Why is emotional intelligence important?
The emotional intelligence of a person can reveal a great deal about them. Understanding soft skills can be a game changer when it comes to working in teams, managing change and stress.
To succeed in the workplace (and life), and to climb up the career ladder, you need a high EQ. Being intelligent and competent is not enough. Leaders are responsible for setting the tone in their organization. Leaders must be able to manage a variety of personalities, strengths, weaknesses, emotions and skills.
Those who have a high EQ are able to navigate the workplace successfully by listening to their team and making logical decisions while managing the nuances and differences of a situation.
What are the benefits of emotional intelligence in the workplace?
Emotional intelligence is an important competency in many professions and workplaces. Emotional intelligence is a key component of social skills and human relations in general. People with high EQ are:
- Make better decisions
- Ability to meet the demands of the work
- Easy solutions to problems
- Are cool under pressure
- Empathic towards co-workers
- Solve conflict without adding to the conflict
- Open to change and open to criticism
Training in emotional intelligence has also been shown to boost productivity and job performance. Training can boost morale by improving communication in the workplace.
Finally, the ability to be aware of one’s own emotions and observe them can also have a positive impact on physical health. Stress.org claims that chronic stress makes employees sick. 83% U.S. workers experience work-related stress. However, people with a high EQ have a better ability to manage stress.
How to develop emotional intelligence
Daniel Goleman popularized the concept of emotional intelligence, and he broke it down into 4 elements. A fifth element was recently added. Here are five emotional intelligence elements that can be developed through experience and training.
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