Over the past few years, emotional intelligence (“EI”) has become one of the most popular leadership theories in business. It seems that every major workplace is offering training courses in emotional literacy or career development programs that include EI as part of their curriculum.

Many employers actually require candidates to have demonstrated some level of EI before being considered for employment. Some even advertise for such positions!

So why all the hype? Why are so many big corporations investing in this talent factor if it doesn’t make an important difference to how well they perform their jobs?

The truth is that developing your EQ isn’t just good for your personal life, it can also boost your job performance. This article will explain how.

Emotional quotient and success at work

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Your emotional quotient (or “EQ” for short) is basically the amount of emotion you use when interacting with other people.

For example, there are people who rarely get excited or show any signs of enthusiasm. When they do, it’s usually because something significant has happened — like winning the gold medal at the Olympics! – Or they’ve just done something great.

Other people seem to be constantly busy; they're always talking, taking phone calls, sending emails, and so on. They don't seem to stop long enough to relax unless they absolutely have to.

Have patience

Sometimes people get so focused on getting their job done that they forget to put in the time needed to achieve their goals. You will not grow your emotional intelligence if you are too busy trying to meet deadlines without thinking about how to motivate yourself or others.

It is important to remember that being motivated comes from within you. If you were ever able to recognize and manage your own emotions, then you have already experienced it firsthand.

Using your EQ to boost performance can be difficult at times, but do not give up! It takes work, but you can improve your ability to deal with situations and relationships.

You must acknowledge that there are things that make you feel uncomfortable, and instead of trying to avoid them by staying isolated, start interacting with other people.

This article will talk more about developing your emotional quotient.

Make eye contact

Making direct eye contact with someone is one of the first ways to establish trust, connect with them, and gain their attention. It’s also a powerful way to show respect for others. When you make direct eye contact, you are telling that person that they matter to you and that you read their body language.

Direct eye contact isn’t just important at work, it can be used in any situation where people need to feel connected or trusted. Being able to make eye contact helps you understand what things may be bothering another person and why.

It also helps when trying to get a job done as there is an understanding of how each other works. If you aren’t confident in yourself and your abilities, then don’t worry about it – but if you are, let everyone know!

Emotional intelligence (EI) doesn’t exist alone; it takes place within context. What we refer to as emotional control comes down to our ability to regulate our emotions and focus on the task at hand.

Be realistic

In fact, there is some evidence that suggests emotional intelligence can actually hurt job performance. When people perceive you as being too sensitive or angry, it makes them feel uncomfortable, which may prompt them to perform actions such as avoiding you or even going beyond your responsibilities to avoid triggering an outburst from you.

This could backfire in very serious ways for you if someone you’re supervising goes rogue because they didn’t like how you handled a situation. Or maybe you need to keep certain things hidden so that you don’t overexpose yourself and risk having a heart attack.

Alternatively, some researchers suggest that individuals with high levels of emotional intelligence are better at eliciting emotions in others, which may make them good supervisors or managers.

However, this doesn’t mean that everyone with high emotional IQs likes other people and is always willing to take responsibility for their mistakes, only that they’re more likely to put up with bad situations until they can find a way to fix them.

Share your experiences

As mentioned earlier, emotional intelligence (EI) is understood as how well you manage your emotions and relationships. However, there are some who argue that EI should be defined not as just your ability to regulate your own internal feelings, but also include the capacity to recognize and understand other people’s emotions.

This way of defining EI is referred to as cognitive empathy or “theory of mind.” This theory suggests that we all have a basic understanding of another person’s emotions, even if they don’t tell us what those emotions are.

For example, when someone breaks up with you, it can be difficult to know exactly why they broke up with you. But most people would agree that breaking up is usually a combination of both positive and negative things.

If a friend told you that he/she was no longer comfortable being in a relationship with you, then that could indicate that they didn’t want to be in a relationship with you at this time for any number of reasons. You probably wouldn’t want to press them about it, but many people feel similar ways about their current state of love-lessness.

By acknowledging these similarities, you would be developing your cognitive empathy, which will help you relate more effectively to others. In fact, research has shown that high levels of cognitive empathy predict higher job performance and satisfaction.

Be humble

A few years ago, psychologist Daniel Goleman made emotional intelligence (EI) a popular term. He defined it as “the set of skills that enable you to recognize your own emotions and those of others, and use them effectively to achieve your goals”.

He also described two main components of EI: ability and self-awareness.

The first component is related to one’s understanding of their feelings. For example, someone who understands how they feel when they fail can more readily accept failure as part of life.

Self-aware people are aware of their strengths and weaknesses, which helps them manage stress and stay motivated. They may even be able to identify their weaknesses and work to improve them.

They are also conscious of what makes them happy and what doesn’t, which help them determine effective strategies for mood management. All of these things contribute to happier individuals who enjoy their lives more than before.

That said, while having high levels of empathy is clearly important, being too empathic can be detrimental. Overbearing sympathy or empathizing with other people’s poor behavior or lack of motivation can actually hurt their relationships and make things worse.

It’s also worth noting that whereas some people have very strong social instincts, not everyone does. People with low EQ sometimes struggle to connect with others because they don’t understand why others behave in certain ways or seem unhappy.

Don’t be egotistical

Even if you don’t think you are very intelligent, you are! You have brain cells that work hard to process information, understand concepts and respond to emotions. This is totally normal and important to life!

I see it all the time in the workplace – someone with little emotional intelligence who gets upset easily and quickly loses their job because of it. A few weeks ago, I heard about a senior manager who fired one of her reports after discovering he had spent several hours outside of working hours looking up his own salary online.

He admitted he was annoyed by this but thought it was acceptable as he wanted to know how much money he made so he could compare himself against others. He also felt guilty for wasting company resources and time, so he gave an excuse as to why he did it. But still, he lost his job.

Be honest

As we have seen, emotional intelligence (EI) is a measurable quality that plays an important role in success in your career and in your life. Because of this, there are many strategies to improve your EI level.

One way to increase your EI is to be honest with yourself. Ask yourself questions about how you feel when certain things occur and whether those feelings are positive or negative. Also ask yourself if these emotions seem appropriate for the situation.

It’s easy to fake-laugh at a funny joke, but what happens next? You may become annoyed with the person telling the joke because you perceive them as being too humorous.

This could be due to personal differences such as someone trying to make you laugh when no one else does, or it could be due to their lack of respect for you by making you appear weak.

Be resilient

Overcoming adversity can boost your performance at work, and you need to be able to manage your emotions in order to achieve this. Being resilient means being able to deal with changes that threaten your current situation, or things that make you feel bad like losing a job.

By having these skills, you’ll be more likely to keep performing well even when things are not going your way. It will also help you get through times when they are!

Research has shown that people who were raised with strong emotional regulation skills was twice as likely to stay in their position for one year than those who weren’t.