Is It Time to Raise Your EQ? Here's How to Do It in 3 Steps

If you’ve ever discounted the importance of “emotional intelligence” because it sounds like rainbows and trust circles, it’s time to think again.

The meaning of EQ

Emotional intelligence, often referred to as EQ (for Emotional Quotient), is defined as "... your ability to understand other people, what motivates them, and how to work cooperatively with them."

Emotional intelligence can boost your ability to learn, listen, lead, sell, persuade, and negotiate more effectively.

Having a high EQ is about more than just being swell to work with. Emotional intelligence can boost your ability to learn, listen, lead, sell, persuade, and negotiate more effectively.

So let’s take a closer look at what drives your emotional intelligence and talk about how you can give your EQ a bump.

The 4 components of emotional intelligence

Renowned emotional intelligence researcher Daniel Goleman describes the four key components of EQ as:

1. Self-awareness — Recognizing our own emotions
2. Self-management — Controlling our own emotions
3. Social awareness — Recognizing the emotions of others
4. Relationship management — Influencing those emotions

In essence, emotional intelligence is about how you manage yourself and connect with others in moments of interaction. Whatever your job function, chances are you rely on the agreement or support or collaboration of others in order to achieve your own goals. Emotional intelligence can be a means to that end.

Savvy Psychologist's 6 Negotiating Tactics Based on Psychological Science explains more about how paying attention to emotions can help you negotiate better and build successful working relationships. Give it a read!

What does emotional intelligence look like in like practice?

Last year, I was coaching an executive named Darren. He was a sales leader known for having tremendous knowledge of his market, portfolio, and products. He had top-notch sales skills, but he was struggling to hit quotas and retain talent on his team.

When the feedback you hear is about how you show up versus what you know or deliver, it’s an indication that your EQ may need a boost.

I had the opportunity to interview some of his employees and his clients. Here are...

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