Emotionally intelligent people tend to….? Gone are the days when IQs are given the front seat in how recruiters decide who gets the job or not. Today, there is more emphasis on a person’s emotional quotient and how sometimes they have an advantage over more intelligent people.
When we think of emotional intelligence, these are the intangibles in all of us. These intangible traits will predict how we will navigate our work and our decision-making patterns.
So, what are the hallmarks of a highly emotionally intelligent person? What sets them apart from the rest of the pack that are hungry for success and recognition? Here are some of their innate traits.
1.Emotionally intelligent people tend to know how they feel
An emotionally intelligent person knows how they feel and are in tune with their emotions. This capacity to know oneself is called self-awareness. If you are self-aware, chances are, you recognize the signals and patterns of your feelings and are also aware of how those feelings might affect the work and performance of what you are trying to do.
Being self-aware will help you understand particular strengths and limitations you might have in a work setting. Someone self-aware will easily recognize if they are able to work on something by themselves or if they need to rely on the talents of someone else in their team.
Self-awareness will also allow someone to be decisive because no second-guessing is done if someone knows their purpose and what they value well.
The wonderful thing about self-awareness is that it can be acquired. The more you allow yourself the opportunity to be self-aware, the more you can nurture it and the more proficient you become.
One big key to nurturing self-awareness is acknowledging your weaknesses and triggers. If you are having a challenging time with something at work, foster honesty by knowing what you need to work on to succeed and learn to ask for help when you need it.
Self-awareness in emotionally intelligent people helps, especially in high-stress situations, since they can pinpoint what causes their frustrations and work from its root.
2.Emotionally intelligent people tend to express and manage their emotions effectively
Emotionally intelligent individuals have a strong sense of self-management. Self-management is where someone can keep disruptive impulses and emotions in check and under control. This emotional intelligence skill is vital for leaders and managers to have in crisis since employees below them will turn to them for assurance, and the calmness of a leader will reflect on everyone else.
Emotional intelligent people can stay collected under pressure and recover quickly if they are upset. They also have dynamic emotional self-control that balances their feelings for the good of their colleagues and also the given task at hand.
Self-management will also constitute a person who can face uncertainty and change with agility. They are creative in finding new ways to deal with every challenge and are able to balance multiple demands at once.
Emotionally intelligent people who have a high level of self-management are also able to meet or exceed the standard of excellence they have for themselves. They can take feedback on their performance with an open mind and are ready to develop for the better constantly. With this, they build strong resilience, setting the stage for more opportunities and innovations.
To cultivate self-management in yourself, the initial thing is not panicking during times of distress. Learn to breathe and never blow out on any members of the team. Let people in crisis management and offer solutions or adjust strategies based on the pressing issue at that time.
3.Emotionally intelligent people tend to empathize and knows how others feel
Emotionally intelligent people can empathize with others and know how others are feeling in the moment. If a person is socially aware, they tend to read the room accurately and precisely interpret people’s feelings only based on non-verbal cues.
Non-verbal cues will count for vocal tone, facial expressions, hand gestures, body posture, and many others. Studies have pointed to the complexity of nonverbal communication, which accounts for at least 70 to 93 percent of communication.
Social awareness in emotionally intelligent people will be evident in the person who can listen and communicate attentively and effectively to anyone — an essential trait for all employees.
In a work setting, they can fully be attentive in talking with other people and will take the time to understand what they are trying to say and how a person might be feeling. They put themselves in the person’s shoes to try and understand the situation in a meaningful way, especially in difficult times or when the person is at fault.
Being empathic will also mean that they can read the dynamics of a group or an organization. Emotionally intelligent persons can sometimes accurately predict how other teams or leaders will react, which will then allow them to approach the situation strategically.
An essential thing in order to cultivate social awareness is learning to listen actively. Let go of your prejudice and remember to ask questions while encouraging others to ask if they have them.
4.Emotionally intelligent people tend to be natural born leaders
Aside from knowing themselves on the inside, emotionally intelligent persons understand the many causes of emotions for every person around them. This is an interpersonal skill that lets them act in a way to mitigate, inspire, motivate and engage with other people on the team and the company or organization where they work.
Emotionally intelligent people carry influence and are naturally born leaders. They can gather support easily and can keep everyone on their team mobilized, engaged, and executing tasks.
Their constituents also value their feedback and support, and this feedback is also told in a way that it is always transparent that their employees are motivated and clear about what is expected of them.
Natural-born leaders can also deal with and mitigate disagreements among their peers and find solutions that would benefit both parties in the end.
In terms of teamwork, they do not lead with a Draconian fist. Instead, they share responsibilities and rewards, and they contribute to the team’s overall capabilities and do not expect them to do everything.
A natural-born leader with a high emotional quotient also guides and inspires their team to see the overall vision and the end to their work. Aside from getting the job done that is expected of them. They are also able to bring out the best in all team members.
5.Emotionally intelligent people tend to think before they speak and act
People with higher emotional intelligence think before they speak and act, and they use this ability to control how they feel and their emotions to their advantage. These people are who find ways to be composed predominantly when they feel overwhelmed, are under a lot of pressure, and in stressful situations.
They know that what they feel in the moment is fleeting, and they are not partial to making any impulsive decisions in a state of emotional low or high that they know they will regret.
The most important thing about thinking before speaking or acting is so that we would not act impulsively. This won’t mean that our feelings should be ignored since it is the other way around. We need to listen to our emotions by thinking and processing them so that we can do things calculatedly and turn the tables in our favor.
In this way, emotionally intelligent people can make decisions based on their inner emotions and wisdom. Instead of just being a hindrance to their thought process, they include how they feel in the decision process without impulsively acting on those fleeting feelings.
Practice this trait on yourself by listening to your guts but not letting them make any decisions. Instead, process them and think them through so, in the end, your gut feelings are also guided by your rational thoughts in making decisions.
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6.Emotionally intelligent people tend to have a wide emotional vocabulary
People are servants to their own emotions, but a number of select few can pinpoint, acknowledge, and identify them as these feelings are occurring. People with more heightened emotional intelligence are more likely to have a more comprehensive emotional vocabulary.
They can label everything they are feeling since they are aware that unlabeled emotions are often the ones that could lead to irrational choices and various counterproductive measures and actions if they choose to act on them. These people are masters of their feelings and emotions since they fully understand themselves.
Emotionally intelligent people would never say that they are feeling down; instead, they will elaborate on that feeling and state whether they are feeling anxious, frustrated, or lonely.
The more in touch people are with their feelings, the easier it will be to identify what triggered them, what they are feeling, and what they can do to lessen or resolve them. When you are able to determine how you are feeling in a single word, disarming the emotions will be easier.
One way to widen your emotional vocabulary is by simply reading an extensive list of labeled feelings with their corresponding meanings. This might sound elementary to many professionals because it is, but by doing so, we identify the root, which will then lead us to do something about it.
7.Emotionally intelligent people tend to know their strengths and weaknesses
Aside from being just all about their feelings, emotionally intelligent people are also self-aware of their abilities. They know what they are excellent and terrible at, their strengths and weaknesses. Emotionally intelligent people know the people and the environment where they are able to succeed and excel.
What counts as your strengths are the skills and activities that you are good at and what are easy for you. These are skills and activities that you know you will do well at if you demonstrate.
Your weaknesses, on the other hand, are the complete opposite. These are the skills and abilities that are harder for you. The advantage of emotionally intelligent people is knowing what aspect of work they need to work around.
In knowing their strengths and weaknesses, emotionally intelligent people are made more self-aware. They are able to strategize to focus on each of their specific developmental needs.
Speaking of developing your weaknesses, to use your weaknesses to an advantage, practice and learn some more about them so when the time comes that you are asked to step up and execute them, you are able to show something.
8.Emotionally intelligent people tend to be a good judge of character
Because of their ability to read a room, influence, and empathize with a range of people, emotionally intelligent people tend to be great judges of character.
Being a great judge of character is an excellent asset when it comes to business and life. People with this ability are able to size up anyone with just the first impressions, and most great recruiters will succeed in their jobs with this trait to guide them in the hiring and recruiting process.
If a person is a great judge of character, people are not a mystery to them. They know on the get-go what one is all about, their motivations, and even their strengths and weaknesses. Emotionally intelligent people take the time for careful observation and also practice attentive and active listening.
Recruiters who have a good gauge of character will not only rely on extrinsic data such as skill-based tests. Instead, they will focus on what are known as ‘softer traits’ like a person’s will or attitude.
This is a reason why it is more important to look at the interview process as a test for a candidate’s attitude rather than a question and answer about what they can or cannot do because, in the future, there is more room for improvement for the one who is striving to be better.
9.Emotionally intelligent people tend to not seek perfection
One who is emotionally intelligent knows that perfectionism is impossible. Striving for perfection creates excessively high and inflexible standards. Perfectionists also sometimes see their works as the basis of their self-worth, which can cause anxiety and, more often, mistakes for perfectionists.
Although there are many aspects to these traits that can benefit some work, they can cause an imbalance which can only cause bad things to happen in some parts of work, like socially and psychologically. This is especially true for an excellence-seeking perfectionist who demands that many people and outcomes need to be as good as what they are putting out.
Since emotionally intelligent people do not strive to be perfect, they are able to ask for help when they need it and won’t hesitate to have their work checked by their teammates if it is a collaborative effort. They are also less prone to stress and anxiety.
Perfectionism will require perfect conditions in order to make or present a stellar work. In most cases, this would not be the case for some workplaces. Many are prone to interruptions, new developments, and distractions that can disrupt the process, which would cause more stress to the perfectionist versus the average employee simply doing their best.
10.Emotionally intelligent people tend to take care of themselves both physically and mentally
Emotionally intelligent people are big on finding balance in all aspects of their lives. They are aware that if one is only focused on their career, they would be neglecting another essential element in their life like their family or leisure time. They are goal-oriented, but, at the same time, they know that they will be unable to reach their goals if they are not physically or mentally healthy.
People who are emotionally intelligent prioritize their health. They know the significance of getting enough sleep to manage the stress in their life. In turn, this will give emotionally-intelligent people a longer attention span and more self-control, and also their memory will last for longer.
If you want to cultivate and make taking care of yourself a priority, there are many ways you can do it, like taking less caffeine or disconnecting.
Drinking less coffee will help reduce our inclination to faster response time. The adrenaline released by caffeine makes us unable to think before we act or speak, which will affect our judgment when it comes to making fast decisions.
Disconnecting is good for mental health and prioritizing this element in your life suggests a higher emotional quotient in a human person. Let go of your stressors and ensure that you are using the day-offs to take care of yourself, and you will be able to do more productive and meaningful work on the weekdays.
Emotionally Intelligent People Tend to…: The Final Thoughts
Reading the article will make you see that emotionally intelligent people are the perfect persons for every job across the board. They present maturity and views essential to doing business and interacting with everyone.
The single tunnel vision of adoring and hiring someone based on the fact that they are ultra-focused on their work shifts to seeing someone who prioritizes their space and well-being as the more worthy candidate since the amount of care will surely also reflect in their work.
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