Want to progress in your career? Become more Emotionally Intelligent

(by Simone Lawrence)

Emotions-we can’t live without them

Susan David the Author of “Emotional Agility” says in her famous TED Talk on the gift and power of emotional courage, “If you don’t have emotions you have dead person’s goals”. Intimating that emotions are an essential fact of life and not something to downplay. Our emotions play a big role in how we think, the decisions we make and the behaviors we demonstrate which can all have a positive or negative impact on career growth and leadership ability. It has been well documented over the last few decades that demonstrating a high level of emotional intelligence is far more important for job success than having a high level of IQ, in fact, EQ is twice as important. When it comes to climbing the leadership ladder it becomes even more important again. Travis Bradberry Author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 states from his research that 90% of top performers in their jobs have a high EQ.

EQ can grow

The good news is that EQ levels can always be grown. Cultivating your self-awareness holds the key to unleashing a more emotionally intelligent you. Looking inwardly to understand what your strengths and improvement areas are, what triggers certain behaviors in you, and what patterns you can notice makes a great first step towards being able to manage what you do with this knowledge. Providing you with important data about yourself that can help you choose appropriate responses in situations versus being reactive. Once self-awareness is high, other areas can be strengthened such as self-management-the ability to regulate responses to certain situations. Social awareness-the ability to recognize the emotions of others and demonstrate empathy and relationship management- understanding emotions to develop and sustain healthy relationships.

If you are serious about going places in your career and are currently in or transitioning towards a leadership role, understanding your current EQ level and working on continuous improvements could be one of the most important moves you can make to set you up for current and future career success as a leader.