The popular concept presented by Daniel Goleman ‘the emotional intelligence’ (an ability to understand and manage emotions) is thought to be the major determinant of one’s success in life i.e. having higher levels of emotional intelligence increases our chances of success.
But what does emotional intelligence look like if you want to see it in everyday life? If you want to work on your emotional intelligence and improve your EQ then you must be aware of the traits of highly emotionally intelligent people. Here are some qualities of emotionally intelligent people:
Great team players
Individuals having higher levels of emotional intelligence are better equipped to work cohesively within teams.
Research supports the idea that emotionally intelligent people have a desire and an ability to establish and maintain high quality relationships in the workplace. Furthermore, there are significant links between high EI and more successful interpersonal relations. Emotionally intelligent people are aware of their own emotions as well as understand the emotions of others, so while working in teams they fully understand their role and openly collaborate with other members of the team. As they understand their role, they fully understand their rights and responsibilities – they always hold themselves accountable for what they are responsible for. While working in a team, they are flexible and accept varying roles. They are fully committed to the team and have a positive attitude. All these characteristics make them a good team player.
Top performers at work
Individuals that show great performance at work are focused on their goals, accept challenging tasks open heartedly, work consistently, strive to improve their capabilities, welcome constructive criticism, maintain a healthy work-life balance and never miss professional growth opportunities. Emotionally intelligent people exhibit top performance at work because they are intrinsically motivated, besides regulating emotions they also strive to be better every day that results in their top performance at work.
Empathetic
Emotionally intelligent people are pretty much empathetic towards others. They take into account what other people feel, put themselves in others’ shoes and try to understand what others are going through. So, they listen to others and people are more comfortable with them and easily express hidden feelings. Their empathetic nature makes them concerned about the wellbeing and happiness of others. Empathizing with others teaches them how to build social connections with others and how to regulate their own emotions. Thus, their empathetic nature enables them to build effective relationships both at work and in their personal lives.
Mentally strong
Another quality you would see in highly emotionally intelligent people is their great mental strength. When they confront a challenging situation, they don’t let it beat them, they force themselves to push through it instead. When trying to accomplish something, mentally strong people are not afraid of failures and keep on trying until they get it accomplished. What’s more, they believe in achieving something great in life, so they don’t go behind instant gratification and keep striving for something big. This is how emotionally intelligent people with their great mental strength may lead a successful life.
Resilients
Life challenges may appear at any time, and they may desperately break you, but if you have a higher level of emotional intelligence, you would not let them quit you, you would bounce back and move on instead. People who don’t get overwhelmed by life challenges and bounce back and move on are called resilient ones. Resilience enables an individual to successfully cope with stressful conditions and never succumb to the negative impacts of stressors. So, resilience is an essential quality of highly emotionally intelligent people, and it keeps them motivated no matter how difficult the circumstances are. This implies that emotionally intelligent people tend to have better physical and mental health because they are less likely to be impacted by the presence of stressors
Effective communicators
Highly emotionally intelligent people are effective communicators. Effective communicators know and share
their goals and objectives with others in their group or team, they listen actively, they try to avoid miscommunication and believe in clarity. They are known for their conflict resolution ability in the workplace. Through effective communication they establish and maintain high quality relationships at the workplace.
Profoundly self-aware
Self-aware individuals know themselves very well, they understand how their behavior may affect themselves and the people around them. Thus, they are able to manage their own as well as other people’s emotions, so they are generally happy and live a meaningful, balanced and fulfilling life. Wisdom, humility, honesty and confidence are the top traits of self-aware people. Individuals with high Emotional Intelligence have sufficient self-awareness to recognize negative feelings and respond to them appropriately to prevent escalation. Uncontrolled and misunderstood emotions may exacerbate our vulnerability to other mental health issues, like stress, anxiety, and depression.
So now you know the qualities of highly emotionally intelligent people, you may work on all or some of these qualities in order to improve your emotional intelligence. Because having a higher IQ solely cannot assure you success at any point in life. Your higher IQ with a significant level of EQ may help you perform well in all life endeavors. How successful you are in life is determined by both your emotional intelligence and your IQ, because intellect works best when it is accompanied with high emotional intelligence. Think differently and develop the skills for better EI because it would reduce your life stresses, that in turn will leave positive impacts on your well-being and happiness.
Follow us:
Facebook : Think Different Nation
Instagram : Think Different Nation
Twitter : @TDN_Podcast