Boost your Emotional Intelligence

Have you ever reacted to a situation at work in a way you weren’t proud of? Or sent an email when you were upset that you later regretted? No matter how successful or accomplished we may be, we all struggle with managing our emotions at times — and suffer the consequences afterward.

Boosting our Emotional Intelligence (EI) is beneficial for personal and professional success. Here are three exercises to enhance EI:

Tap into your awareness

Sit down and close your eyes, bringing your attention inward, then notice the state of your body, are you tired, energised. Take Note of your thoughts, notice your emotions.

Self-regulate with your breath

Say you are presenting to the senior leadership team or trying to stay patient in a frustrating meeting, close your eyes and breathe in for a count of three, hold your breath for a count of three and breathe out for a count of 3. Do this 3 times. This exercise will cam your parasympathetic nervous system, lowering your heart rate.

Forge connections with small moments of uplift

Try to see every encounter as an opportunity to leave the other people feeling uplifted. It only takes a moment to share a compliment, a laugh, a compassionate word or even a smile. Research shows you won’t just leave the other person feeling better, you’ll feel better yourself – as long as your works and actions are authentic.

Our work relationships matter a lot, and yet we rarely, if ever receive any formal schooling or training about how to relate to others.

Cultivating emotional intelligence, especially self-awareness, self-regulation, and positive connections helps us to not only make our interactions more pleasant and productive, but also increase our well-being and be better leaders.