Using Emotional Intelligence To Communicate Across Generations

Do you feel like the workplace is becoming more emotional? You're not alone. Maybe you've even tested and found that decreased emotional competencies are trending in your organization.

A Time of Change

With the workplace changing, it can be difficult to know where to turn. The old tools might not be as useful in the current environment due to different stress factors, different generations in the office, and even fundamentally different ways of working, such as the remote-work format.

At the same time, we are also entering a time when more and more aspects of organizations are being quantified. When you can put a number on nearly every aspect of behavior, make things as efficient as possible, and plan relatively accurately future, where's the value in emotions and feelings?

The numbers really do not tell the entire story. Even if we know all the facts, people still sometimes make emotional decisions. We're even more likely to make emotional decisions when identity is a factor — if the choice is related to our deep-seated generational predilections, for example.

Adding Another Club to Your Bag

As a leader, emotional intelligence is an important tool. I look at these leadership skills like clubs in a golf bag.

A golfer needs a good selection of clubs when going out on the course. You need to be able to efficiently overcome any challenges that you might encounter. You also need to prepare your set of clubs ahead of time based on what types of shots you predict you'll make.

It's the same with leadership. Preparing the skills you need ahead of time — and keeping them in mind — will help you overcome the challenges you face along the way.

Using Emotional Intelligence for Cross-Generational Communication

So, I've tried to establish so far that emotional intelligence is a skill. I believe that you can practice developing this skill with focus and dedication. I also briefly mentioned why I believe that emotional intelligence is so critical in cross-generational communication. 

To reiterate, this skill helps you understand the emotional reactions people might have because of the general characteristics and predispositions of their age group. In fact, emotional intelligence into the fact that people are having an emotional reaction in the first place — as opposed to acting in a premeditated, logical way. 

Finding What Brings Us Together

Besides being a good way to explain and address outlying behavior patterns, there's something more to emotions. There's something more fundamental.

If we have in common as humans, it is that we all feel emotions. We all have fears and desires — we all feel happy, sad, angry, and calm. These feelings connect across generations just as easily as they do across other types of diversity. 

When you practice your emotional intelligence, you're making an effort to connect with your team members on the most human level possible. Are you ready to start leading with feeling and bringing people together?