5 easy ways to improve your emotional intelligence

5 easy ways to improve your emotional intelligence

 

Emotional intelligence is one of the key indicators of success and leadership potential. And luckily, it is a skill that can be easily taught and honed like any other.

Whether you’re an individual who’s part of a team or a manager overseeing entire departments, you would be wise to make sure you’re always able to read other people, understand where they’re coming from, and generally become more emotionally intelligent.

The following tips can help improve your emotional intelligence, also known as EQ, as part of an ongoing process of professional growth and improved performance:

1) Do a self-evaluation

As with so many other things in life, you have to take an accounting of where you stand with EQ to understand where you need to be. Once you know what your base levels are, it becomes easier to say to yourself, “This is where I am strongest, and this is where I need to improve.” That, in turn, allows you to map out the right path forward.

According to The Enterprisers Project, there are a number of EQ tests online that you can take — some short, others well over 100 questions — that can help you see exactly what needs improvement.

High levels of EQ in your workplace will drive success.High levels of EQ in your workplace will improve communication.

2) Examine how you react to stressors

One of the biggest reasons for conflict in the workplace is that people react differently to just about any event. As psychologist Dr. Jack Singer noted, it’s not that an event in and of itself is stressful, but rather it can cause stress based upon how people react to and interpret it. Think about what makes you stressed; do other team members know about them?

When everyone on a team has self-awareness and knows what causes undue stress for their coworkers, it becomes easier to avoid unnecessary conflict and hard feelings.

3) Focus on more active listening

Along similar lines, it’s vital to be a more active listener in the workplace, and react to issues with empathy. That means actually hearing what the other person is telling you, even if they’re not coming out and saying exactly what’s wrong. For instance, if you are in conversation with another person, and you’re are both stressed, you may be mentally glossing over what the other person is saying as they try to express yourself first. That may only lead to more conflict. But if you’re more mindful of what’s being said, both verbally and nonverbally, it’s easier to resolve an issue.

4) Be prepared to take responsibility

Often, being emotionally intelligent means that you have to understand that you may have been in the wrong and actively apologise to one person or several, according to Mindtools. By owning up to your mistakes, rather than trying to brush them aside or avoid the facts, others will implicitly understand that you are keeping their best interests in mind, but made a mistake.

That, in turn, helps everyone move forward together.

5) Doing a specific EQ training course

Finally, just like any other skills, a bit of training can go a long way toward helping you hone your EQ or that of your entire team. At ICML, we can tailor such a course like Emotional Intelligence – Enhancing Relationships to your exact needs and help you get the results you want. Get in touch today to learn more.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Blog Articles