Let’s talk about L.O.V.E … at work?!

I want this February, the month of ‘romance’ to shake things up by talking about love….in the workplace.  After such a turbulent year for everyone, dealing with deaths of loved ones, job losses, coping with home schooling, lockdowns world-wide, and the fear of Covid-19 itself, I believe it’s time to talk about our feelings.

This Valentine’s Day 2021 – as well as the tradition of showing our love and care for our friends and family, and those who we can’t see right now, how about showing love and care to our work colleagues?   If 2020 taught us anything, it was to take a look at ourselves and how we learn to respond to all kinds of trauma, how we can change and be flexible, and evaluate how we are living our lives, and how we treat people.  In short, to be kinder.

Some people think that there isn’t a place for emotion in the workplace and I know that isn’t true!  All it takes is for a handful of people to do something simple to show they care, or share their stories of kindness – that’s the impact of emotion on behaviour right there.  Which is why I’ve set up a hashtag #hereisthelove on Linked In:  to encourage us all to show that we care!   I’d really like to capture that warm fuzzy feeling we all get when someone demonstrates thoughtfulness.  

During lockdown someone I had been working with sent me a surprise parcel – a sweater with the words from a favourite song of mine embroidered on it: ‘You are my sunshine, my only sunshine’.  The song was really important to me, we’d talked about this just once and then I received this unexpected gift which really stopped me in my tracks.  This experience will stay with my forever.  It was a demonstration of colleague love, thoughtfulness and kindness. What would your ‘jumper’ moment be? Let’s share these positive vibes!   

I truly believe that the skill of EI can transform the way businesses behave, improving the relationships between customer, employee and colleagues too. I also believe that teaching young people how to become more emotionally intelligent could help them thrive, especially after what they’ve had to deal with this last year.

 I lecture part-time at Pearson Business School in London, on the topics of People Management and Leadership, and Professional Behaviours and Customer Management, and run a series of post-graduate courses in Customer Experience and Emotional Intelligence.  I presented my first academic paper in 2019, TEDx in 2020, and intend to start a PhD in 2022. It’s safe to say I’m a lifelong learner in this fascinating subject which I truly believe can change our lives.

The Ei Evolution is built on the premise that customer experiences and life-long learning are better designed, delivered and improved with the support of the sciences (neuroscience, behavioural science and psychology).I’ve produced an EI playbook to explain this interconnectivity.  Here’s an extract – feel free to join me on this exciting and ever-developing journey.

Sandra is a Londoner, living in Caversham, Berkshire, with her partner, his children and Bonnie the dog.