Doctors’ and nurses’ level of leadership, influence, and even credibility can be hindered if they struggle with things like self-awareness, empathy, or active listening when interacting with patients and fellow staff members.
All of these skills (and more) are part of a greater system of personal development and leadership development called emotional intelligence (EI).
Let’s talk about why emotional intelligence for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals is so important.
What Is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is the ability for a person to identify, comprehend, and regulate their own emotions, as well as identify, comprehend, and influence the emotions of other people.
This not only covers the ability to recognize and name our emotions, but it also requires us to take ownership of those feelings and manage our behaviors as a response.
How does it feel when you have a patient with a negative attitude? What emotions do you experience when a coworker raises conflict with you? How do you respond in those situations?
Why Is Emotional Intelligence for Doctors and Nurses So Important?
As healthcare professionals, allowing your emotions to run the show significantly impacts your decision-making abilities and interpersonal skills. It can also severely damage the relationships you have with your patients.
Possessing high emotional intelligence means being able to identify what we are feeling, understanding why we feel that way, and then rationally forming a response that will address the problem at hand without undermining our influence as a caring, trustworthy, integrous leader.
Emotional intelligence helps us navigate difficult but necessary conversations, regulate our emotions when we feel upset and overwhelmed, take control of our temperament, resolve conflicts, encourage and motivate others, improve collaboration with fellow staff members, and create an environment where patients feel heard, safe, and cared for.
In this video, I explain why emotional intelligence is the #1 skill doctors and nurses need.
About Dr. Wilkerson, PD, MBA, PCC.
Do you want to increase your impact? Do you want to increase profits under your leadership? Do you want to develop and use your abilities to the fullest to better connect with and lead others? Executive Leadership Coaching covers these bases. Dr. Jerrund Wilkerson, PD, MBA, PCC, has more than 30 years of successful executive leadership coaching in the United States and internationally.
As a licensed pharmacist, he is particularly passionate about helping develop effective leaders in the healthcare community. Dr. Wilkerson has coached and trained thousands of managers and leaders. He is a certified coach and member of the John Maxwell Leadership Team.
CLICK HERE to learn more.