Do you have emotional intelligence?: It means being aware of the emotions that are behind our behavior. As well as the impact they have on other people (positively and negatively). As well as learning how to handle those emotions. Both ours and the others. Especially when we are under pressure. In summary. «LEmotional intelligence is knowing how to control your emotions. Or at least not react in an incongruous way that affects you as well as society.
An emotionally intelligent person is one who is able to successfully manage emotions. To achieve positive results in your relationships with others.
History
The concept arises in 1983 with the psychologist Howard Gardner. Who considers IQ tests insufficient to achieve an appreciation of intelligence.
There are two elementary forms of emotional intelligence:
Interpersonal intelligence
It involves understanding and understanding the emotions of others. And have the ability to react according to the mood of the other.
Intrapersonal intelligence
It involves understanding and understanding one’s own emotions. Take them into account when making decisions. And be able to regulate emotions according to the situation.
Characteristics of people with emotional intelligence
There are certain practical abilities that are manifested with greater intensity in emotionally intelligent people, such as empathy, the ability to motivate (both towards oneself and towards others), self-awareness, the ability to control the externalization of emotions, the leadership, among others. Generally, these abilities are used as indicators of emotional intelligence, when this psychological ability is to be measured.
Importance of emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence plays a central role in the success or failure of all kinds of human relationships, from sentimental and family relationships to work ties.
It is also a determining factor in the functioning of organizations, since empathy, emotional self-control and motivation of people can condition teamwork, making it more or less efficient and satisfactory.
This concept has also had a huge impact in the educational field, introducing the issue of emotional elements in the relationship between teacher and student, and the importance that this has at the time of cognitive learning. Both the emotional intelligence of the teacher and that of the student have a significant weight in the successful or unsuccessful outcome of the teaching process.
These skills are also important in people’s ability to convince, manipulate, and even dominate others (leaders tend to be emotionally intelligent people).
Emotions in our day to day
If we think carefully about the importance of our emotions in our daily lives, we will quickly realize that there are many occasions in which they have a decisive influence on our lives, even if we do not realize it.
For example: Have we ever been annoyed with someone at work and we stopped talking to them to the point that we could not carry out our activities? Or do we have friction with others due to the same situation?
Much of our decisions are influenced to a greater or lesser degree by emotions. Faced with this reality. It should be noted that there are people with a much more developed domain of their emotional facet than others. And the low correlation between classical intelligence (more linked to logical and analytical performance) and Emotional Intelligence is curious.
On the other hand, we can find people whose intellectual abilities are very limited, but instead manage to have a successful life in terms of sentimentality, and even professionally. That is why it is increasingly evident to practice emotional intelligence in our lives.
Companies need people with emotional intelligence
Companies have realized that one of the keys to commercial success and the sale of their products. It lies in the degree to which your workers are able to recognize and control their emotions. As well as those of its clients.
It is almost unthinkable to conceive of a sales representative that lacks skills in dealing with customers. A businessman without motivation to manage his company or a negotiator who is not capable of controlling his impulses and emotions.
All the technical knowledge based on the best relationship between academic studies and experience will not be any guarantee for these people. Because sooner or later they will fail economic operations due to poor knowledge of their emotions.
How to develop emotional intelligence?
Here are some steps to gradually develop your emotional intelligence.
Know your emotions
It is important to be attentive to moods. And to our reactions to everyday situations, seeking to establish connections with the stimuli that cause them. You have to have a neutral attitude. Without judging or rejecting what you feel, eliminating negative thoughts from our perception.
control your emotions
We must try to control our impulses and inhibit negative thoughts. Free from anxiety, sadness or exaggerated irritability. It’s not about repressing feelings. But to achieve a balance since each feeling has its function and utility.
motivate yourself
Optimism is one of the key requirements to achieve our goals. This ability is revealed in difficulties. In fatigue, in frustration, in failure. When negative things abound. It is here when the fact of maintaining a positive vision can mean the success or the abandonment of the goal. The development of optimism and self-esteem is related to parenting and education guidelines. Therefore, it is important to establish mechanisms to reinforce the individual’s expectation of success.
Learn to recognize other people’s emotions
It is the ability of the individual to capture the emotional states of others. In other words, empathy. It is important to be aware of our own emotional states. And manage to perceive the non-verbal elements associated with the emotions of others. Achieving detect what they need or what they want. Empathy is a fundamental social skill. It is about putting yourself in the place of the other, tuning in to their feelings and needs.
relationship control
This ability consists of the ability of an individual to adequately relate to the emotions of others. The basic requirement, to get to control the emotions of others. It consists of the development of two skills: self-control and empathy.
These social attitudes guarantee effectiveness in dealing with others. And without them we are condemned to failure and social ineptitude. On the contrary. The development of these skills influences the ability to inspire. Persuade and deepen relationships with others