What are your habits for developing emotional intelligence?

2 Cultivate empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others, and to show them that you care. Empathy is essential for building trust, rapport, and influence with your team and other stakeholders. To cultivate empathy, you need to listen actively, ask open-ended questions, show interest and respect, and avoid judgment or assumptions. You also need to be aware of the non-verbal cues, such as body language, tone of voice, and facial expressions, that convey emotions. Empathy is not about agreeing with everyone, but about acknowledging and validating their perspectives.

3 Manage stress

Stress is inevitable in leadership roles, as you face multiple challenges, demands, and uncertainties. However, stress can also impair your EI, as it can trigger negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or frustration, that can cloud your judgment and affect your relationships. To manage stress, you need to identify the sources and symptoms of stress, and adopt healthy coping strategies, such as exercise, relaxation, hobbies, or social support. You also need to set boundaries, prioritize tasks, delegate responsibilities, and take breaks when needed.

4 Express emotions

Expressing emotions is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of authenticity and confidence. As a leader, you need to be able to communicate your emotions in a clear, respectful, and appropriate way, and to encourage others to do the same. Expressing emotions can help you to convey your vision, values, and expectations, to inspire and motivate your team, to address issues and conflicts, and to celebrate successes and achievements. To express emotions, you need to use positive and constructive language, to match your words with your actions, and to balance your emotions with logic and facts.

6 Learn and grow

Learning and growing is the habit of seeking new knowledge, skills, and experiences that can enhance your EI and leadership performance. Learning and growing can help you to adapt to changing situations, to overcome challenges and setbacks, to discover new opportunities and possibilities, and to improve your self-confidence and self-efficacy. To learn and grow, you need to embrace a growth mindset, which is the belief that you can always improve and develop your abilities. You also need to seek feedback, mentoring, coaching, training, or other learning resources that can support your development.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?