“Most people spend more time than they would like thinking about when they lost control over or misunderstood others. To mature and to be congruent in the company of others we each have to connect with our inner selves and our uniqueness.” Ms Suzan Lane (Facilitator : Emotional Intelligence Workshop)
These were the strong words by Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Facilitator, Suzan Lane at the Gender Forum workshop held at the Curries Fountain Boardroom on the 1 October 2010. The aim was to encourage and empower DUT staff members, especially women, to not be afraid to deal with daily challenges within the work place.
According to Lane, EQ reflects one’s ability to deal with daily work challenges and helps in predicting one’s success in life, including professional and personal pursuits. Quoting from “The Personalities” by Rueven Baron, EQ is based on a comprehensive model of emotional and social intelligence. For many leading companies, it has become the core of soft skills and management competencies. “As women, we need to transform our negative views and disbeliefs about ourselves, this should be done by eliminating negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones”, she urged.
Speaking at the workshop, Gender Forum Vice-Chairperson Shirlene Neerputh said, “The onus is upon us as staff and students to empower ourselves, in taking charge to proactively change attitudes, beliefs and experiences for positive outcomes in both the workplace and in the home.”
Neerputh also tackled the fact that in large workplaces where you have a bigger staff complement, employees can often be discriminated or treated unfairly, even emotionally abused if they are not assertive. Regarding our jobs and financial status, each and every one of us is ultimately responsible for being the executive officer of our own destiny. Emotional Intelligence educates one to confront such issues, with a view to leading a happy life.
Acknowledgements were accorded to DUT HR Skills for funding the workshop and Ms Pam Govender (Gender Forum) who organised the workshop.
– Happiness Mntungwa
