Emotional Intelligence - What is it and Why does it matter?

What is Emotional Intelligence? It has been defined as: The ability to identity our own emotions and those of others, to self-motivate ourselves and know how to monitor our emotions and those of the people around us.

Picture an iceberg. IQ is what is above the surface that we can see. EQ is what is below the surface. It’s very important, possibly more important, but often unseen.

Daniel Goleman of the consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence determined there are 5 fundamental feature of EQ and you can work on improving each.

The central components are:

Self Awareness – recognizing our own feelings, strengths, and limitations and how others are affected.

To improve:
Take notice of how other respond to your behaviors
Receive feedback and take it to heart
Keep a diary of events and situations. Learn to understand triggered emotions.

Self Management - managing our own emotions and restraining when necessary.

To improve:
Own your mistakes.
Remain calm when responding to situations

Social Awareness - recognizing other people's feelings

To improve:
Put yourself in other’s shoes
Listen effectively to others
Don’t ignore other people’s feelings
Don’t be judgmental

Motivation – working toward goals, enjoy what you do

To improve:
Set goals, when reach them, set new ones
Stay optimistic and positive

Social Skills - managing relationships with others' emotions

To improve:
Work on developing communication skills
Praise others
Give constructive feedback
Listen to others and show empathy

Any and all of the Emotional Intelligence components can be improved upon.

Becoming more aware of yourself and others will increase your connections with people. Stronger connections and awareness can translate into success within your business and personal lives.

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