In today’s rapidly evolving world, personal and professional success hinges on more than just technical skills and knowledge. Emotional Intelligence (EI), often referred to as Emotional Quotient (EQ), is a crucial factor that plays a significant role in achieving excellence in both personal and professional spheres. Embracing emotional intelligence allows us to communicate effectively and solve problems in our day-to-day experiences. There are a few components of EI that are important to note:

1. Self-awareness: Everyone has emotions that impact our reactions to whatever is going on around us. Whether you’re feeling positive, negative, or neutral, your emotions will show, so it’s important to acknowledge what you’re feeling at any given time.
2. Self-management: Once you’re aware of your emotions, it becomes easier to manage them. This doesn’t mean you need to change how you feel, but rather, that you manage how you express those feelings. Avoiding impulsive or knee-jerk reactions is a skill that takes time to learn.
3. Social awareness: We also must be aware of the emotions of those around us. Learning to recognize cues from vocal tones and body language helps inform how we communicate. Navigating tricky situations with empathy is the best way to avoid conflict and leads to effective collaboration.
4. Relationship management: Once you’ve embraced these first three steps, interpersonal interactions, especially in a teamwork setting, become easier to manage. We all have big ideas and those can lead to big feelings, but when you build your emotional intelligence, it becomes easier to find common ground between those ideas.

If you’re feeling worried about whether your emotional intelligence is up to par, there’s good news – EI isn’t something you’re born with, it’s a skill you can learn! There’s no benchmark for “perfect” EI, it’s something we all adapt as we move through different spaces and places in our personal and professional careers. There are several tools available to learn and asses your own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to emotional intelligence. It is worth your time to understand your own, and your team’s growth potential. Our own Bonnie Hagemann with EDA Inc. offers services to coach your team to better communication and leadership using emotional intelligence. Check out her blog:  How Emotionally Intelligent Leaders are Driving Success! For more information on her services, visit edainc.io

In an ever-changing world where technology changes everyday, it can be easy to forget that one of the most important keys to success is our relationships. Look for more education about emotional intelligence on the Ten-Minute-Trainer Network!