I recently spent 10 days on a river rafting trip through the Grand Canyon with a group of people whom I had not previously met. Most were friends of a friend; the opportunity to float and run rapids through 200-plus miles of nature’s grandeur was more compelling to me than knowing the crowd I would be communing with through the experience. I must say that I was delighted to find the group a warm and welcoming bunch who made the adventure, for me, a life-changing experience altogether. (But more about that in another post.)
Of the 16 people who embarked on this journey, about two-thirds were what I have come to call “green-collar workers”; that is, their education and careers were focused on protecting, restoring and preserving the environment. There were fish biologists, environmental engineers, restoration specialists, waste experts, species protectors, grant writers and river regulators. Many of them worked in state or federal government positions in Oregon, California or Utah. For me, it was enlightening to spend time with and learn from people who really understood the issues of our environment from an educated and experienced place, not just from what they had read in the papers or heard on the evening news.
In my usual circles, talking about “EQ” seems an obvious reference to emotional intelligence, or what we often term “the street smarts of business success”. In this group, however, when I mentioned “EQ”, their most common reference point was “environmental quality”. In conversations about our various backgrounds and interests, I could tell instantly by their puzzled looks that we were not speaking the same language. Finally, (duh!) I recognized the discrepancy, and in the same moment nearly fell out of the boat laughing from a lightning bolt of insight. (Which, of course, puzzled them even more.)
EQ=EQ!
Emotional Intelligence = Environmental Quality. (Now wait, you say. You’ve lost me.)
Think about it this way: When I ask people what they want and like most about their jobs, the most common answers I get are something like this:
“Working with good people.”
“Having a pleasant place to work.”
“Working with people who support and encourage me.”
“Feeling like I am making a difference in people’s lives.”
The environments in which we work are influenced more by the people who work there than the bricks and mortar that surround us. “Environmental Quality”, while most often associated with water, land, air and species preservation, may also be a description of our workplace energy, culture, communication and camaraderie. And well-developed EQ (emotional intelligence) may be the most significant contributor to EQ (environmental quality) in our workplaces.
How’s the EQ of your workplace?