How Emotional Intelligence can help with Stress Management

With so many challenges and changes to deal with in both life and the workplace, it’s vital to understand the emotions related to unfamiliar and unpredictable situations and to manage any related stress. Managing stress means keeping perspective, protecting us from potentially developing health related issues such as high blood pressure, ulcers and heart disease. Work related stress is unhealthy for individuals and negative for organisations particularly when it results in time off due to stress and a loss in productivity. The Health and Safety Executive collated statistics in the Labour Force Survey based on stress in the workplace in Great Britain* and found that the total number of work related stress cases was 440,000 in 2014/15 with stress accounting for 35% of work related ill health and 43% of all working days lost due to ill health. These are significant statistics showing just how much people are affected by stress and impact that this can have. It is therefore vital to understand stress and find ways to manage and copy with stressful situations.

Stress management is one of the composite scales in the EQ-i 2.0 emotional intelligence model and is comprised of flexibility, street tolerance and optimism.

Flexibility relates to how flexible you are and capable of adapting emotions, thoughts and behaviours to situations or ideas that are unfamiliar or unpredictable.

Stress tolerance is the ability to cope with stressful situations and having the belief that you can manage or influence the situation.

Optimism relates to attitude and outlook in life, understanding how to remain positive, hopeful and resilient even when things do not always go as expected.

A person that understands their emotions when confronted with situations that are out of their control usually remains calm and controlled, is rarely impulsive and can cope well under pressure. This is the type of person that you need to have a clear head when important decisions need making. They have a way of coping with change and the unexpected and generally display an optimistic, positive attitude and approach, knowing how to cope with any situation.
​
The EQ-i 2.0 report includes stress management and gives an indicator where a person is on the scale allowing them the opportunity to reflect and understand how they react in certain situations and allow them to consider steps which will help them be more resilient to change and identify actions that they can put in place in the future. The EQ-i 2.0 is a powerful development tool extremely useful in understanding all the elements that make up emotional intelligence, allowing an individual to develop and increase their emotional intelligence in specific areas.

​For more information about the EQ-i 2.0 check out the emotional intelligence pages on the web site, or if you are interested in being coached and finding out more about your own emotional intelligence or introducing it into your organisation contact us to arrange a 1-2-1 session. Should you wish to become an expert and be able to coach other people in emotional intelligence, you could take the emotional intelligence certification. Understanding emotional intelligence is a skill that can be developed once an individual has an awareness of their emotions and the effect of them on themselves and others.

*Reference report can be found at: – http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress/stress.pdf