In the personality theory arena, it’s easy to say, “People with this personality type might want to improve their emotional intelligence,” as if that weren’t true for everyone. However, everybody is on a continuum. Nobody understands their emotions and the emotions of others perfectly, and there is always room for improvement. And from another angle, few people entirely lack skill in understanding and managing emotions. Emotionally, we are all a work in progress. In this article, we will focus on how emotional intelligence (a.k.a. EQ or sometimes EI) is important in the workplace and how knowing personality types can help.

Emotions were mainly ignored in many work settings until the last few decades. People often saw feelings as an obstacle to productivity. Emotions were often seen as erratic and disruptive rather than as the source of important information about the effectiveness of humans and their level of productivity in the workplace.

Since then, we’ve learned that productivity and success can benefit significantly from adding the human emotional factor to measurable goal-setting. Team members whose feelings are considered are more likely to collaborate. When an organization’s leadership has strong EQ, team members will likely respond better to the business’s visions and overarching directives and feel open to expressing their perspectives and concerns. The flow of communication naturally improves as better communication fosters team members’ sense of belonging and the leadership’s appreciation for what is happening on the front lines. Conflict resolution becomes a more pain-free and organic feature of the work community.

It’s easy to think that enhancing EQ on the job simply means adding more emotions to your workplace. That might suggest that EQ is something that people with the Thinking personality trait need more than Feeling personality types, who already prefer to make decisions based on emotional considerations, do. But that is to misunderstand the “intelligence” part of “emotional intelligence.”

Emotional intelligence is not so much about more or fewer emotions – instead, it concerns balancing and managing feelings. It’s just as harmful to have flaring, out-of-control emotions as it is to constrict emotions and discourage their expression. Both can wreak havoc in the workplace.

So it’s easy to see where EQ can benefit a person, whether they decide their next move through objective rationality, as those with the Thinking trait might tend toward, or through more subjective emotionality, as those with the Feeling trait lean toward. Add to that the reality that few people typically come from a purely rational or emotional place, and we have a good argument for everyone becoming more proficient in matters of emotion and rationality.

Let’s take a look at some of the primary goals related to developing EQ, as they apply to the workplace.

It’s easier to name your emotions if you spend more time listening to and responding to them. In addition, knowing what they are and where they present themselves in your body, you may also realize how you sometimes pay more attention to them than you do at other times.

It’s essential to remember that our emotions are messengers that provide us with self-awareness. Learning to acknowledge and explore our emotions gives us a better sense of who we are, which helps us define who we are in the workplace. In addition, we can refine our self-awareness even further as we understand our preferred traits and how they combine to determine our personality type.

Knowing your feelings helps you determine how you want to manage them. For example, if you’re feeling anger, that’s usually a message that something is leaving you with the sense that you don’t matter or that something that’s important to you doesn’t matter. Exploring that and finding a way to resolve those angry feelings, both as an individual and even within a work group, can make the difference between a conflicted team and a cohesive one.

Becoming an expert on our personality type can give us some sense of who we are and how we tend to emotionally process and manage various situations. In addition, it gives us a better understanding of what is important to us and why. In the workplace, it’s essential to know when and how to express and regulate your emotions, so that they are experienced as something balanced and beneficial. For example, how do you deal with that annoying customer who keeps calling back with another thing to complain about? Learning to diplomatically balance your emotional truth with what is helpful can be an advanced EQ skill. Having a good sense of who you are through familiarity with your personality type can help you navigate those sometimes choppy waters as you leverage your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses.

Emotions can be highly motivational, and challenging emotions can stop motivational impulses in their tracks. If we aren’t in touch with our feelings, we may wonder why it is sometimes so hard to feel motivated. Often it’s because emotions that are contrary to those which move us forward are left unresolved, covertly sabotaging our work efforts. The more you understand your personality, the more you are in touch with the things that motivate you, which will likely involve your emotions and the part they play in keeping your ambition alive.

Is the face that the company accountant happens to be making right now a sign of distress, or do they just furrow their brow like that when they’re concentrating? Should you approach them to offer help, or should you leave them alone, so you don’t interrupt their focus (and potentially irritate them)?

You likely make dozens of decisions every day by attempting to read other people’s emotions. Therefore, the better we understand people’s feelings, the more effective we are interpersonally, and strengthening our empathy skills can become a powerful tool on the job. If we know how our coworkers tend to approach the world by understanding their personality type, we make recognizing and understanding their feelings and motivations much easier.

Of course, nobody can read everyone’s emotions accurately 100% of the time. That’s where getting to know others and learning to listen carefully to them comes in handy. But with EQ, it’s never about relating perfectly – instead, it’s about getting better at authentically connecting. So we always have some work to do.

While understanding personality types can be a powerful tool for the four preceding goals, managing relationships is where the benefits of knowing about personality preferences especially shine. When paired with other prosocial skills, the ability to understand how people tend to handle life based on their personality traits can set a framework for greater familiarity. The better you know others, the better you can manage your relationships with them. And unless you are one of those rare people who work entirely in solitude, relationships will inevitably carry significant weight in your work life.

A better understanding of personality in the workplace, combined with emotional intelligence, is invaluable. The combination not only improves communication, builds stronger relationships, and increases job motivation and productivity, but it also improves workers’ mental health and provides them with a greater sense of satisfaction and well-being. A person can become a better leader and team player and improve their chances for greater career success by mastering their personality literacy and emotional intelligence skills.

It’s your turn to share your experiences with EQ, personality type, and work. Do you think your personality type has been a help or a hindrance when it comes to having a generous amount of EQ on the job? Has your EQ evolved over time, and in what ways?

Please leave your comments below.