It’s been said that women entrepreneurs are among the happiest people in the world. Could that happiness be the key to the success of their companies? Entrepreneur and Author Jen Groover thinks so. In a three-part series for SMBs, Jen shares the powerful lessons she’s on her path to success. In her third post below, Jen explores why emotional intelligence should be a core business tenet. Read Jen’s previous post: living to your full potential.

– Cindy

The health of your relationships directly correlates to your success and happiness.

Think about how you feel when disagreeing with a spouse, or best friend, family member, co-worker or just about anyone. Are you mentally distracted? Is your stress level elevated? Are you as focused on being productive?

Now think about when everything is great within all of your relationships. Your mental clarity is increased. Your energy is elevated. Which means you are more productive and creative. Therefore, more successful at achieving your goals.

In my opinion, we should help people learn emotional intelligence and how to have better relationships, in conjunction with courses about business and success. Corporations that invest in workshops to teach these skill sets, such as coping with adversity, are likely to see the positive impact on their bottom line.

More people need to realize that happiness and healthy relationships are the foundations of profitability. When people are positive, it creates a better work environment, decreasing sick days and increasing job satisfaction. Most business leaders entirely miss this domino effect. I believe the next generation of leaders will get this, and begin to define employee happiness as a top business priority.

If you are a business leader, I applaud you if you already provide these practices and education to your teams. If you don’t, please do so. If you work for a company that doesn’t provide this support, I encourage you to tell your leaders that it’s a way to instantly increase success.

The real “bottom line” is that everyone desires to be happy. So imagine how successful a company can be, when it focuses on making people as happy, healthy and productive as they can be.

This article originally appeared on Cindy Bates’ Blog.