Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage our own emotions and those of the people around us. People with a high degree of emotional intelligence know what they’re feeling. We could also define it more simply as the ability to choose the best options when looking for a solution.
They understand what their emotions mean and how those emotions can affect the people around them. For leaders, emotional intelligence is vital to success.
It stands to reason that a leader who responds to stress calmly and firmly, able to assess the situation and handle it effectively, is more likely to succeed than one who responds with shouting and impulsive decisions.
Here are seven ways to unlock hidden emotional intelligence.
Ways to increase emotional intelligence
1. Pay attention to emotions
Make an effort every day to pay attention to your behavior and emotions, your actions and reactions. Be aware of how your emotions affect you and the people around you.
2. Be responsible
Managing your emotions and your mood is a basic element of being responsible in a way others find pleasant. Control your responses, avoid making bad decisions in the heat of the moment and learn to regulate your mood.
3. Trust yourself and your team
Knowing that you can master the moment, that you and those around you have the capacity and the skill to respond appropriately to any setback, gives you the ability to respond appropriately in any situation that comes up and to be an example to others.
4. Practice empathy
Empathy is the highest level of emotional intelligence. When you can see through someone else’s eyes, hear through their ears and feel with their heart, a new level of understanding and communication opens up to you.
5. Motivate those around you
When you have emotional mastery, you’re able to choose wisely between short-term comfort and long-term goals, between what you want now and what’s best for you. And developing your own motivation gives you insight into how to motivate others.
6. Make people feel comfortable
Encourage open communication in which everyone can express their thoughts freely without having to weigh every word, so that they feel comfortable and safe.
7. Treat people with respect
People with strong emotional intelligence tend to be respectful of others. Instead of focusing only on their own success, they help others grow and shine by respecting their strengths and talents. Remember that to be respected, you have to show respect.
People with high emotional intelligence tend to succeed at most things they do, because they know themselves deeply, make others feel good about themselves, and go through life with much more ease and enthusiasm.
Building strong emotional intelligence changes your life and the lives of those around you.
Further reading
- 9 things you should know before you turn 30
- 4 things you need to give up to keep moving forward in life
- 5 things you need to do differently if you want to succeed
- Ways to make your own luck and keep bad luck away
Featured image: 1 by Oscar Gustave Rejlander , rest unsure, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
