Technical education, skills and years of experience - all important prerequisites of exceptional workers but not the most important ones. Managers often say the most important prerequisite for success is an employee's personality. In fact, though, they don't mean personality as an unchangeable set of traits constituting the individuality of a particular person but rather emotional intelligence - a set of skills we can develop.
"Exceptional employees don’t possess God-given personality traits; they rely on simple, everyday EQ skills that anyone can incorporate into their repertoire," explains expert on emotional intelligence Travis Bradberry in an article on Entrepreneur.com. In his view the task of leaders is not to seek exceptional personalities but to help all members of their teams develop their EQ skills. You can identify exceptional employees according to the following behaviour.
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They don't refuse to do things not included in their job description. They willingly sacrifice their time and help beyond their duties without expecting any reward.
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They don't avoid conflicts when they occur. They can calmly and logically explain and defend their opinions without attacking others.
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They remain focused on what is really important. They can differentiate real problems from the irrelevant.
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They are not afraid to ask difficult questions. At the same time, however, they carefully plan when and how to ask.
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They keep their egos in check. They can admit to and correct their mistakes.
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They know they still have much to learn. Even if successful, they want to keep improving.
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They don't ignore problems around themselves but try quickly to solve them.
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They take responsibility for their own work and decisions. They do not blame others and if something goes wrong, they prefer to report it themselves.
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Others like them and believe them. They have leadership skills even if they are not managers.
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They are able to communicate even with unpleasant people. They control their emotions and seek common solutions.
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