What’s Emotional Intelligence?
What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)? Odds are, you’ve heard it talked about many times in the past. Depending on your experience, you may have even run across several different definitions for the phenomenon.
At Neck Up, we understand that there are many roads that lead to the definition of EQ. While several definitions are available, we describe EQ as recognizing and respecting the value of emotions in the decision-making process. We teach two important points that can help change how we interact with our emotions:
1. Recognize and label the emotions you’re having so you can understand their meaning.
2. Respect your emotions by acknowledging them, which will help you learn to better control them.
Mastering these two steps helps people take a huge leap forward in their leadership and relationships. Without EQ, we tend to react to things that happen. A reaction is nearly involuntary. Someone cuts us off on the highway and we get angry, so we holler and honk and shake our fist at them. Our emotions take over and completely dictate our actions.
When we use EQ to our advantage, we can respond to situations rather than reacting to them. When the bad driver cuts us off, EQ can help stop us from making a rash decision. We can feel the anger, but EQ helps us to remain calm. We understand that we are justified in feeling angry, but EQ helps us refrain from saying or doing something we regret, or that could create a more dangerous driving situation.
Emotional reactions have destroyed many leaders and damaged countless relationships. Informed responses have helped diffuse danger and maintain order in many crucial situations that could have ended very badly.
If you’d like to learn more about the power of EQ and how you can use it in your daily life, give us a holler. We’ve seen EQ work in our lives and watched it help our clients prosper many times over. Visit our website and we can point you to a few of our favorite emotional assessments to get you started!
Neck Up Leadership brings together three nationally recognized leadership curriculums into one single source to help you get further faster on your leadership journey. Learn more at neckupleaders.com.
