Key Components of Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence includes the ability to understand and manage emotions. It plays an important role in success, and some suggest it might even be more important than IQ. In this article we shall summarize five main components of emotional intelligence.

Components of Emotional Intelligence

Self-Awareness

Self-Awareness or the ability to identify and comprehend your own emotions, is a critical part of emotional intelligence. It also means being aware of the impact of your actions, moods, and emotions on other people. To become self-aware, you must be capable of supervising your own emotions, identifying different emotional reactions, and then correctly recognizing each emotion.

Self-aware individuals are also aware of the relationships between the things they feel and how they behave. They can recognize their own strengths and limitations, are susceptible to new information and experiences, and learn from their interactions with others. They have a good sense of humor, are confident in themselves and their abilities, and are aware of how other people observe them.

Self-Regulation

Another component of emotional Intelligence is self regulation which requires you to be able to regulate and manage your emotions. This doesn’t mean hiding your true feelings, but waiting for the appropriate time and place to express them. Those who are skilled in self-regulation are likely to be flexible and accommodate well to change. They are also good at managing conflict and expelling tense or difficult situations. Those with strong self-regulation skills are honest. They are thoughtful about how they impact others, and they take responsibility for their own actions.

Social Skills

Being able to interact well with others is another important component of emotional intelligence. True emotional understanding involves more than just understanding your own emotions and those of others. You also need to be able to put this information to work in your daily interactions.

At workplace, managers benefit by being able to build relationships and connections with employees. Employees benefit from being able to develop a strong rapport with leaders and colleagues. Important social skills include active listening, verbal communication skills, leadership, non- verbal communication skills and effectiveness.

Empathy

Empathy or the ability to understand how others are feeling, is absolutely essential to emotional intelligence. But it also involves your responses to people based on this information. When you sense that someone is feeling sad, you might treat them with extra care and concern, or you might make an effort to cheer their spirits.

Being empathetic also allows you to understand the capability that often influence social relationships, especially in workplace settings. Those competent in this area are able to sense who carries power in different relationships, understand how these forces impacts feelings and behaviors.

Motivation

Motivation also plays an important role in emotional intelligence. People who are emotionally intelligent are motivated by things beyond external rewards like success, money, appreciation, and approval. Instead, they have a passion to fulfill their own inner goals and needs. They look for internal rewards, experience flow from being in accordance with an activity, and follow peak experiences.

Those who are competent in this area tend to be practical. They set goals, want to achieve them and are always looking for ways to do better. They also tend to be very devoted and are good at taking initiative.

Conclusion

The components of emotional intelligence can be amended if you start working on them and see how you’re able to connect with people at a deeper level. Our actions are usually based on our emotions and emotional intelligence. When individuals have a great sense of communication and organizational skills, they will have the ability to make proper decisions and interactions with others.