; knowledge, like awareness, is useless unless you do something with it. This is where practice comes into play, which often involves stepping outside of your comfort zone and shifting your identity. To achieve more, we must become more.

The biggest takeaway is we must improve our own emotional intelligence before we can help improve anyone else’s. Our outer world is a reflection of our inner world. Developing emotional intelligence is a journey, and it’s one that we should all welcome.

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