WHAT IS EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE?
Emotional intelligence is the ability of a person to understand, manage, and express his emotions in a better way. This is also known as emotional quotient (EQ), a person with a high emotional quotient is generally brilliant in understanding his emotions and those of others as well. Emotional intelligence is an essential skill in order to be aware of emotions, manage them, and then use them in your favor. Developing emotional intelligence is really crucial to have a good career and personal life.
WHY EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE IS IMPORTANT?
Emotional intelligence is considered to be the most highly in-demand skill in the industry. If one wants to achieve success in his professional and personal life, then that person should be proficient in this skill. Emotional quotation is just like an intelligence quotient but more important than it. In many cases, it has been seen that a person with a lower IQ but higher EQ has performed well in his career and personal life. If you want to excel in your career and want to grab a management or leadership role then you need to master these skills, as this skill is mostly found in all the top performers, especially those in leadership roles.
HOW TO DEVELOP EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE?
Emotional intelligence is not something one is born with, it is just like other skills that can be developed by time and practice. So in this article, we will discuss such ways that can be used to develop these skills. Just like other skills, these skills also need time and patience to develop so do not rush and try to learn in depth to get better results.
- SELF AWARENESS
Emotional intelligence is all about developing intelligence about your own emotions, feelings, thoughts, and beliefs and of others also. But before understanding others you need to first understand your own emotions. To develop emotional intelligence, you need to invest some time to find out about yourself, first be aware of your emotions, like what are you feeling, why are you feeling like that, and what is the reason. then try to find a solution to your emotional problem. This way you will able to develop self-awareness about your emotions and also find out the solution for the same.
2. JOURNAL
Write down your thoughts, To improve your emotional intelligence one needs to keep track of his or her emotions, how one feels in certain situations, why one feels like that, and what physical changes one observes during that feeling, these are some questions that you need to answer in his or her journaling practice.
Having a journal can be a good way to track your thoughts, While journaling you can write about everything that happens in a whole day at home or, the office, and also note down the feelings or emotions you experience during particular situations, try to figure out the reason why you feel that way. By consistently using this technique you will able to find a pattern in your behaviors which will help you know if is it good or not for you and how you can change it. This can be the best way to develop emotional intelligence.
3. MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness is a good option to improve emotional intelligence. Mindfulness is an activity in which you try to be in the present moment, and then able to feel every emotion and thoughts you are experiencing in that particular time. While practicing mindfulness you learn to bring your focus back to your breath from all other things and try to maintain focus on that for a long time. While being in in present you are able to find out thoughts that are impacting you in the present moment. Mindfulness can be a good way to increase self-awareness about our thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and emotions.
4. GETTING FEEDBACK
Getting feedback is another way to improve our emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is all about being vigilant about your thoughts emotions and actions and knowing how to manage them if they are negative. so getting feedback from others will help you to know how you are perceived by others, which means what other people think about your thoughts, emotions, and actions, they can really give a a reality check on your actions. nobody loves to take criticism, but mark my words getting constructive feedback is really a good way to grow fast and get better results
5. ACTIVE LISTENING
When you are developing emotional intelligence then you also have to learn to understand other thoughts and feelings also. The most important part of emotional intelligence is understanding other emotions and then managing them according to the situation, so to develop these skills learn active listening. listen not to respond but to understand which means that when someone is saying something then try to not only listen to the words but also try to understand the inner message that person is trying to convey by understanding his facial expression, body language, and words. Try to observe that person to get a deeper idea about his thoughts and emotions.
6. EMPATHY
Empathy means, stepping into someone else shoes, which means when you try to find out what a person is feeling emotionally, why he is feeling in that way, and then trying to analyze the reason for the same you develop empathy. it is the most important skill one can develop to achieve new heights especially if you are aspiring for leadership roles.
Empathy is most important in leadership roles because in leadership roles you need to be very good at understanding the other person’s emotions and then make decisions accordingly so learn and master this skill, try to understand the people’s situation, and try to keep yourself in that situation for once, and then ask what you will do in that situation, in this way, you can develop this skill.
7. SOCIAL SKILLS
Social skill is the ability to communicate and collaborate with a new person. Learn to be socially active. Being socially active means trying to collaborate with people and communicate with them on multiple issues. Building social relations is very important to develop emotional intelligence. When you become social you get a chance to talk to many people listen to them, and understand them and their emotions which allows you to understand their situation, and then respond accordingly, it can be a good way to develop this skill.
8. MAINTAIN PEACE
Maintaining peace is very important when you are trying to learn and become aware of your own emotions. Learn first to de-stress your mind with the help of some stress management techniques. As it said a stressed mind is an unproductive and uncreative mind, sometimes due to stress we fog our mind so much that we are unable to understand our own emotions, feelings, and thoughts, so first clear your mind to get deep awareness about yourself. Once you clear your mind you will get a better understanding of your thoughts, and emotions and know how to manage them and then it will help you to develop the emotional intelligence
These are some ways that can be used to improve emotional intelligence, If I summarized the whole point, then emotional intelligence is the intelligence about your thoughts, feelings, and emotions and how well you manage them. A person with good emotional intelligence understands what are his or her emotions and of people who are around him and how to manage them all. If one wants to have a fulfilling life professionally and personally then one needs to master emotional intelligence.
FAQ
Q.1 Difference between an emotional quotient and an intelligence quotient?
The intelligence quotient is about how good you are at solving technical problems, or how well you understand any complex thing and revert to it, while the emotional quotient is about how good you are at understanding your emotions and other emotions and managing them.
Q.2 What are some components of emotional intelligence?
- SELF-AWARENESS: Self-awareness means first understanding your own emotions, and becoming aware of them.
- SELF MANAGEMENT: It means being capable of managing your own emotions
- MOTIVATION: Make your own goals for personal development
- EMPATHY: It is the most important component, which means understanding others’ emotions and why they are feeling so.
- ACTIVE LISTENING: To become better at communication and emotional intelligence learn to listen and observe others actively.
Q3. Why emotional intelligence is important in leadership roles?
Leadership demands emotional intelligence because an emotionally intelligent person is aware of his emotions, others’ emotions, and motivation. To be a leader you need to master managing your emotions, and others’ emotions and be self-motivated to drive the team.