Emotional Intelligence: Leadership of the future

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to control, understand and manage your own emotions as well as be sensitive and open to the emotions of others. In business, it is also related to understanding that each individual learns differently and being able to give the employees the space to learn and grow in an encouraging environment.

It is imperative to understand people's feelings and respond appropriately in a positive and proactive way. Basically, it's heart-and-mind performance. It empowers relationships and directs unified teamwork. Using EQ can help bring out the best in people. They become more motivated and feel a sense of belonging and recognition. Not all people are motivated by money, it's a requirement of course, but people stay in a workplace if their needs are being fulfilled and they feel that they have a future there.

As business leaders, we must stay on track to make sure that we are always maintaining healthy models within our company's, therefore, creating happy and healthy environments.

EQ = SELF + RELATIONSHIPS + ENVIRONMENT

LOW EQ VERSUS HIGH EQ

Many people often feel misunderstood and unappreciated, and some blame others for their problems at work or in other situations. People with lower levels of emotional intelligence are often subject to communication conflicts, emotional outbursts and moodiness. 

Some people get angry and hostile during conflict and confrontation rather than sitting back and reflecting on what caused the situation and how to handle it with maturity and empathy. Many don’t look beyond the immediate fierce emotion, or the emotional reasons that lay behind that.

People with lower emotional intelligence focus on competition and winning all the time. Though, we all like results, and being a type-A personality myself I like winning too, the best way to win is to have everybody involved and working together as a team. If you have lower emotional intelligence, it’s more difficult to understand what others are thinking or feeling. There is a lack of empathy and connection. Often, people with lower emotional intelligence also have few long-term quality relationships because they're not as open to communicate and bond with other people.

Now, on the other hand, people with high emotional intelligence, learn to adapt to other ways and situations. They are more adaptable, weigh the situation carefully, and treat people how they want to be treated. People with high-emotional intelligence take responsibility and look for solutions to fix problems. They're creative people too. They take situations on-board and take control of performance and productivity. They’re more self-disciplined, so they don't allow excuses and blaming when working together as a team. They look for win-win solutions too.

So, looking at the traits of our DISC styles, this can show us the reactions that happen between someone who has low or high eq in any given moment.