The professional of the future is one who has concerns that go far beyond his or her role in a company or project. He or she gets involved in decisions, takes on responsibilities, and seeks to have good relationships with colleagues and superiors at work. For all of these actions, there is a set of skills that cannot be left out of his or her priorities: emotional intelligence.

This term has been trending in recent times, especially because of its importance to our personal and professional lives. And it is to not be left out of alignment proposed by the market that many people look for tips on how to develop emotional intelligence. If you are among them, stay here!

From now on, we will see what it is, its importance and how to develop emotional intelligence. Stay tuned!

What is emotional intelligence?

This term comes from Psychology, and the person who helped to spread it in the market was Daniel Goleman, in his book called Emotional Intelligence, from 1995. Since then, studies on the subject have only increased, given its importance for life in society and employability .

This is because emotional intelligence is the ability to deal with emotions, whether your own or those of other people you live with. In other words, it is the ability to understand feelings, not be discouraged by them, and even use them productively in your daily life.

As you can see, here we are not referring to that intelligence that was always talked about in school. Instead of evaluating how well a person assimilates or accumulates knowledge, the idea is to note the maturity to notice, assume, manage and face feelings.

How important is this skill nowadays?

The World Economic Forum has already warned: emotional intelligence is one of the skills of the future. In the market, it is also seen as a professional characteristic that cannot be missing in a talent. Some reasons are obvious: those who control their own feelings and know how to deal with the emotions of others foster healthier relationships.

When teams work well and work without unnecessary friction, productivity increases — and, as a result, results are better. From this perspective, it is not just the company that benefits: when employees get along well with their colleagues, they do not waste time or get stressed out by conflicts, which improves their quality of life in all aspects.

Now, speaking about personal life, there are stresses and strains that can be avoided with emotional intelligence. Since emotions are present in all situations, knowing how to deal with them makes decision-making processes easier and reduces some of the pressure in human relationships.

How to develop emotional intelligence?

Given its importance, it’s worth investing in developing this skill as soon as possible, don’t you agree? The good news is that there are simple steps to working on emotional intelligence –– and that, during this process, you can improve other aspects of your life. Check it out!

1. Invest in self-knowledge

Self-knowledge is a powerful ally in any situation. It is important to know which characteristics are part of your personality, your plans or dreams for the future, ambitions, and so on. It is also worth understanding your strengths and weaknesses, preferences, threats, opportunities for improvement, etc.

Finally, try to understand which situations trigger negative feelings. For example, many people cannot handle criticism, taking it personally or even getting offended. In this scenario and with this awareness, the ideal would be to develop actions to reverse the situation and learn to use feedback as a bridge to improvement.

2. Work on self-confidence

When you start to know your limits and potential, working on your self-confidence becomes an easier task. The ability to believe that you can solve problems and perform better in any situation is essential to combating discouragement.

Have you ever found yourself doubting yourself, minimizing your qualities, and being afraid of not being good enough for someone or a position, for example? These are symptoms of self-sabotage. It becomes more pronounced when negative emotions take over.

Trusting yourself is a way to deal with these feelings, work on them internally and not let them interfere with your positioning. This serves as a great motivation to develop emotional intelligence.

3. Master your emotions

Remember when we talked about being aware of what triggers your feelings? That’s the first step. This way, you won’t end up in conflicting situations and making hasty judgments, for example. Consequently, you’ll be able to better consider decisions and act according to what’s best for your life.

Impulsivity is one of the biggest challenges for emotional intelligence. Think about a virtual job interview scenario , right after you’ve been fired. In the heat of the moment, it’s easy to be tempted to badmouth your previous company, complain about your former boss, etc. But how does this behavior tend to be viewed by the recruiter? Not a good thing, right?

To make reason speak louder, think of alternatives to cool your head and reinforce the exercise of putting your emotions in their proper place. Some allies are meditation, slow breathing and physical activities, which can become habits in your routine.

By developing emotional intelligence and greater control over your emotions, you can better deal with external and internal pressures. If this is already essential in your private life, imagine what it is like in the workplace!

4. Have more empathy

We talk a lot about dealing with our own emotions, but we also saw that emotional intelligence involves interpersonal relationships – from networking to everyday life. In other words, the pain of others is included here. To work as a team or simply get along better with people, it is worth developing empathy, so as to put yourself in other people’s shoes.

With this skill, you can easily see that some behaviors are not just a whim or a lack of self-control. This way, you can both help the person deal better with their own feelings and help yourself by being less judgmental and stressed. This is how constructive and healthy relationships are nurtured.

With the tips in this post, you now have some good ideas on how to develop emotional intelligence. Remember that it is useful both for those who already have a place in the market and for those who still don’t know what to do professionally. After all, these benefits apply to all situations, even in friendships and family relationships. So, get started today!