Emotional Business Bombs: How Great Leaders Recognize Them FAST

Have you ever had an interaction with someone and thought, "Well, he didn't seem to be acting himself at all…"? Everyone has good and bad days, but sometimes it's more than that. Emotional business bombs in the office are dangerous when handled poorly. So, what should we do? We've gathered up our best tips for how to prepare yourself and your employees to recognize and react to emotional business bombs the right way - before things get out of control.

Keep reading to learn more!

A great place to start learning how to recognize emotional business bombs is learning about Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Recognizing when and knowing how to react to an emotional colleague or customer are invaluable skills that everyone working in an office needs.

Essentially, to have successful interactions in business, you need to hone your EQ. Using emotional intelligence in the office is your key to success in your everyday work relationships with employees, colleagues, and clients.

Emotional Business Bombs – What Are They?

Emotional business bombs are a big problem. At some point, all of us have been distracted by our thoughts. Has the idea of a family obligation, financial difficulty, or impending deadline ever ruined your mood? We'd be lying if we said this has never happened to us. Here are some signs you may have had an emotional business bomb at some point:

Maybe you responded in a curt tone of voice when someone asked you a question. Perhaps you decided to eat lunch alone or avoided eye contact and conversation. It kind of makes you cringe now, doesn't it?

If this sounds familiar, it means you're like the rest of us! :)

But when someone else is behaving like this, how quick are we to judge them and react negatively rather than taking a step back to see if there's more to the story?

We have to expect that at some point, our "real world" lives will affect our emotions – even while we're at work. And we would be fooling ourselves if we didn't think the same goes for our colleagues and clients.

So, We Can Recognize Emotional Business Bombs – What Do We Do About Them?

Some offices have a "check your emotions at the door" policy. This policy means that before employees enter their workplace, they're encouraged to leave any emotional "baggage" at the door and enter the workday with a fresh start.

While we get this concept in theory – we agree that professionalism is crucial – this policy does employees a disservice. When we pretend that employees will always control their emotions, we aren't honest or fair to anyone.

"Check it at the door" policies remove the freedom to be expressive and can lead to environments of toxic positivity – pretending like everything is okay when it isn't. Toxic positivity doesn't usually last long, and when it goes south, it isn't pretty. Toxic positivity is used as a cover-up for emotional business bombs. If you ask us, we'd rather know when there's a bomb before it goes off rather than have to deal with the mess after it explodes.

So, it's pretty clear that "checking your emotions at the door" doesn't work. But that still doesn't solve the emotional business bomb issue. You may be wondering at this point if there even is a solution. The best and only legitimate solution to this problem is Emotional Intelligence.

What Is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)?

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) refers to the ability to understand and recognize our own and other people's emotions. Note: you can be very strong in one domain and not the other. A fun example is watching the sales person who can read the room perfectly and 'feel' when the presentation is not being received well by the client, but that same person can't tell when they have offended someone with a curt comment. Wow, that one hits home; The point is; you can have very high EQ skills with others, but not yourself and vice-versa.

It's a well-known fact that most of our understanding of another person lies in nonverbal communication – including tone, pitch, and body language. EQ helps us understand this, which is why emotional intelligence is vital for everyone.

Why Does Emotional Intelligence Matter?

Recognizing your own EQ and learning to recognize others' EQ is crucial to all human interactions, especially business interactions. Given that business dealings require interpersonal communication and relationships, learning to recognize others' emotions can make a business deal sink or swim.

Consider this: If your usually friendly manager seems oddly cold, abrupt, and irritable today, how should you react? If you ignore their emotions, mock them, or even become offended by their behavior, you not only risk damaging your relationship, but you also miss an opportunity to learn what is wrong.

What if their mom is sick or a friend had an accident? Maybe they received some difficult financial news that morning, or their car hit an animal on the drive to the office that day. All of these emotional bombs can have a devastating impact on the rest of their day at the office – not to mention the potential impact it could have on the rest of their week or even longer. Learning to recognize when others need help or just offering a listening ear is a sign of emotional intelligence.

Sure, you may not be a mental health professional. And no one is asking you to be or expecting that. However, we do not need to act as mental health professionals to recognize how our EQ might affect others. When we're conscious of shifts to others' emotional states, we use our Emotional Intelligence to resolve issues, build trust, and enhance relationships. Ultimately, EQ is good for business.

Recognizing Your EQ

As shown above, recognizing your own EQ is crucial for anyone and is especially important for business leaders. For some, recognizing your emotional intelligence is more straightforward than learning to recognize others' EQ. For others, it is the opposite.

Learning to recognize your EQ will be easier for those who are more introspective and introverted. Recognizing your own EQ has its merits. Outgoing extroverts may have a special knack for identifying others' EQ. Here are some of the ways you can realize your EQ regardless of your disposition:

• Are you proactive or reactive? Pay attention to your response to others. If someone comes off as being rude to you in a conversation, what is your first instinct?

• If you immediately take offense or move to make light or poke fun of them or the situation, you may have low emotional intelligence. But that's okay! We can work on that. EQ TIP#1: Consider where the other person is coming from – what might they be experiencing? – don't take it personally.

• Do you have a habit of oversharing? Do you get emotionally attached easily or quickly make new friends? Your emotional intelligence may be on the higher end.

• Emotional intelligence is not the same as being highly dynamic. Being overly emotional can weaken your emotional intelligence since EQ includes your ability to react with levelheadedness to circumstances.

• EQ TIP #2: Like all-natural talents, yours must be reined in and trained for greatness. Learn to limit your attachments and dole out your passion in moderation. Doing this will help you to avoid increasing emotional tension and calming others down in high-stress situations. Further, you will also lessen the likelihood of emotional exhaustion.

• After reading the above scenarios, do you find yourself in the middle? Your emotional intelligence may be average. If that is the case, you are at an advantage. EQ TIP #3: Learn where your shortcomings are. Do you have a habit of making light of serious situations or avoiding emotional people? Recognize your areas for growth.

Learning to Recognize Others' EQ

If you are a manager or another type of leader, learning to recognize others' emotional intelligence is just as important as your own. When others are insensitive to their colleagues, tensions can arise in the office space, and conflicts can arise.

To avoid emotional business bombs like these, hire people aware of their emotional intelligence. Tools like the dynamic intelligence assessment available from TTI Success Insights will allow you to learn to recognize others' EQ. Vigorous intelligence training and education will improve relations in your office and beyond.

Closing Thoughts

Because we can't always control our emotional responses in life, Emotional Intelligence is indispensable. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is vital to any workspace, but particularly businesses. If not addressed by emotionally intelligent people, emotional business bombs can cause tensions and issues. Learning about your EQ and others is key to success!