Chapter 2
Handling Emotions in the Workplace:
Strategies for Success
FOCUS
The purpose of this chapter is to help students understand the importance of emotions, emotional
intelligence, and self-awareness, use strategies for self-regulation at work, appreciate the role of
motivation and empathy in career success, use social skill to enhance work relationships, and
recognize other emotional factors in healthy relationships.
CHAPTER PREVIEW
OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
2.1 Explain the importance of emotions and emotional intelligence.
2.2 Define self-awareness and describe its role in human relations.
2.3 Describe and use strategies for self-regulation at work.
2.4 Define the role of motivation and empathy in career success.
2.5 Use social skill to enhance work relationships.
2.6 Identify other emotional factors in healthy relations.
TEACHING-LEARNING SUGGESTIONS
Answers to Jump Start Questions
2.1 Emotions and Emotional Intelligence
Emotions are your feelings, impulses to act, and mind and body reactions. They can
Definition of Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize and handle your feelings and others’ feelings.
Briefly discuss the five components of emotional intelligence, Figure 2.1.
Why Emotional Intelligence Matters
Increasingly, organizations are finding that emotionally intelligent employees are better
performers and more effective in their interactions with fellow employees. And organizations
that act toward their employees in an emotionally intelligent become more satisfying and
desirable places to work.
Emotional intelligence benefits you as well, both as an employee and as a person. It can
help you to cope with the disappointments and bad experiences that everyone has in life. It
can keep you from saying and doing things that you will later regret. It can improve your
self-confidence and self-esteem. At work, employers have certain expectations of you in
terms of your behavior. They include things like displaying a positive attitude, getting along
with fellow workers, and keeping your emotions in check. All of these things have to do with
emotional intelligence and with being professional.
Rating Your Emotional Competencies
Have students complete the emotional strenths quiz. Point out that, in analyzing the totals, they
will probably find their ratings differ in the three columns. As they compare the ratings, they
should start thinking about their strengths and the areas in which they may need to improve.
Stress that everyone always has room for improvement.
Answers to Ask Yourself
2.2 Self-Awareness
Being self-aware means that you are able to recognize and understand your moods, drives, and
emotions. Further, you know how they can affect you and those around you.
Perceptions and Factors that Influence Them
Perception is the process by which you acquire mental images of your environment. Through
perception you organize, interpret, and give meaning to sensations or messages that you receive
with your senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing.
Many factor influence perception, including time and place, emotional state, age, frequency,
halo effect (assuming that if a person has one trait you view positively, all of that person’s traits
must be positive) and reverse halo effect. Under the influence of the reverse halo effect, you
allow one negative characteristic of a person to influence your whole impression negatively.
Teaching Master 2.1
Use the prepared teaching master to point out how people’s perceptions differ
Supplementary Exercise 2.1
Have students describe how each of the following individuals looks and acts: used car
salesperson, librarian, police officer, professional football player, administrative assistant, movie
star, doctor, mother, rock star, artist, and thief. Is it possible that not all individuals in these roles
possess the traits described? How often do we stereotype? How can we overcome this tendency?
Answers to In the News
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Self-Confidence
Self-confidence reflects how sure you are about your self-worth and capabilities. Self-esteem
refers to how you feel about yourself. Discuss Figure 2.2, suggestions for improving self-esteem.
Self-Disclosure and Feedback
Self-disclosure is the healthy sharing of your perceptions, thoughts, feelings, opinions, and
desires. It can increase the accuracy of your communication, reduce stress, and increase your self-
awareness. Feedback is information given to a person that evaluates his/her actions or states what
the receiver understood. Exercise care in making disclosures.
Answers to Ask Yourself
2.3 Self-Regulation
The second major component of emotional intelligence, self-regulation, is a key measure of
maturity. It refers to your ability to control or redirect your disruptive impulses or moods.
To improve self-regulation, try the following actions:
Consciously manage potentially disruptive emotions and impulses when they
arise. Different techniques work for different people. Some examples are taking a
walk, talking with a trusted friend, counting to ten before acting, sleeping on a
problem or decision, and getting a good night’s rest. Additional ways are
developing a written pros and cons list, scheduling work so that you are not
overwhelmed by deadlines, and asking for help.
Consistently maintain standards of honesty and integrity in your activities.
Considering your own code of ethics ahead of time will help you take appropriate
action when facing tough decisions.
Take responsibility for your own performance, follow through, and be on time.
These steps will help keep you focused and more organized. They’ll also improve
your self-esteem and gain respect from others.
Be willing to listen, learn, and adapt. Telling yourself that you can be comfortable
with new ideas will help you seek out information and try new ways of operating.
Stress frequently causes anxiety, and people frequently use defense mechanisms to cope.
Discuss the defense mechanisms in Figure 2.3 and the suggestions for dealing with
anxiety.
Answers to Global Connection
1. Student answers will vary but should reflect understanding of how and why Dell’s
announcement might make a difference.
2. Student answers will vary but should suggest that both organizations and individuals
bear a responsibility.
Answers to Ask Yourself
2.4 Motivation and Empathy
Motivation, as included in emotional intelligence, refers to our desire to achieve for
achievement’s sake. At work your employer will expect you to demonstrate a positive attitude.
Discuss the ways to demonstrate a positive attitude at work and the suggestions for maintaining a
positive attitude. Three approaches that will help you develop a positive attitude are change your
thought processes, engage in positive self-talk, and use visualization. Empathy is the ability to
understand other people’s emotions and to respond appropriately to them.
Answers to Technology Connection
1. Student answers will vary based on experiences but should address the importance of
empathy and listening and reflect an understanding of live chat..
2. Student answers will vary but should reflect understanding of live chat.
Answers to Ask Yourself
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2.5 Social Skill
Social skill, the fifth component of emotional intelligence, is the ability to get along well with
other people—to manage relationships and build networks. To get along well with others,
empathy is required. So are emotional steadiness and the ability to show emotion, effectively,
at the right moment. Being committed to a goal and having the inner motivation to get there
helps ready us for the personal engagements we’ll make along the way.
Discuss the suggestions for developing and exercising social skill and for giving/receiving
compliments. An important part of social skill is understanding and using acceptable
behavior in the many roles you play. So are using appropriate assertiveness skill and
interacting effectively with your boss. Discuss the ways to make a good impression on your
supervisor, for managing your relationship with your boss, and for making discussions
productive.
Answers to Ask Yourself
2.6 Other Emotional Factors
Perfectionism can result in striking outcomes. Because perfectionists are self-disciplined,
they can accomplish a great deal. They have high standards and ethics, are responsible, and
tend to be good problem solvers.
But perfectionism has a downside, particularly at work. Perfectionists frequently have
impossibly high expectations of others as well as themselves. They may feel burdened by the
responsibilities they impose on themselves, tend to think their work is never good enough,
and believe they are not appreciated.
A perfectionist’s attitude can also make life difficult for coworkers. Perfectionists expect
fellow employees to share their unrealistic goals.
Discuss the suggestions for working with perfectionists and for dealing with perfectionism
in yourself.
Also discuss Figure 2.6, How to be Happy.
Answers to Ask Yourself
Teaching Master 2. Check Out My Attitude Quiz
Have students rate their current attitudes and discuss results.
Supplementary Exercise 2.2
Divide the class into two equal groups. Have members of one group sit in a circle and close their
eyes. Have one member of the other group stand behind each member who is seated. Those
standing are to whisper positive “self-talk” phrases to those seated (for example, “you are a good
person,” “you are successful,” “you can do it”). After 15 seconds, the individuals standing rotate
to the right and repeat the phrases and massages to the person seated in front of them. After each
person in the outer group has been paired with every person in the inner circle, the groups should
switch places and repeat the exercise. This exercise may not come naturally to all students, and
some may find it amusing. Be patient, and encourage students to try to take it seriously. After the
exercise, discuss the effects of the positive phrases. How did they make students feel?
KEY TERMS DEFINITIONS
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SUGGESTED RESPONSES TO REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. Simply put, emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize and handle your feelings and
others’ feelings. It has to do not just with keeping your emotions in check but with using them
in a thoughtful way. Many of the skills that employers look for in the employees they hire are
emotional intelligence competencies, such as interpersonal skills, leadership ability,
flexibility, and teamwork skills. Customer service skills, another emotional intelligence
competency, are vital to almost any organization’s success. Increasingly, organizations are
finding that emotionally intelligent employees are better performers and more effective in
their interactions with fellow employees. Also organizations that act toward their employees
in an emotionally intelligent way become more satisfying and desirable places to work.
2. Some general suggestions for boosting your overall emotional intelligence are discussed
by Schindler in Resource 9:
Know your strengths and weaknesses. Determine where you need to improve
and whether you are willing to commit to changing.
Define specifically how you want to improve—what habits you want to change
and in what situations.
Suggestions for building self-esteem are shown in Figure 2.3.
3. An important step in becoming more self-aware is understanding how your perceptions
affect you. Perception is the process by which you acquire mental images of your
environment. Through perception, you organize, interpret, and give meaning to sensations or
messages that you receive with your senses of sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing.
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Conditions and Characteristics That Influence Perception12
Time and place Employees sometimes erroneously assume that an order from a
supervisor is not as important when it takes place in the hall as when it
occurs in the boss’s office.
Emotional state We are more receptive to ideas when we are relaxed than when we are
feeling nervous or tired.
Age A building or room that you thought was large when you were a child may
seem small once you are an adult.
Frequency If your supervisor starts including you in weekly planning sessions, you
may feel uneasy at first but become comfortable after a while.
People develop certain attitudes and tend to make decisions based on those attitudes. Some of
the things that influence perception and contribute to attitudes are so much a part of us, such
as culture, heredity, and interests, that they are difficult to recognize. Others, like peer
pressure, needs, or conditions, are easier to identify.
Common perceptual defense mechanisms include the following:
4. Having a positive attitude at work is important because it is one of the competencies for
motivation. It’s also a very important quality that employers look for in job applicants. Your
employer will expect you to demonstrate a positive attitude at all times, even when you are
Nine Ways to Demonstrate a Positive Attitude at Work22
1. Be a team player.
2. Don’t act like a prima donna, always expecting to have your own way.
5. Assertiveness means expressing your thoughts and feelings while asking for what you
want in an appropriate, calm, and confident manner. It is acting in a way that is neither too
pushy nor too passive.
6. Our perceptions of a supervisor can affect our relationship. For instance, if a supervisor
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7. Pros and cons of being a perfectionist and ways to control such tendencies: Perfectionism can
SUGGESTED RESPONSES TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
1. Your self-esteem refers to how you feel about yourself. People with healthy self-esteem
feel emotions but don’t let emotions overwhelm them. They are less likely to take things
personally. They aren’t overly concerned about past mistakes or failures, and they’re better
able to cope with problems and disappointments.
2. Student responses will vary but should reflect self-examination and a serious attempt to
3. Student responses will vary but should reflect serious consideration of the test results,
4. Student answers will vary but should reflect consideration of pros and cons of giving free
SUGGESTED RESPONSES TO CASE STUDIES QUESTIONS
Case Study 1, Worst Employees of the Year
1. It appears that they may have needed to do more thinking before acting.
2. It appears that faulty self-regulation was at play in these instances. This is the ability
3. This question should generate a lively discussion. Student answers will vary but
Case Study 2, Employee with an Attitude
1. Roberta was probably feeling uncomfortable and left out of the technical discussion,
2. The situation might have been avoided if Bob had explained to her prior to the
3. Bob should have this discussion with her now to clarify expectations and hear her
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HUMAN RELATIONS IN ACTION
Student reports will vary but should reflect evidence of research and an understanding of the
chapter content. Further, the one-page report should incorporate professional communication
standards and format.