Emotional Intelligence

Individuals are a complex combination of emotion and reason. Emotional intelligence is a basic tool that is key to professional success. It is a critical skill to develop and deploy with fineness. Emotional intelligence is broadly defined as the ability to identify, understand and manage the emotions around you. We are born with an innate capacity to recognize emotions in ourselves and the people around us. A person with a high emotional intelligence possesses clarity in thinking and remains composed in strength and chaotic situations. Emotional intelligence may be learned through life experiences.

5 key Components of Emotional Intelligence

1.       Self-awareness

This refers to the ability to notice and interpret moods and emotional signals within ourselves and others as well as the effect of our emotions on others. Good levels of self-awareness leads to self-confidence, realistic self-assessment and a self-depreciating sense of humor. Everyone has self-awareness.

2.       Self-regulation and mood management

This refers to having strategies to change your mood, propensity to suspend judgment of others and to think before you act. Our emotions affect our performance and others around us. Emotions are contagious. People with effective self-management capabilities tend to demonstrate integrity and trustworthiness; they are open to change and are comfortable with ambiguity.

3.       Self-motivation

This refers to a passion for work that goes beyond money or status. It is having a sense of persistence that allows us to overcome adversity in pursuit of our goals.

4.       Interpersonal expertise

This is the ability to relate well with others and build empathy. It involves understanding the emotional make up of others and being able to exchange information based on feelings. Developing empathy with others facilitates building and retaining high performance teams, cross cultural sensitivity and the provision of good services to clients and customers.

5.       Emotional mentoring

This refers to helping others deal with situations that may or may not involve you. It is essentially separating your emotional needs from those around you.

Emotional intelligence plays a key role in determining success both in one’s personal life and in the work place. Emotional intelligence has become increasingly popular as a measure for identifying potentially effective leaders and as a tool for developing effective leadership skills. Leaders high in emotional quotient are key to organizational success. A leader has the capacity to impact organizational performance by setting a particular work climate. Leadership is about influencing people while providing guidance and direction as needed. Emotional intelligence should enable leaders to empathically address their followers.

First by managing our emotions then connecting effectively with others we can influence their emotions and lead, motivate, inspire or calm the situations around us.