Women demonstrating emotional intelligence in the workplace are an important part of leadership and should be valued by today’s organisations and business, according to an expert.

Professor Amanda Broderick, pro-vice Chancellor (International Priorities) and dean of Salford Business School, UK, stressed on the importance of women empowerment in her recent visit to the UAE, in a move to promote workplace gender equality.

Broderick led a visiting delegation from the University of Salford on a Middle East tour (Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Dubai) to promote the launch of the institution's first global hub, which was launched in the UAE capital last year.

During her visit, she made history as the first woman to address the Abu Dhabi Police Force (ADPF).

In a presentation given at the ADPF’s headquarters, Broderick spoke on the issue of empowerment and equality under the topic titled, ‘Organizational Diversity: Challenging thinking, changing practice, achieving success.’

Addressing an audience of senior police staff and female officers, she said: “Often we talk about women being more emotionally connected than men and that this may not be perceived as a valued quality in the workplace.

“For me, emotional intelligence is an incredibly important part of leadership, for me it is about leadership with authenticity, it is about leading with integrity and it is about expressing the motivations for your leadership and valuing the motivations of others.”

Prof Broderick also said women could simply accept being victims of gender inequality or use the challenges they face as inspiration to make a difference.

“I often hear tales of woe with regards to being overlooked, political challenges, toxic bosses or the lack of appropriate workplace nursing facilities. This is something that we are facing on a day-to-day basis and trying to overcome. We can focus on being victims or we can turn that desperation into inspiration, we can turn those challenges into opportunities for learning,” she stated.

Prof. Broderick also gave the keynote address for the CBD-NOW Breakfast Seminar, a women’s business network that was launched in the new Central Business District of Abu Dhabi with the intention of connecting women based in business district of Abu Dhabi.

She offered five top tips on how to successfully incorporate gender diversity within an organisation and also touched on a number of personal experiences she has herself experienced in the workplace.

“The business case for organisational diversity is solid. The key to it is the different perspectives and the different ways of solving a problem increases innovation,” Broderick added. - TradeArabia News Service