Emotional Intelligence is a Key to Success
October is Emotional Awareness Month
During the month of October individuals are challenged to take inventory of their emotional awareness in their personal and professional lives. In an effort to increase emotional well-being, and its relation to both personal and professional leadership, mental health organizations use the month of October to bring attention to this vital leadership skill.
What exactly is emotional awareness? In short, emotional awareness is the understanding and acceptance of our feelings. It includes being able to know what feelings are present within yourself and others. It involves living well through the peaks; but, most importantly the inevitable valleys of our lives. Emotional awareness is not about suppressing your emotions or being constantly agreeable. It is also not about having a false sense of optimism; but investigating our own thoughts and feelings in order to acquire a healthier mindset. Optimism is both part of the process and a byproduct. Developing emotional awareness prevents you from being dominated by your feelings. Increasing your emotional awareness aids you in keeping your emotions from hindering you in making the decision you really want/need to make both personally and professionally.
Emotional awareness falls under the umbrella category of emotional intelligence, or EQ.
EQ is the ability to understand and manage your emotions; as well as, recognizing and influencing the emotions of others around you. Historically, emotional intelligence and awareness has been considered a soft skill and often overlooked in comparison to the more technical hard skills. In the last few decades, however, EQ is emerging as one of the prime predictors of success for leaders, business owners and entrepreneurs. Career development experts and business coaches world-wide have identified EQ as a leading pursued skill to improve your ability to problem-solve, increase employee relations, decrease turnover, build a reliable base and much more. Knowing this, it’s worth understanding how to develop your EQ so that you can reap the benefits.
A good place to start is to know the four main components of EQ and emotional awareness. Below is a description of the for components and reflection questions that you can utilize to develop in each of those areas.
The 4 components of EQ and emotional awareness
Self-Awareness: Start here! Self-awareness is the ability to recognize your emotions and know your strengths as well as your limits. It is the absolute starting point in developing EQ and is in general the foundation of personal growth and success.
Reflection Questions: What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? What kind of person (leader, team member, business owner, entrepreneur, etc.) do I want to be? What do I truly enjoy doing? What types of tasks takes me more time to do? **Besides asking yourself these questions, it may be valuable to ask people you trust for feedback. You could also take a personality test which will provide you with data to start from.
Self-Management: This is the ability to prioritize your goals and objectives. This is about deciding what must be done, when I must be done and be accountable to complete the required actions.
Reflection Questions: How do I typically respond to critique? How does feedback (good or bad) affect my performance? How do I usually resolve issues? What do I need to be better, and more effective? What is my responsibility? Ho can I hold myself accountable?
Social-Awareness: The ability to understand and realize the moods of other individuals and groups of people. This is about being able to observe clear verbal communication; as well as nonverbal cues such as body language, facial expressions, and even posture in an effort to respond appropriately.
Reflection Questions: Am I approachable? Do I give off a positive presence? Do I communicate clearly? How well do I acknowledge others? Do I listen for the message, and not just the words?
Relationship Management: Simply put, relationship management is about using your gained awareness of your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors; as well as those of others so that you can better manage interactions successfully.
Reflection Questions: Do I show empathy to others? Do I practice active listening and share myself honestly with others? Do I accept people or who they are? Do I genuinely value others and how do I show it?
All in all, honing your emotional intelligence skills will give you a competitive edge in every arena of your life-from daily decision-making to stress management. Take it seriously and be intentional about your development in this area.
Until Next Time, In Greatness,
Coach Shara