Classifiable among the most requested soft skills, emotional intelligence is considered a very important factor in the workplace. For this reason, especially in recent years, companies have begun to pay close attention to this feature and recruiters consider it among the decisive elements in the interview and to draw conclusions at the end of a selection process.
What is emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, manage and value one’s own and others’ emotions.
The cognitivist psychologist Daniel Goleman treated the subject in a 1995 essay, identifying two main skills at the base of emotional intelligence …
- Personal competence: It is the emotional intelligence applied to oneself. It concerns the ability to recognize one’s emotions, self-evaluate one’s resources and use them to manage one’s feelings, face them or exploit them to achieve one’s goals.
- Social competence: Concerns the methods of managing relationships with others, in particular the ability to recognize the emotions of others (empathy), communicate, offer a valid support for the management of feelings and give a positive influence.
Benefits at work
Emotional intelligence is rightly among the most important and required soft skills, as it constitutes a fundamental transversal competence for integrating the framework of technical skills and traditional IQ.
Companies and recruiters consider it a huge added value, because on a professional level it allows not only to develop self-awareness and self-control, but also facilitates relations between employees, thus favoring a peaceful working environment and allowing for more effective strategic business planning.
Emotional intelligence is also an essential element for expressing and developing leadership skills, combining technical skills with the ability to manage and value emotions, one’s own and others.
How to develop emotional intelligence
Surely emotional intelligence is a part of inborn talent, but it is possible to exercise it and improve one’s abilities. Here are some tips to follow …
Take some time for reflection and self-analysis
The starting point for understanding and understanding others is definitely self-analysis. Cultivating self- awareness generates awareness of one’s potential and shortcomings, which in turn is the first step towards improvement. It is therefore of vital importance to be able to dedicate some time to reflection daily.
Pay attention to emotions
In the context of self-analysis, it is necessary to practice identifying the emotions that come into play in the different situations of life, both professional and private.
Identifying the nature of the sensations that prevent us from doing something will allow us to face the situation with more awareness and detachment. Conversely, recognizing the emotions that positively influence work will help to find new stimuli more easily.
It is also very important to learn not to focus exclusively on oneself, but also to pay attention to the ways of acting and the reactions of others, trying to recognize the emotions behind each person’s behavior.
Dose the technology
In order to develop self-reflection and foster personal relationships it is, of course, necessary to reduce the reckless use of technological devices and social networks.
The assumption of always being virtually connected with the world sometimes precludes the enhancement of real relationships and distracts from a dialogue with oneself, therefore from an awareness of one’s own personal and work performances. We therefore need to rethink our relationship with technology and balance the time we dedicate to it with other activities that allow us to develop emotional intelligence.
