Emotional intelligence (EQ) is an asset that helps you stand out and gain a competitive edge. As more studies show emotional intelligence improves employee productivity and job performance, it becomes a more coveted skill in the office. Emotional intelligence is when you can understand the emotions of yourself and others and manage your own feelings well. It shows a balance between intelligence and self-awareness and reflects an ability to make better decisions, problem-solve from a holistic perspective, and communicate effectively. When business growth or career advancement is slow or stalled, emotional intelligence can be a crucial missing link for transformation.
Emotional intelligence is rated in four categories:
- Self-awareness. When you have a high level of self-awareness, you can recognize how your beliefs and emotions affect your thoughts and behavior. Self-awareness helps your ability to change negative habits, thoughts, or behavior.
- Self-management. You are able to think clearly in situations where you feel strong emotions, such as stress, anxiety, or anger because you can regulate your emotions. Self-management indicates being able to self-motivate, override your emotionally-driven decisions and behaviors that are counterproductive, and handle yourself well in adverse situations.
- Social awareness. Social awareness is your ability to "read the room." You can understand others' needs and motivations, as well as see social dynamics at play. Social awareness indicates how well you pick up on social cues or needs. It's also helpful in understanding how others perceive and respond to you.
- Relationship management. You manage conflict well, work well with others, and develop positive relationships overall. Relationship management indicates good interpersonal skills, including the ability to deescalate emotionally tense situations and maintain boundaries.
People with higher EQ have an easier time managing their stress levels and building better relationships. These skills are even more important for managers and executives as they can impact the culture of the entire organization. Are you interested in improving your emotional awareness so that you can excel at work?
Follow these tips to build emotional intelligence in the workplace:
- Practice self-awareness. Self-awareness reflects your ability to look at yourself objectively. To develop this:
- Practice self-reflection in a journal daily.
- Notice when you react to something on autopilot.
- Think about the feedback you receive.
- Practice seeing things from other people's points of view, not just your own.
- Receive criticism with grace. Think before you react to criticism. View criticism as an opportunity to learn and grow, rather than a personal attack.
- See conflict as an opportunity to learn and understand more about others. Conflict can be frustrating, but it's inevitable. Instead of avoiding it, take conflict as an opportunity to understand where another person is coming from.
- Learn to "read the room." How well do you pick up on the feelings of people around you? Do you know who to go to when you need a solution? What "unwritten rules" do people follow at your workplace? Being able to read the room can position you as a superstar or changemaker at your organization.
- Listen to others. People with high emotional intelligence are great listeners. Are you doing all the talking, or are you making space to listen as well? Try to listen in meetings and make an effort to ask people what they think.
- Speak up and express yourself. In addition to great listening skills, emotionally intelligent people are great at speaking up when it matters, too. Don't be afraid to pitch your out-of-the-box ideas or make sure your opinions get heard!
- Work to people's strengths. People work differently and have different strengths. Be flexible to the different types of people who make up your team. Create an environment for each person to thrive and be engaged and innovative.
Developing emotional intelligence will benefit you in all areas of your life. At work, it helps you see how you can be a more valuable asset in your organization and move toward becoming that. You can bring a different perspective or deeper insight to the table. Prowess managing your own stress levels means you can calmly lead a team through high-stress situations. Building better relationships can help keep your team members engaged and motivated. And being able to read the room can help you know the right person to approach when you're tackling a problem or take action when you notice a colleague feeling stressed. In other words, greater emotional intelligence helps you deliver better results, which puts you on track for greater rewards. The emotional intelligence training course, "10 Steps Forward," from the coaches at Conscious Enterprise will teach you how to do that and a whole lot more. Take our free assessment test (FreeEQtest.com) to measure your EQ strengths and weaknesses and learn how to make improvements.
