Word Of the Week #530: Relationship
October 2, 2014 by Susan Clarke
Relationship – a state of connectedness between people (especially an emotional connection).
How well do you handle relationships at work? How good are you at reading your co-workers or staffs reactions or feelings? Would you say you are good at dealing with disputes?
This is the follow up to last week’s WOW and the final one from Daniel Goleman’s book on Emotional Intelligence. The 5th key quality needed is social or interpersonal intelligence. It is the ability to handle relationships, which in large part is, the ability to manage the emotions of others.
He writes, “Social intelligence allows us to connect with people quite smoothly, be astute about reading their reactions and feelings, lead and organize, and handle the disputes that are bound to flare up in any human activity.
The Four Components are:
- Organizing Groups – the essential skill of the leader, this involves initiating and coordination the efforts of a network of people. This is the talent seen in theater directors or producers, in military officers, and in effective heads organizations and units of all kinds.
- Negotiating Solutions – the talent of the mediator, preventing conflicts or resolving those that flare up. People who have this ability excel in deal making, arbitrating or mediating disputes; they might have a career in diplomacy, in law, or as middlemen or mangers of takeovers.
- Personal Connection – the art of relationship, easy to enter into an encounter or to recognize and respond fittingly to people’s feelings and concerns. Such people make good “team players,” dependable spouses, good friends or business partners; in the business world they do well as salespeople or managers, or can be excellent teachers.
- Social Analysis – being able to detect and have insights about people’s feelings, motives, and concerns. This knowledge of how others feel can lead to an easy intimacy or sense of rapport.
These people are the natural leaders and are the kind of people others like to be with because they are emotionally nourishing – they leave other people in a good mood, and evoke the comment, “What a pleasure to be around someone like that.”
This week’s focus is on your relationships. Would you say you are a good team player? Are you a natural leader? How good are you at negotiating solutions? Do you easily connect with people you meet? Are you a pleasure to be around?
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