At work, it's not possible. Not every response I give will satisfy the many different personalities I deal with at work. It's really interesting to see how each person on my team approaches a problem or situation.
Some are brute and honest
Some are non-confrontational and passive-aggressive
I tend to lean toward brute and honest but even that can be a bit much for the workplace. You also factor that I am 6'6 260 pounds- I can't be as demonstrative or else I become the tall ANGRY black guy.
For fear of job career suicide, I was taught emotional intelligence by one of my favorite managers. Multiple reports label it as the ability to recognize one's own and other people's emotions to discriminate between different feelings and label them appropriately. This ability contributes to success and becoming a better leader yet it still sedates a persons true opinion. I guess that's a good thing because not every disagreement needs to be a war. In the professional world, I can't use what my mom taught me because I can't run from conflict or problems in a board room.
"if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
This just doesn't work in a boardroom. Non verbal language is huge for checking attitudes. "Dead" eyes are not going to win you friends in the office. Because of my size and stature, it makes me have to work that much harder at emotional intelligence. The challenge isn't myself, it's others. Being in tune with peoples emotions and actions is really tough. Big data analytic's can't teach you how to respond to people in certain situations. This game of the office is quite complex and every calculated move leads me somewhere for my future. One wrong move and I lose out on any potential promotion or consideration for positions.
I used to think I was emotionally intelligent until I came across these challenges that made me realize, I'm not quite there yet.
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