Introduction

EQ stands for emotional quotient, which is also known as emotional intelligence. EQ determines an individual’s ability to recognize and identify both their own as well as others’ emotions. It is a common belief that people with excellent EQ make great commanders due to their ability to connect with others and comprehend the feelings of others. Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and regulate your emotions in a positive manner to articulate effectively, let go of anxiety, empathize with others, and overcome challenges.

Following are the five key elements of EQ:

• Self-regulation: You can control impulsive behaviors and feelings, and handle your emotions in healthy ways.
• Self-awareness: You identify the emotions that can disturb your thoughts and behavior.
• Empathy: You have the ability to sympathize with others, pick up on emotional cues, and understand the needs, emotions, and concerns of other people.
• Motivation: You have the motivation to do well in life and succeed.
• Social skills: You can develop and maintain excellent relationships and communicate clearly.

Why is Emotional Intelligence Significant

As we know, it’s not the most intelligent people who are fulfilled or successful. You probably know people who are academically brilliant and yet unsuccessful at work or in their personal relationships. Intellectual ability or your Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is not enough to succeed. Yes, an individual’s IQ can help to get them into college, but it’s their EQ that can help them manage their emotions and stress while facing their exams.

• Why is EQ Crucial for Managers: If a manager lacks EQ, then most employees will not like working with him/her. This would lead to a demotivated team resulting in a loss of productivity.
• Why is EQ Important for Employees: Employees with high EQ are considered future organizational leaders. In fact, this is one of the most important factors for managers to decide whom to promote.

Emotional Intelligence Affects

• Performance at work or school: A high EQ can help one navigate the social complexities of the workplace, motivate and lead others, and excel in their career. In fact, most organizations now rate emotional intelligence as crucial as technical ability and implement EQ testing before hiring.
• Your physical health: If you cannot manage your emotions, then you probably cannot manage stress either. This can lead to serious health problems. Uncontrolled stress increases blood pressure, overpowers the immune system while also increasing the risk of strokes and heart attacks, and speeds up the aging process.
• Your mental health: Uncontrolled stress and emotions can also impact mental health, thus making you vulnerable to depression and anxiety. If you cannot understand, manage or get comfortable with your emotions, you will struggle to maintain strong relationships.
• Your relationships: By understanding your emotions and how to control them, you will be better at expressing how you feel and understanding how others are feeling.
• Your social intelligence: Identifying and comprehending your emotions also serves a social purpose, connecting you to others and the world around you. Social intelligence enables you to differentiate a friend from an enemy and evaluate another person’s interest in you, balance your nervous system through social communication, and feel happy and loved.

Building your EQ:

Four prime skills to increasing your EQ

The skills that makeup EQ can be learned by anyone at any time. However, you must understand that you simply cannot learn EQ, you need to understand how to apply that knowledge to your life. When you are overwhelmed by stress – that feeling can surpass your best intentions and you may not do what you are supposed to do. To permanently change the manner in which you can stand up to pressure, you need to learn how to overcome stress in that moment and your relationships, to remain emotionally aware. The primary skills for developing your EQ and enhancing your ability to manage emotions and connect with others are:

• Self-awareness
• Self-management
• Relationship management
• Social awareness

Key Skill 1: Self-management

To manage your EQ, you must use your emotions to make positive decisions about your behavior. With your ability to remain emotionally available and manage stress, you can learn how to receive upsetting information without letting it surpass your self-control. You will then be able to make choices that enable you to control impulsive behaviors and feelings.

Key Skill 2: Self-awareness

Your ability to manage core feelings such as sadness, anger, fear, and joy depends on the consistency and quality of your early life emotional experiences. Connecting with your emotions—having a moment-to-moment connection with your shifting emotional experience is the key to understanding how emotion influences your thoughts and actions.

Key Skill 3: Social Awareness

Social awareness allows one to identify and comprehend the nonverbal cues that others are continuously using to communicate with you. In short, you are socially comfortable and empathetic.

Key Skill 4: Relationship Management

Once emotional awareness is in play, one can effectively develop additional emotional/social skills to make relationships more fruitful, effective, and fulfilling. Working well with others begins with emotional awareness and your ability to identify and understand what other people are experiencing.

Conclusion

No matter the field you are in, having an emotional compass is necessary. Workplaces too are a part of our social environment. Numerous personality types, talents, and emotions are intertwined with each other to accomplish a common goal for the organization.