What do you do if your emotional intelligence is hindering your leadership skills in IT Sales?

Emotional intelligence, or EI, is the ability to understand and manage your own and others' emotions, especially in challenging or stressful situations. EI is essential for effective leadership, especially in IT sales, where you need to communicate complex technical solutions, build trust with prospects and clients, and motivate your team to achieve sales goals. However, sometimes your EI can hinder your leadership skills, if you are not aware of how it affects your behavior, decisions, and relationships. In this article, you will learn how to identify and overcome some common EI pitfalls that can impair your leadership skills in IT sales.

1 Lack of self-awareness

One of the key components of EI is self-awareness, which means being able to recognize your own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, values, and triggers. Without self-awareness, you may not know how your emotions influence your actions, or how your actions affect others. For example, you may be unaware that you are too aggressive, too passive, too defensive, or too emotional in certain situations, and that this can damage your credibility, rapport, and influence with your prospects, clients, and team members. To improve your self-awareness, you need to practice self-reflection, seek feedback, and monitor your emotional reactions.

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Vinicius Brum

Enterprise Account Executive at Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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Manage Your Emotions: Recognize your emotional triggers and develop healthy coping mechanisms. Take deep breaths, take a short break, or practice mindfulness techniques to manage your emotions before responding.

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Christer B Jansson

We help companies grow there business by increasing sales productivity. Vi är specialister på att arbeta med Säljhinder. Den variabeln som påverkar din försäljning med 40-60% positivt om du tar tag i det.
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There are trainings at least in Sweden focusing on self awarness more or less. The standard workshop in Sweden for many is UGL that also is the first step for many to take a step into this world to discover youreself. It is mostly leaders that participate in programs like this and I do think for us in sales it is as important as for leaders to develop your self-awarness. There is also psychometric testing that can give you feedback where you may need to focus on as a first stage.

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Ivana Tasic

Business Trainer and Coach. Experienced HR professional in the fintech industry, covering HR functions in Malta, Germany, US, Jordan and Philippines.
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Self awareness is easy to remedy. It is enough to ask honest and open feedback from the people around you. Explain that they will not be judged no matter what they say. Also for example anonymous feedback forms after an activity or a training that one has delivered can be quite helpful. We can also start observing ourselves more closely and start paying more attention to how people react around us. However in my opinion, the best way to increase one's self awareness is to ask an experienced therapist such as myself - we can offer honest and open feedback in a non-judgement environment. I am happy to support anyone who needs feedback on their personal or professional life that would increase their self-awareness

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Ravi Gopal

#Observability #Hybrid #Performance
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Realize the situation and your reaction - is it based on business or is it based on emotion. We are all guilty of this as we move very fast during the day. Separate the emotion from the business logic - and check your ego at the door. Once you do that and separate those two, you can focus more on the business results which will help your leadership skills.

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2 Lack of self-regulation

Another component of EI is self-regulation, which means being able to control your impulses, emotions, and behaviors, and adapt to changing circumstances. Without self-regulation, you may act impulsively, impulsively, or inappropriately, and lose your composure, professionalism, and respect. For example, you may lose your temper, make rash decisions, blame others, or avoid responsibility when things go wrong, and this can hurt your sales performance, customer satisfaction, and team morale. To improve your self-regulation, you need to develop coping strategies, such as breathing exercises, positive affirmations, or time-outs, and set clear goals, standards, and boundaries.

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Christer B Jansson

We help companies grow there business by increasing sales productivity. Vi är specialister på att arbeta med Säljhinder. Den variabeln som påverkar din försäljning med 40-60% positivt om du tar tag i det.
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Some of this problems may be due to Inhibited Social Contact Initiation Syndrom which is called Sales Call Reluctance in Sales people. Do the SPQ Gold/FSA test with an accredited SCR coach/trainer. If it is due to more deeper things in yourlife or personality I do recommend a psychologist that understand sales and the pressure we live under.

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3 Lack of empathy

A third component of EI is empathy, which means being able to understand and share the feelings, needs, and perspectives of others, and respond accordingly. Without empathy, you may not be able to connect with your prospects, clients, and team members, and understand their pain points, expectations, and motivations. For example, you may not listen actively, ask relevant questions, show interest, or offer solutions that match their needs, and this can lead to missed opportunities, dissatisfaction, and conflict. To improve your empathy, you need to practice active listening, show curiosity, express appreciation, and offer support.

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Christer B Jansson

We help companies grow there business by increasing sales productivity. Vi är specialister på att arbeta med Säljhinder. Den variabeln som påverkar din försäljning med 40-60% positivt om du tar tag i det.
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Sfeel what the other person feel. tress and pressure reduce empathy so try to avoid that if possible. People are different and have different level of empathy and yes you can train to be better on listening so you have a chance to feel what the other person feel. If you empathy is lower than others at least you can understand them better and that is in most cases enough.

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Vinicius Brum

Enterprise Account Executive at Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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Observe Your Impact: Pay attention to how your actions and communication style affect your team. Do they seem disengaged, confused, or hesitant to approach you? This could be a sign of an emotional disconnect.

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4 Lack of social skills

The final component of EI is social skills, which means being able to communicate effectively, build rapport, collaborate, and influence others. Without social skills, you may not be able to persuade your prospects, clients, and team members, and create positive and lasting relationships. For example, you may not use appropriate verbal and non-verbal cues, tailor your message, provide feedback, or handle objections, and this can result in misunderstanding, resistance, and distrust. To improve your social skills, you need to practice assertiveness, clarity, honesty, and respect.

Emotional intelligence is not a fixed trait that you are born with or without. It is a learnable and developable skill that you can improve with practice, feedback, and coaching. By identifying and overcoming your EI pitfalls, you can enhance your leadership skills in IT sales, and achieve better results, satisfaction, and loyalty.

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Christer B Jansson

We help companies grow there business by increasing sales productivity. Vi är specialister på att arbeta med Säljhinder. Den variabeln som påverkar din försäljning med 40-60% positivt om du tar tag i det.
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There are training courses on this to that are good but you need to practise as you learn more in the real world. So start networking, join social organizations that have values you like example are Junior Chamber of commerce if you are under 40, Rotary and both organizations was involved in the start of United Nations. Practise in real life and where you lack knowledge of the Culture how to behave you buy a training course or a coach specialized in social skills for that particular culture. Read books about it as well is a good start.

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5 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?

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What do you do if your emotional intelligence is hindering your leadership skills in IT Sales?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Lack of self-awareness

2 Lack of self-regulation

3 Lack of empathy

4 Lack of social skills

5 Here’s what else to consider

IT Sales

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What do you do if your emotional intelligence is hindering your leadership skills in IT Sales?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Lack of self-awareness

2 Lack of self-regulation

3 Lack of empathy

4 Lack of social skills

5 Here’s what else to consider

IT Sales

Rate this article

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