Brothers Campfire on Emotional Intelligence

Hello, Benjamin from Brother’s Campfire here!

I am back to work and loving it. It is nice to complete meaningful work and this has been a reward on its own.

It is amusing. I have started wearing a shirt and tie and the offenders have begun calling me “the Cockatiel”

It isn’t what they are used to. I will say letting my Beloved picked my clothing is beneficial as it is more complicated than what I typically wear.

Where was I? Oh yes, the new job.

This new job comes with unique challenges requiring new skills and pulling old ones out of the toolbox; namely, emotional intelligence.

A couple of years ago, I wrote a story about a guy named Emerson Berengar who was like a wall. If you run crosswise of him, you’ll know. He built a campfire and folks were welcomed from all walks of life provided they followed the rules.

I am like Emerson Berengar in this sense; hard-charging, oblivious, and ignorant of everything but the task at hand. Over the last decade, my outlook has been to make my industry work, regardless.

With offender workers, I have held the philosophy that I do not care much about their feelings, but more about education and helping with appointments and other tangible things like real-life preparation.

Please Teach Your Children. I do not wish to counsel them in a corrections environment because you failed to.

The same went for the staff I supervised; I focused a lot on getting good documentation on file, and making sure they went to all the training and seminars, and was just hands-on enough to not micromanage.

Intuition and following my gut feeling while plowing through obstacles at a high rate of speed was pretty effective in a lot of ways in the pursuit of completing daily goals with a difficult population.

Looking back, what I have declined to offer in terms of leadership is empathy, and I will need to demonstrate this and a few additional qualities in life and in the new assignment.

Interpersonal skills, meaningful communication, and genuinely trying to put myself in someone else’s shoes can always be improved on.

With all that said, I am currently reading a book by Daniel Coleman on the topic titled Working with Emotional Intelligence.
While I do not think it is in my top five books that have shaped my life, it is worth a look-see if you need a little change of perspective in your industry.

I have spoken to my Beloved on the topic, and she valued the concepts I have described so far.

Perhaps a little self-reflecting is in order on the soft skills.

Well, I am off to get ready for church. I hope to see you all throughout the week!

Author: Benjamin

Benjamin Thiel is a husband, father, correctional professional and author of The Ongoing Tale at Brothers Campfire.

26 thoughts on “Brothers Campfire on Emotional Intelligence

  1. Lookoom says:

    I appreciate your ability to analyse yourself in order to do things better, it makes me think that we often have resources within ourselves that we do not use enough without realising it.

    Reply
    1. Benjamin says:

      Apparently, something I need to know a lot about to progress professionally. I am looking carefully in examination. 🤠🔥

      Reply
  2. Jaskiers says:

    I’m glad you’re ok !
    Awesome article, your motivation is an inspiration !
    Salutations from a rainy en cold Normandie !

    Reply
    1. Benjamin says:

      Thanks, and if you have any additional rain, please direct it to Colorful Colorado!

      Reply
  3. windsofchange18 says:

    Wonderful so happy you’re enjoying it. And I must same you look great in both styles your love has good taste in clothing.

    Reply
  4. Petra says:

    Soft skills are really missing in the world, so I think it’s awesome when people try to do better and reflect on themselves. Great job 🙂

    Reply
  5. haoyando says:

    Wonderful pictures and great post. Want to know about those emotional intelligence. More emotion or more intelligence?

    Reply

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