Emotional Intelligence

Do We All Have It?

Emotions have a significant impact on our life performance…and they are contagious! We know our own individual feelings and we pick up on others around us. For leaders and entrepreneurs, not only do we need to manage our own emotions, but we also need to worry about how our emotions affect employees and business connections.

Emotions provide data about ourselves and others, a feedback system delivering information that drives behavior and decisions. Emotional intelligence is the capacity to access and interpret that data. Below are 3 ways to improve our emotional intelligence.

Know yourself And A Coping Strategy: Recall previous emotionally charged situations you have had in life. What are the triggers that you reacted to? Can you watch for those in future situations and how? Remember how to cope with them. Take a few deep breaths. Pause to put yourself in others’ shoes to redirect your focus and calm down. Take a break say “I need a moment. Let me think about it.”

Prepare and Iron Out The Details: Plan your conversations and presentations in advance. Anticipate your audience’s reactions and think about how you will handle the emotions that might be present. Preparation is a MAJOR KEY.

Baby Steps On Improvement: Aim for baby improvements, maybe one or two behavioral moves at a time. Continuously practice your new behaviors until it becomes as habitual as breathing.

Todays Focus: Do not let your emotions get the best of a performance. -Wade Townsend II