Entrepreneurs are driven and motivated individuals, with an internal drive to succeed.  ‘Emotional Intelligence’ means more money, and as an entrepreneur you cannot neglect the skills needed to manage your emotions and relate well to others. Business is about relationships, and Emotional Intelligence is the number one skill needed for you to connect with your team and customers – and drive business success.

Did you know that you don’t need to be the smartest person in the world to be the most successful?

In fact, people with average IQs often tend to perform better in the workplace than high-IQ individuals.

Emotional intelligence has emerged on the scene in the last few years as the “secret sauce” of success in the business and startup world. In fact, it is also a quality many investors are looking for these days.

Entrepreneurs with high Emotional Intelligence can leverage empathy, problem-solving, and social skills to come up with solutions, create strong relationships, and ultimately, win people over.

Emotional Intelligence is the skill of detecting and understanding emotions in others as well as oneself.

Fact: If you can’t identify with the emotions of others, communication is more difficult and less effective overall. Effective communications is super important to be able to build relationships and increase your network.

People with emotional intelligence are generally good at managing their own emotions and helping others manage theirs.

Emotionally intelligent people are good at putting themselves in someone else’s shoes and seeing challenges from different perspectives, which can also help them solve problems for their team and clients.

How to improve your own emotional intelligence?

Unfortunately, there’s no magic formula, it is like working out at the gym – the more you do it, the more you’ll improve.

Here are a few suggestions, that are easy, and you can get started today

Read, read, read – everyday!!!

 Over 90% of top performers have above-average Emotional Intelligence. Reading about the success others have had can show you what steps you need to take in order to reach your goals.

Listen and practice empathy – everyday!!!

During your conversations with everyone, from colleagues, friends, and family – practice empathy. Really listen to what is being said and take a step back to think about what they might be thinking and feeling. Listen not only to their words, but also to their tone of voice, body language and eye contact.

Talk to a mentor (and if you can afford get a coach or counsellor)

One of the most difficult aspects of improving your Emotional Intelligence is measuring your progress. Talking to a mentor/coach/counsellor can help because they’ll be able to give you benchmarks and assess how you’re doing on an ongoing basis.  Having someone on your side will make you succeed faster.

And NEVER be afraid to ask for help—developing Emotional Intelligence can be challenging but in teams we can always achieve more.

We have an Emotional Intelligence Bootcamp starting in a few days.

Contact Annaliese@aestudy.com to find out more & to sign up.