In today’s world, in almost all the developed countries, government officers are highly qualified
professionals who run the institutions and its machinery having best IQs and EQs, whereas, in
our country officers still act on the 19th century system introduced by the English colonial
masters. At the time that shows we failed to move forward even after independence and carried
the burden of colonial legacy of faltered policies with imperfect bossy structure which lacks
room for the passionately creative, talented, and hard-working individuals as the colonial
superiority is still maintained in this erroneous culture of Babu Sahabs/Afsar in the government
offices.
According to a report published by H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
around “71% of hiring managers said having EQ is more important and 51% of them said that
they would not hire someone with high IQ but a low EQ.” Emotional Intelligence is the ability
to identify and manage one’s own emotions and of those around him. It includes five major
dimensions i.e. Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Motivation, Empathy and Social Skills.
The officers having emotional intelligence can support their colleagues in conflict resolution,
physical and mental well being and in better relationships, succeed in crises, improve the
leadership skills.
Lack of emotional intelligence can create issues like being unable to control emotions, being
clueless of the feelings of self and others, unable to maintain friendships, being unsympathetic
in nature, having poker face and unable to cope sadness and missing volume control of tone.
Ultimately damaging office atmosphere and careers of self and others around them. Believing
people to follow all the orders blindly whether it be wrong or right without questions, though
the results may be devastating or destructive.
In most of the offices, it has been known as a common chaunt that ‘don’t argue with your boss’,
which is often taken as a sign of respect and deference to the authority of seniors, but in reality,
opposite to it may be true. Remaining silent in the face of questionable decisions can be a sign
of weakness and a fragile ego and insecure leaders may forcefully silence their juniors to shield
their self-esteem and save face. Contrary to this secure leaders’ welcome critiques to improve
their judgement and become open to challenges for growth for themselves and for the
organizations.
Intuitively, having best EQ in such situations is mandatory for personal as well as
organizational growth. Knowing the fact that refusing to hear dissenting opinions may be
setting themselves up for failure. There is a widespread phenomenon that arguing with seniors
is a sign of disrespect with the assumption that the boss knows best and that questioning their
decisions is a challenge to their authority. Some people try to avoid such situations by referring
a quotation that “Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and
then beat you with experience.” But factually no person has all the answers and even the most
experienced leaders can make mistakes. Unwelcoming criticism means to close oneself from
valuable feedback and missing the opportunities for growth and to lose the trust and confidence
of juniors upon you with serious consequences on the organization.
Along these lines, it is the need of the hour to revisit our hiring system to hire officers with best
emotional intelligence to improve overall system of the country to successfully coach teams,
manage stress, deliver feedback, and collaborate with others to set tone of the organizations to
excel technically. Officers with best emotional intelligence are crucial for fostering positive
team dynamics, empathy, and effective collaboration.
The writer is government officer and using alias name of Abu Hashim can be contacted
at [email protected]
( This article reflects author’s opinion and not necessarily the views of WNAM )
