Nathalie LADRIÈRE (TBS 2007) - The importance of emotions

A show of emotions is often seen as a sign of weakness, yet emotional intelligence is consistently gaining value.

By birth, we are social beings and we need to interact. Every action we take is translated by an emotion.

In every training course I organize, I suggest doing a practice that appears to be very simple, yet ... 

Try telling someone a story, something very intense, for example, the latest film that really moved you, a discussion that went badly, an event that got you up in arms.

This is how you do it : tell the story in a neutral voice and avoid using words which might reveal the way you experienced it, and don't let your facial expressions betray your feelings. 

This exercice isn't easy because it is impossible to shut off emotions. Even without realizing, very naturally, our facial expressions, our tone of voice, our posture, everything gives away information about how we are feeling, whether confortable or not.  

Emotions are natural, innate and serve a purpose. They give indicators about how we perceive what is happening to the people who are following us and watching us, with whom we are exchanging. This is all unconscious behaviour. If for whatever reason, we try to tone down or suppress emotions, without listening to what they have to say, we are sure to get a boomerang effect at some time or other.

Sometimes, we might find it difficult to understand what a person is feeling or our own emotions and that has, all the more so, an impact on our physical and mental state. Sometimes it is hard to limit the intensity of these emotions. That is precisely why working on emotions is important : understanding the feeling and how it effects the body and mind, acting on it to reduce its intensity to keep in within your confort zone, or at worst, a tolerable zone. 

 Emotional Intelligence : Giving greater value to soft skills !

While IQ has been so popular over the last few years that specialists are inundated, a different notion of intelligence is on the rise:  

Emotional Intelligence – EI

It is becoming more and more widespread to consider that feelings, and also the ability to identify feelings and keep them within a tolerence window, are actually the most important elements of Man when interconnecting. According to some, this form of intelligence will be the most important one in the years to come. Goodbye IQ, Hello EQ (emotional quotient).

EI is the ability to recognize, within oneself and others, the emotion or feelings that arise. Other terms include human intelligence and cognitive skills.

A great number of studies highlight the link between the level of emotional intelligence and professional and personal success. We can bet that in the future, we will be able to show just how important this notion is. 

Just like memory capacity, concentration and mental intelligence, emotional intelligence can be developed. As professionals of emotions and related disorder, our role involves first giving you insight into how these emotions work, based on emotional neuroscience. Understanding is essential in order to gain new ways of handling them. After that, control mechanisms can be put in place to keep within the tolerance window, and learn to observe, decipher these feelings to understand their inherent meaning. Because, yes, emotions have a role to play, even an essential one.