Emotional intelligence (or EQ) is becoming more and more important in the changing business world. Being emotionally intelligent is more than understanding others’ emotions. It’s also about being able to empathize and sympathize with others. Having a higher EQ will make it easier for your employees to trust you and help you to be a more likable leader. Here are ways for you to increase your emotional intelligence:
Be Around People with High EQ
Being around people with high EQ will help you to increase your own EQ. Try to be around emotionally intelligent people. As you spend time with them, you’ll be able to pick up on their habits and mimic them to make yourself more emotionally intelligent.
Listen
You’d be surprised at how little you actually listen to others. It’s easy to get distracted by what’s going on around you or worry about what you’re going to say next. You may feel like you’re involved in the conversation, but you’re not. Focus on listening to what the person you are talking to is saying. This will help you to be kind and empathetic towards others.
Be Willing to Learn
Learning something new takes a lot of humility, hard work, and emotional understanding. Picking up a new hobby can help you to focus your mind and be more emotionally intelligent. Choose something new to learn that you have an interest in. Also, you can increase your emotional intelligence by learning from your mistakes. Take the time to evaluate what went wrong and how you can do better whenever you make a mistake.
Read
Reading is a good way to practice emotional intelligence. A lot of books put you in the perspective of a character different than yourself which will help you to empathize better. Additionally, there are books about emotional intelligence that can help you improve.
Do these four things to help you become a more emotionally intelligent leader.