Using Emotional Intelligence in Business

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognise and understand emotions and their impact on behaviour and attitudes. Those who have a high degree of emotional intelligence are in tune with both their own emotions and the emotions of other people with whom they come in contact. It has become recognised for its correlation to success in work and personal life, to motivation and to overall well-being. In business, high-EQ people have become desirable to employers due to the various advantages they enjoy.

Components of Emotional Intelligence

 Connelly Hayward, a master trainer in emotional intelligence, explained what the five components of emotional intelligence are:

1. Self-awareness is the ability to recognize and understand one's emotions and the effect those emotions have on one and others around.
2. Self-regulation is the ability to think before acting and suspend judgment about a situation, person or experience. With self-regulation, it becomes imperative to redirect disruptive impulses.
3. Social skills involve understanding the emotional state of those around you. It encompasses recognizing how one’s words and actions affect others.
4. Empathy is the ability to influence the emotions of others. It involves knowing when it's appropriate to influence the emotional condition of others and otherwise.
5. Motivation is the passion you have for work that goes beyond money, recognition or promotion. 

Why Emotional Intelligence is Important to Your Business

 Emotional intelligence involves being sensitive to and perceptive of other people's emotions and having the ability to intuitively facilitate improved performance based on this knowledge. As evident in many Nigerian businesses, the modus operandi of businesses is characterised by open communication, teamwork, and a mutual respect among people - employees and their supervisors and customers.

As a business owner and/or manager you should not lose sight of the fact that your employees, team members and customers are people with real lives and emotions that impact how they think, feel, and act. .

Every interaction with those people is an exercise in Emotional Intelligence. The more developed you are in the five areas above, the better you’ll lead your people and manage your processes. You’ll dial into your team and customers’ needs and understand what drives them. This all leads to a business that runs more efficiently and is connected to its market. That leads to long-term success.

Emotional intelligence tests

Emotional intelligence tests can offer valuable insight into your EQ skills. By evaluating your own emotional intelligence and training yourself on how to be more aware of your own emotions and those of the people around you, you learn how to:

- Better manage stress

- Communicate more effectively

- Empathise with others

- Be a better leader

Below are some additional resources that can help you can evaluate your EQ skills:

Global Leadership Foundation

Institute for Health and Human Potential