Emotional intelligence (EQ) has been said to be one of the factors that set leaders apart from employees. But, what exactly is it?
According to resources online, a person with high EQ is able to discern his own and other’s thoughts and feelings, and use them to guide his own thinking and actions.
Dr Travis Bradberry, a research and author on the subject, said that EQ affects how we manage behaviour, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions to achieve positive results.
EQ tests, however, do not come free and if you want to know if yours is high or needs improvement, let’s look at the ways you can work on it.
1. Emotions
Are you able to distinguish between being sad or disappointed, contented or excited?
People with high EQ are able to accurately tell the differences between emotions as they occur.
By being self-observant, they can pinpoint the exact emotion and know what steps are meant to follow next, thus lessening the chances of irrational thoughts and decisions.
2. Natural empathy
Empathy is an understanding of people’s sufferings. High EQ people are said to be more aware and sympathetic of those around them.
They are able to relate and connect with more people and build a relationship. As such, they develop trust and understanding with others easier.
3. Know your strengths and weaknesses
High EQ does not only mean being aware of only your own emotions. It also means you have a good awareness of your strengths and weaknesses.
They also catch on to their environment and the people in it – thus, they know who they can push and who are those to avoid.
By knowing so, they can read situations better and put their strengths in the right areas, and increase the areas they are weak in.
4. Good judge of character
Nobody likes to be scammed especially when they put their trust in someone believed to be of good character.
With a good EQ, you can have better social awareness such as being able to read people’s emotions, predict what they are going to do, and understand what factors led to their decisions.
As time passes, it can help you be a good judge of character which can be useful in work, choose the right team and knowing what people’s true motives are.
5. Be at peace
With a good grasp of your emotions, you can better control them and address them in tough situations.
It can let you be mentally prepared and stronger to combat any situation that may occur at work or with people.
Also, when you make mistakes, having a high EQ can help you let go of them without feeling negative feelings of anxiety or self-hate.
You will be less inclined to dwell on the mistakes but proactively analyse and learn from them.
Having a high EQ is a good skill to have. It can bring out the best soft skills in you and help you go further in your career.
To start, just go out, observe, talk to people, and see where that will take you.
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