Emotional Intelligence or Emotional Quotient (EQ) is the ability to understand, analyse and manage your emotions. Emotional intelligence helps to empathise with others, defuse conflict, relieve stress, and make informed decisions. Therefore, it is considered to be an important skill in both, personal and professional lives.
Peter Salovey and John Mayer who developed a popular model of EQ, defined it as “Emotional Intelligence includes the ability to engage in sophisticated information processing about one’s own and others’ emotions and the ability to use this information as a guide to thinking and behaviour.”
While some skills of EQ come easily or naturally to some people, there are many ways to develop this skill:
1) Active listening
A lot of people often make the mistake of not clearly listening to others, and only waiting to respond. Active listening is the act of being fully present in the conversation. Listen to what others are trying to tell you, before responding. This helps to understand what is being said, prevents misunderstandings, and makes the speaker feel good about the listener.
2) Having an optimistic outlook
Emotionally Intelligent people have a positive attitude. They smile and greet people they meet. Apart from being optimistic, they are also approachable. Developing a positive mindset can look different, for different people — for some it might be having a positive environment around themselves, while for others it might be meditation, or maintaining a journal.
3) Develop empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand others emotions. Have a sense of respect for the people around you in both, your personal and professional lives. Appreciate and show gratitude to people who help you out. Be encouraging and supportive of others.
4) Being Self-aware
Self-awareness is an important component of emotional intelligence because it helps you understand and analyse your feelings, and realise your strengths and weaknesses. Reflecting on the self, is the first step of being a self-aware person. Think about what makes you happy, what is the motivating factor that drives you, think about your life’s goals and dreams. Maintain a journal where you are honest about your feelings.
According to Google’s famous Project Aristotle initiative, a high-performing team needs three things:
1) a strong awareness of the importance of social connections or “social sensitivity,”
2) an environment where each person speaks equally
3) psychological safety where everyone feels safe to show and employ themselves without fear of negative consequences.
To harness these three elements of a successful team, it takes an emotionally intelligent leader. People feel cared for when these three items are present among a team or organisation. People that feel cared for are more loyal, engaged, and productive.
In fact, employees who feel cared for by their organisation are…
- 10 times more likely to recommend their company as a great place to work.
- 9 times more likely to stay at their company for three or more years.
- 7 times more likely to feel included at work.
- 4 times less likely to suffer from stress and burnout.
- 2 times as likely to be engaged at work.