The “Emotional Tools” that we learn from work, parents and each other can make the difference between success and failure. Your emotional intelligence can be gauged by how you process interactions with friends, family and strangers. If someone corrects your mistake, do you get angry or do you use that knowledge to improve?

We all know the phrase, “fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” We need to adapt to the work environment that we are in. Even when fooled twice, do you own up to the mistake or do you hide it from your co-workers? Enron fell into this trap and imploded because of it.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) gives us a way to talk about how people navigate the world. Far more important than IQ in most settings, emotional intelligence can be learned, but it rarely is. My take is that not only is it important for dealing with work and personal situations, it also makes you a better consumer of marketing.
- Seth Godin

Seth is an entrepreneur/blogger a head of his time. The reason he is successful is because of his emotional intelligence. All the profits earned at Squidoo goes to the Squidoo Charity Fund, which supports non-profits such as NPR, March of Dimes, and Save the Children. He knows that he has to give back to the world that helped him become successful.

That is why so many people can work hard for a company. They are rewarded by the company for their efforts. They don’t mind double checking that extra report because they know it’s appreciated. The first feeling I experienced when I was assigned to do a task that was outside of my normal duties was anger. I didn’t want to do the work that someone else was too lazy to do. If you are being taken advantage of, you must speak up. However, if your skills are needed to complete the task, then do it right. Using your EQ to settle your thoughts to work on that report and make sure it’s done right can make the difference between a promotion or disappointment from a manager or co-worker.

We should never stop adding tools to out “Emotional Toolbox” because we will be rewarded with a better experience. Stress will be lowered, creativity expanded and enjoyment will be extracted more easily from every day work life. I know this because I’ve seen emotionally stable people receive the promotions at work and they seem to create a more enjoyable environment for the rest of the staff.

Over the next few months Work Happy Now! will be exploring the foundation of the emotions and how they relate to work. Stay tuned for great ideas on how to improve your emotional outlook at your job.

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Sometimes the boss stresses you out and other times it’s a co-worker who’s a bully, but no matter what it is you must face it in order to relieve the anxiety that a difficult situation creates. Dumb Little Man wrote an excellent article, How to Deal with a Workplace Bully. I’ve had mild cases of being bullied. Some people just like to push themselves on to you. They might not even realize that they are making you feel uncomfortable. Try talking to them and making them aware of how they are acting and most likely they will stop. If they don’t, then try reading this article and see if you can use some of his tips.

Bullying is a deliberate attempt to control or undermine you. It typically happens over a prolonged period of time and it can severely damage your self esteem and confidence. It can be subtle or overt. It can take place in private or in front of others. The circumstances can vary greatly from person to person. Here are some examples of bullying behavior at work:

A co-worker or supervisor constantly complains to other team members that you aren’t pulling your weight. They make jokes at your expense and accuse you of making mistakes you haven’t made. In private they constantly belittle, insult and even threaten you. You feel frightened, angry, ashamed and embarrassed.

Most of our stress doesn’t come from the work itself; it’s the people who we are involved with that cause our stress. Please be aware of how other people are making you feel, and if they aren’t treating you right then stand up for yourself or find help.

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I read an article over at Duct Tape Marketing, “Will Social and Journalism Ever Work Together?” As I first began to read I scoffed at the idea because I see blogs on almost every major newspaper’s site, from NY Times to Wall Street Journal. As I read through the next paragraph I began to understand the disconnect between management and journalist. A lot of the writing lacked passion. In most cases it was probably because of the support systems that these writers need, but aren’t given.

“Some of this is due to a lack of information in an “old school” mindset, but a great deal of it is due to the fact that journalists are being asked to embrace these new tools (without a raise in pay) and do so under the umbrella of the paper’s CPM ad model. In other words, go blog, we won’t give you the tools or support to actually do it well, we won’t give you a reason to have a voice and enthusiasm for building a conversation, and, by the way, here’s your page view quota.”

- John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing

Check out full article here.

Being able to work happy is so much more than doing what we love. It’s also about having the right support in place. Management knows that they have journalists in a spot where they want the opportunity to influence people with their words. The management doesn’t have to pay them as much as they are really worth because the journalists have a chance to do something they enjoy. I’m fine with that because the journalists chose that occupation, not for the money, but for the type of work. If the market doesn’t demand that they get paid more then so be it. That being said, if they do have more work on top of their regular work then they should be compensated or management will end up with work that isn’t up to its readers’ standards. The readers aren’t going to keep coming back. They’ll go to a source that truly cares about its topic. There are plenty of other options.

What I really get upset about is the lack of support that the journalists receive from management. They should be given the opportunity to take classes, extra pay for anything beyond their regular work, and bonuses for exceeding certain goals. If the writers feel like they are appreciated, they will put out better content. They will work happy because they see that management is trying to work with them.

They don’t have to be rewarded with monetary bonuses, but maybe company sports tickets or extra time off. It’s the little things that management can do to make up for their lack of support.

Journalists understand the game they are in, but this situation seems similar to the TV writers’ strike because they want to be rewarded for the work that they do, even if it’s a small percentage of the actual take. This is my advice to all paper conglomerates – start helping your team work happy otherwise there will be a backlash.

This is one of the major reasons that newspapers are dying out. They used to have writers by the neck. Where else could they write? Now these great writers can go out and create a blog, making a successful business to support their lifestyle. Most writers don’t want to be bothered thought; they just want decent pay and the support that they need so they don’t have to worry about marketing, budgeting, and all those worries. They want to write. If newspapers give them support the writers will help make newspapers successful online.

What are your thoughts on major newspapers’ blogs? Do you read them or go to smaller blogs for your topic of choice?

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