Over the past few years, emotional intelligence (or EQ as it is commonly referred to) has become increasingly important in our workplaces and society at large. It’s now considered an essential skill for anyone aspiring to have a successful career.

With all of this attention paid to developing your EQ, there are now many different ways to improve your overall level of empathy. You can take lessons from others or learn how to be more empathetic with yourself.

You can also use your EQ to better understand and relate to other people. By being aware of your own emotions and those of others, you will know what actions affect them and can thus influence their behavior towards you.

There are several theories about why we develop strong social skills, but no one theory seems to explain it completely. However, most agree that practicing certain strategies helps build some part of EQ.

This article will go into detail on some easy ways to enhance your employees’ trust in you by showing them they can count on you, and vice versa.

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Have patience

It is very difficult to apply emotional intelligence in your workplace if you are not able to control yourself from being angry, hurt, or stressed about something for too long. If you cannot keep your emotions under control, it will be hard to achieve success as an emotionally intelligent person.

This can be especially tough when someone does something that makes you feel bad. Sometimes people make mistakes, and it is easy to get frustrated and angry.

But instead of lashing out, try to take some time off to calm down before returning to work. Take a break outside of work so that you do not carry these feelings into the office.

Remember, no one else will feel sorry for them if they made a mistake, and you need to believe that in order to put more positive energy into your own life.

Make eye contact

Making direct, meaningful connections with others is a powerful way to enhance workplace relationships and productivity. When you make good eye contact, you show interest in someone or something. You demonstrate that you are paying attention to them and their actions.

When your look away frequently, people will not feel comfortable talking to you. It makes they uncomfortable trying to get your attention so that you can listen to them!

Making eye contact does more than just show people you’re interested in what they have to say; it also helps them feel recognized and understood. This boosts trust between you both.

The importance of making and keeping eye contacts cannot be stressed enough when working in an office. If you notice someone avoiding looking at you, try to understand why they may feel shy or self-conscious.

It could be because they think you don’t like them, or believe they’ve done something wrong. Or maybe they just weren’t sure if you were awake before! 😉

But remember, no one else but them knows what goes on inside their mind, so never assume anything about them.

If there's something they've said or done that made you feel hurt or offended, let go and move on. Don't hold a grudge - it'll eat up too much energy and time.

Be realistic

It is very important to be able to identify what emotions are in regard to other people, as well as yourself. You must know how to recognize your own feelings so you can better understand them.

This also means being aware of the emotional state of others around you – for example, if someone seems irritable or angry, it may indicate they have something under control that they are not telling everyone else.

If this was done in front of you, would you feel comfortable approaching them? Probably not! That could easily start a conflict or even an argument.

So, by knowing how to apply emotional intelligence in the workplace, you will hopefully avoid such situations.

Share your feelings

In fact, most experts agree that being able to recognize and identify emotions is an important part of developing emotional intelligence.

Many professionals these days seem to be completely devoid of any type of emotion. They are constantly distracted by their phones or laptops while in meetings, they don’t show much affection for others outside of work, and they're not as compassionate with colleagues who make mistakes.

All of this contributes to a culture where people feel stressed out, frustrated, and even angry more often than they should.

If you want to develop your own emotional intelligence, there are several things you can do to address your lack of empathy.

You can start by acknowledging how you feel when someone does something good or bad. For example, if a coworker just got promoted, let them know how happy you are for them!

Or, if a colleague just received bad news, acknowledge that person's pain. Tell him or her that it sounds tough but he or she will get through it.

By showing signs of empathy, other people will also try to help you understand what they are going through. And if they see that you have problems yourself, they'll probably talk to you about theirs -- which could lead to solving the problem and helping them stay calm.

Be honest with your peers

Sometimes, colleagues can feel that you are not open enough about yourself or that you keep certain things private. This is totally normal!

Some people have a harder time knowing what makes someone else happy or unhappy so they assume that those things are the same for them – which they are not.

If this happens it can be difficult to build trust, and sometimes you need to work on trusting others more quickly.

But being able to identify how other people are feeling and whether they are hiding something important from you can help promote workplace harmony.

By using emotional intelligence (or EI) skills, you’ll know when a colleague isn’t responding to you as they usually would, and why.

You’ll also understand their behavior better and be able to address the issue more effectively if needed.

Listen to others closely

A large part of emotional intelligence is being able to listen well to people. You can’t truly understand what someone else is going through unless you really pay attention to them, how they are behaving, and if they seem happier or less happy than they were earlier.

By using your ears to learn about other people, you will develop understanding that goes beyond simple statements and questions. You will also hone your observational skills which can help you recognize patterns in behavior and determine whether something seems normal or not.

When we are attentive and aware, we take time to think about things before reacting to them. We weigh all possibilities before making a decision. This is important because decisions are often influenced by emotions so having some control over yourself can prevent bad decisions from happening.

It may be difficult at first but with practice you will get better at listening to others. The more you do it, the easier it gets. Keep practicing and you will soon have an advantage over those who don’t exercise their listening skills as much.

Don’t be egotistical

One of the biggest downfalls of people with very high emotional intelligence is that they can get overeager when it comes to their emotions.

This sometimes leads to poor decision-making or even hurt feelings for others. On the other hand, some may feel too controlled by their emotions which makes them seem detached and uncaring.

By being aware of your own limitations in terms of emotion regulation, you will hopefully learn how to control yourself more effectively. And while it may not always be possible to regulate your emotions, knowing what factors trigger emotions and why are key parts of this skill.

Also, remember that just because someone else’s emotions affect you doesn’t mean that they are automatically wrong. It could also indicate that they have strong emotions that they work through well.

Emotions do not necessarily stem from bad things; they can be helpful tools to know how to use properly.

Be humble

Developing your emotional intelligence takes work, and there is no quick fix for it. This may be difficult at times because we all have different levels of emotions that we use to identify as “mine” and “other people’s.”

When you are trying to develop your emotional intelligence, your level of empathy can sometimes outweigh how you normally would respond to something. This could either be because you did not feel like showing more emotion or because you showed too much.

Whatever the case, you must remember that everyone has their own internal process they go through when faced with situations. There is no one way to handle things effectively unless you are very self-aware.

There will always be someone who is one step ahead of you in terms of EQ. This does not mean that you should give up though! Keep practicing, but don’t get discouraged if you make little progress.

Developing your emotional intelligence is a process that will take time, so keep yourself motivated by using these tips.