Amit’s e-world

Today, is one of the rare free days. I am through with my mammoth MSI group report (16000 words .. uggh) submission. Just been wandering one the net & also paid a visit to one of my earlier blog sites. Here is a masterpiece written on 28th Dec, 2004. Its timing is appropriate as we have just had an emotional intelligence lecture in Leadership & Top Management elective.

Have you ever read an HR interview in the newspapers? In almost all of the ones I have read, there is one innocuous factor that all HR professionals look for in a potential candidate. That’s EQ - emotional quotient. Though quite a buzzword nowadays, it wasn’t quite heard of in the old economy. Let’s try and understand what makes EQ so prized in the new economy.

The old economy was an industry of equanimity. Employees were more or less aware of where they would be in 5 years. The routes were clear most of the time, and cases of disparity in peer salaries were far and few. Let’s take an IT industry scenario. The demand-supply dynamics in this industry warrant higher prices for some resources. Higher prices could include higher wages, better opportunities, global mobility et al. Of course, only the cream can enjoy such benefits. But the new economy industries not only need the cream, they need the masses as well. After all, when there are margin pressures, the IT companies concentrate on volumes, don’t they. And to have the desired volume of business, they need the right volume of people - both good and bad. Though the cream may not really need to be emotionally strong (because companies will rarely risk testing the emotions of such employees), this is a very important asset to have in all other resources. This is because the biggest factor of dissatisfaction in employees is caused by peer pressure. And with the disparity in peer-pricing so rampant and so large, the average employee is expected to be emotionally strong to take all this disparity in his stride and keep performing.

If the "average employee" in the above paragraph, makes you say "That sounds like me", keep reading. Lets understand what it takes to develop a high EQ. Well, nothing better than a real-life experience of being let down/rejected.. Ha ..Ha. That is the tough route and undesirable too. The easier route is as follows. Firstly, always remember the 9-1-1 slogan "Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst". This will ensure that rejection doesn’t take you by surprise and destroy you from within. And secondly, always have a good number of goals and be open to alternate paths. The problem with most people is that they have too few goals and are therefore not hedged against rejection. Also, be open to explore other routes to reach your goals. Many times, I have seen people hell-bent on trying to reach a goal through a route of their choice - thats mostly the route they already are on. That’s primarily because of the human tendency to resist change (subject of my last blog) and his reluctance to challenge stability. But always remember, the route is less important than the goal itself.