Inclusive culture - Why a culture of Emotional Intelligence matters at thoughtbot
Fostering Emotional Intelligence increases our desire to contribute. As adults, its likely that we will spend most of our lives at work. The actions we take, relationships we maintain, and interactions we have, strongly contribute to how our culture is defined and expressed as a whole. When asking ourselves what kind of culture we want to thrive in, what kind of changes we want to see, and what sort of actions we can take to get there, our answers come from our diversity and inclusion efforts, and the integration Emotional Intelligence into workplace culture.
It is our belief that a nurturing, compassionate, and safe environment inspires contribution. A culture of Emotional Intelligence facilitates such an environment by establishing a framework of values to follow. We believe the process of espousing these values will yield continuous opportunities to improve, grow, and positively influence the world around us. This process makes life less stressful, and work more rewarding and enjoyable.
Consulting skills
Consulting skills can also fall into that somewhat-intangible and hard-to-define area. Working towards a cultural framework for Emotional Intelligence helps us better define what we value as consultants. We believe that a framework for Emotional Intelligence helps us grow in the following skills:
- Communication
- Transparency
- Building Relationships with Stakeholders
- Building Trust
- Understanding Client Strategy
- Pair Programming
- Difficult Conversations
- Mentorship and Technical Leadership
- Sales
- Networking
- Self Evaluation
- Sharing Values
The following are some scenarios we have identified in which Emotional Intelligence is particularly crucial:
- Giving and Receiving Feedback
- Working Against Tight Deadlines
- Engaging with Challenging Relationships
- Resource Scarcity
- Experiencing Change
- Experiencing Setbacks or Failure
The bottom line
The benefits of Emotional Intelligence regarding a business' operations and profitability are published and widely discussed. We believe this is not the primary motivator for developing and iterating on a culture of Emotional Intelligence. The "bottom line" for our endeavor is the establishment of a place folks are eager to come and contribute to each day. We are totally stoked that this also increases profits, but the win for us is the increase in the quality of our lives.