Emotional Intelligence, How To Improve In Six Easy Steps

Emotional intelligence is no longer something ‘strange’ for you to purchase while overseas. Instead, emotional intelligence is necessary, given the current context. Emotional intelligence often propels you to make the right call at crucial junctures. 

It has become a critical skill to the point that it enables you to become more aware of your abilities, strengths, frailties, etc. And that is why you need to learn more about emotional intelligence, how to improve yourself in easy steps.

Most recent studies and research confirm all of the above. Emotional intelligence is required for a healthy human psyche. It is essential to traverse the intricacies of interacting with others. 

By being emotionally intelligent, you should understand their emotions better and gauge how they feel. Emotional intelligence, how to improve is a fundamental goal and one that you can accomplish by reviewing the following steps.

Be more aware:

One of the essential steps you need to take when it comes to improving your emotional intelligence is to be more aware. Sounds easy, right? Not until you realize that you are asking yourself to be more aware of your feelings and emotions on various issues daily. That sounds more like a chore; fair enough, you are bound to question the necessity of doing it.

For starters, being more in tune with your emotions and those around you lets you process critical emotions and feelings immediately. It allows you to classify the rest. In other words, by focusing on fundamental emotions, you are enabling yourself to focus on these, enabling you to become aware of them and deal with them accordingly.

Self-reflection and empathy:

When it comes to emotional intelligence, you may have begun with a healthy dose of self-reflection and a frank analysis of your strengths. But now, it’s time to go over the other steps, such as building empathy and being more aware of how others feel. 

When was the last time you paid heed to the doorman holding the door open to your hotel? Never, right? That’s nothing to be ashamed of – most of us never bother to do so. 

Now, a person with requisite EI would take the time to talk to them, learn more about them and, in short, try and connect with them. By developing empathy, a necessary skill set, you should quickly form long-standing relationships.

Try to listen actively:

Another meaningful way for you to develop emotional intelligence is by trying to listen actively to others. Sure, everyone communicates – that’s a fact. But when was the last time you “listened actively” to the person and what they were trying to say?

Guess that reply, like others, will fall under the “never,” right? But most of us rarely listen to others speaking; instead, we tend to “tune them out.” And that is all the more reason you must practice listening actively, from the doorman to the butler. 

Practice listening actively to those from various backgrounds, as that should enable you to develop an innate ability to listen to others, put them at ease and eventually, develop a strong connection.

Be flexible and open-minded:

One of the essential aspects of being emotionally intelligent is by being able to appear ‘flexible’ on various issues. Sure, there would be a few issues that you would be bound to feel intensely on. 

Such cases must be analyzed and reviewed once you have all the facts, including both perspectives. And this is how any emotionally intelligent leader is bound to react – appear flexible on important, critical issues.

Welcome, all forms of feedback:

As a leader with the requisite emotional intelligence, you are expected to receive all forms of feedback, both positive and negative, from the public. That is what sets apart a good leader from a bad one. 

An emotionally sound leader would focus and pay attention to the good ones. He would accept the positive and negative ones and analyze and review them. After all, it is only a fool who believes that he is always right, all the time. Even god knew he could never be that perfect. This is what sets apart emotionally intelligent leaders from the rest of the crowd.

Stay calm all the time:

When it comes to emotional intelligence, you are expected to remain calm. And that especially holds when it comes to a leadership post. Take Twitter – Elon Musk – Dorsey Imbroglio. 

Recently, Jack Dorsey penned a heartfelt apology to all the Twitter employees who were fired due to Twitter changing ownership. A starker comparison between Elon and Jack could not be made more than this simple apology letter. In itself, this letter should show you why emotional intelligence is essential.

With these steps, you can improve your emotional intelligence with these easy steps. Remember, Rome was not built in a single day – but rather over time. The same analogy applies here as well. It is only with regular practice, that you can improve and hone your emotional intelligence. Good luck!