Intelligence is one of the most valued qualities in society, especially in the educational and work fields. Unfortunately, it is often seen as a trait that you either have or you don’t have and the reality is that intelligence is full of nuances. There are situations, challenges and personal motivations that, in turn, make us develop a particular intelligence. Therefore, it is about perceiving a concept of intelligence beyond intellect.
As human beings, we can possess different types of intelligence, such as: linguistic, mathematical, logical-spatial, musical, emotional intelligence, among others. The latter is what we focus on in the next few lines, since as an entrepreneur and project leader, it is important that you learn to develop it. So let’s start with the basics:
What is emotional intelligence?
Although the concept of emotional intelligence was first used by American psychologists Peter Salovey and John Mayer in 1990, it was not until 1995 that Daniel Goleman, who, thanks to his best-seller Emotional Intelligence, made this term famous. Emotional intelligence is defined as a set of psychological skills that allow you, in a balanced way, to express your emotions and understand those of others in a rational and empathetic way. It is the art of being responsible and consistent with your emotions both in stressful and calm situations.
Emotional intelligence, according to this author, includes both intrapersonal intelligence and interpersonal intelligence and is composed of five elements: emotional self-awareness, emotional self-control, self-motivation, empathy and social skill (which we will go into further later).
In the workplace, emotional intelligence plays a very important role. Specialists in the area estimate that 65% of professional success has its roots in the good use of emotions. Let us remember that emotions are nothing more than affective states that people automatically present when faced with certain stimuli.
These stimuli within a work environment can be reflected for you as positive or negative experiences. In this context, developing emotional intelligence is not simply about eliminating or mitigating your emotions, but about accepting and understanding when it is necessary to act in a certain way or when not, depending on the conditions and people with whom you share.
What characteristics do emotionally intelligent people have?
- Greater communication capacity
- Acceptance and personal self-esteem
- Respect for the people around them
- Resilience (understood as a person’s ability to overcome difficult circumstances)
- Proper management of your emotions
- Greater motivation capacity
- Know how to maintain positive interpersonal relationships
Emotional intelligence at work
In a work environment of increasing professionalization, where people are very good at executing specific tasks, but ignore the rest of the tasks that make up the value chain, the productivity of companies increasingly depends on the coordination of individual efforts.
For that reason, The emotional intelligence that allows us to implement good relationships with other people is an important capital and attribute for the contemporary entrepreneur and leader who wants to grow personally and professionally, doing what they are passionate about.
Daniel Goleman, who has a doctorate in psychology at Harvard, states in his work Emotional Intelligence: “The business world has found in emotional intelligence a tool to understand the work productivity of people, the success of companies, the requirements of leadership. and even the prevention of corporate disasters” In this sense, the following tips will not only help you develop emotional intelligence in your work but will also allow you to promote better leadership in your projects and work team:
Self-awareness
Self-awareness is a process through which people know themselves, analyzing their personal qualities and moods, in the face of internal or external circumstances. Having self-awareness regarding your practices at work is a first step to achieving emotional intelligence, starting from an introspective process where the objective is to learn more about yourself.
Analyze what things make you feel good, afraid or sad and how you can externalize those emotions without affecting your relationships with others, it is of great importance. It’s about accepting who you are as a person and knowing what motivates you and makes you feel vulnerable. Knowing yourself will be key to learning to know others.
In the workplace, it is extremely important that you know who the people who make up your work team are. This will allow you to better manage their potential and delegate the appropriate functions to each of your team members.
Self-control
Self-control is about the ability that a human being can have to exercise control over himself, that is, to be able to control both his thoughts and his ways of acting. This term is more inclined towards the acts that a person may carry out, when they are impulsive and not thought out in advance. Within emotional intelligence, exercising self-control is important because it will prevent you from committing actions, which you may regret. Thinking about the pros and cons of what you want to say and/or do is the spinal cord of having self-control in your daily life.
As an entrepreneur and project leader, you must reflect on the way you will speak to your work team. Remember that they are professionals who, like you, deserve to be treated with respect and cordiality. Additionally, avoid transferring your personal problems to work problems, exercising emotional self-control, otherwise, it is very likely that your mood will affect the relationship you have forged with other people who are not the cause of your situation.
Empathy:
A good leader is one who, regardless of the circumstances, is willing to help his work team, that is, he knows the meaning of empathy and applies it to his work field. It should be noted that empathy involves an effort to understand feelings and emotions, trying to objectively and rationally experience what another individual feels. Empathy is closely related to altruism – love and concern for others – and the ability to help.
People who are empathic, without a doubt, understand the importance of being emotionally intelligent, since The only way to forge good work relationships is by helping others solve their problems and needs.With more emphasis on this quality, in work scenarios where teamwork and co-help is vital to building successful endomarketing.
Self-motivation
Self-motivation is that impulse that can help you achieve personal, work and professional success. Through motivation, you find important reasons to meet your business goals and objectives. Just as knowing yourself is important, to learn to know others, being self-motivated will help you motivate others.
As a project leader and entrepreneur, it is essential that you motivate your work team to successfully carry out the established strategies since shared knowledge and responsibilities require an external effort that drives and unifies each of your team’s tasks. All this effort must be oriented within an emotionally intelligent vision that guides as if it were a GPS, the processes involved in your company’s value chain.
Social skill
Apparently, the phrase “social skill” can encompass a fairly extensive and general concept. However, this concept refers to the ability of people to interact and relate to others in an effective and satisfactory manner. A person who intends to develop emotional intelligence in their work must have the ability to build links with others, respecting and considering the context in which they operate.
For this reason, it is not only important that you have a good repertoire of social skills, but that you know when and where to put those skills into practice. The latter is known as social competence. Thus, possessing these social skills prevents you from feeling anxious in difficult or novel situations, facilitating emotional communication, problem-solving and the relationship you have with others, as long as they adapt to the context.
John Mayer, founder of the first theories of emotional intelligence, points out that: “The emotionally intelligent person has skills in four areas: identifying emotions, using emotions, understanding emotions, and regulating emotions.” Therefore, these 5 tips to develop emotional intelligence in your work will be key in your process to achieve these skills within a field of professional and personal growth.
