Emotional Intelligence is a key factor in career success. There are resources available to measure and improve upon your level of emotional intelligence.

Important Elements of Emotional Intelligence

Although there are a broad range of competencies utilized to assess emotional intelligence, we will go through a few now. Self-awareness is absolutely essential to career success. Being able to look at yourself honestly and determine what are your strengths and what needs to be improved upon is vital. It allows you to leverage your strengths and improve upon your areas of opportunity. That is a significant aspect of career growth. It also makes you open to constructive feedback. If you understand what you need to work on, it takes the sting out of it. Learning new skills and growing is a significant part of career development. It also sends a powerful message to leadership.

In addition, controlling one’s emotions is an important factor of emotional intelligence. We all have triggers and things that push our buttons. The key is to always maintain a level of professionalism. You want to maintain your composure even during challenging and stressful situations. We all have stress at work. Getting your feelings under control and sending the message that you can handle pressure is crucial. The next time a special project opportunity presents itself, it speaks volumes that you can remain calm and be effective.

Empathy goes a long way especially in roles of leadership. If your team perceives you as an empathetic manager, it will help to gain their respect and loyalty. We all must be humane with a sense of compassion. People are dealing with challenges all the time whether at work or with family. Showing empathy scores a lot of points. It sends the message that you care about your team as people not just staff. That typically motivates team members to work harder for you. All around, it’s a win win.

Can I Increase My Emotional Intelligence?

Everyone has the capacity to build on their emotional intelligence. It takes effort and commitment. Furthermore, an action plan with specific goals and activities in mind will help you increase your emotional intelligence. Perform your own self-assessment on what you need to work on and what will help you realize the most gains. If you goal is to develop strong relationships with colleagues, then start by being more in tune with what is going on with them. Recognizing their emotions and actively listening is a great step in the right direction. Understanding their challenges and helping them find solutions will instill trust and they will likely reciprocate when you need it.

Strong Leadership

Strong leaders are typically in tune with others. They can read a room and understand the mood. Although some people are more naturally in tune than others, it’s a skill we all can acquire and continuously improve upon. They are self-aware and focus on continuous improvement. Highly emotionally intelligent leaders display empathy, and their team will in turn show appreciation and loyalty.

Emotional intelligence can be built upon. Taking some very strategic steps will help to increase your emotional intelligence, a key component to strong leadership. It’s something within your control and can be highly beneficial for your career success.