Improve Your EQ
How can we build Emotional Intelligence skills in ourselves and our teams? Here are four simple ideas to help you get started:
Measuring your own EQ and the EQ of your team members is a good place to begin. Assessment tools such as self-reporting questionnaires and 360-degree EQ surveys (where the person self-rates their skills, and their colleagues, manager and subordinates also provide their ratings) are all useful.
Learning mindfulness and meditation skills is an excellent way to build awareness of your emotions and teach you how to manage your “monkey mind” and its reactions to an ever-changing world. You can read more about mindfulness here.
Coaching is another way to build EQ skills. Leadership coaches provide guidance and support on how to understand and manage emotions. There are also workshops, podcasts and books on the topic of emotional intelligence that will give you greater understanding and skills that can be applied at work with your boss and colleagues and at home with your partner and children.
Paying attention to body language and changing work behaviours are ways to read another person’s emotions at work. Recognising the emotions and concerns of your customers, your stakeholders, your staff and family can not only lead to a happy and more profitable workplace but a more fulfilling home life as well. To do this, start by being aware of:
Your own emotional space and how this may be affecting you and/or the other
Observing yourself when in conversation with others – how present are you?
What they say
How they say it
The repetitive language they use
Their body language
The tone of their voice
What they are not saying i.e. “I am sensing that you are feeling….”
Their energy (positive/negative) - ask them questions to discover more about what’s going on for them
Emotional Intelligence is an important part of leadership. By increasing our awareness and practicing the different components of EQ, we can develop our skills and become more effective.