Emotionally intelligent leaders have the ability to identify, understand, manage, and use emotions in positive and constructive ways.

Business professionals who possess high levels of emotional intelligence are able to be the master of their emotions and not let their emotions hijack their success or their intellect.  High EQ is strongly correlated with career success, strong leadership presence and many other positive outcomes.

Luckily, EQ can be developed. It is not a “fixed attribute” and with effort, professionals can enhance their EQ or emotional intelligence. A good starting point is looking at current behaviors and mindsets and finding ways to remove the unwanted behaviors and change mindsets that no longer serve you.

Here are 3 things emotionally intelligent people DON’T do.

  1. Emotionally intelligent professionals don’t make everything a crisis. You all know a drama queen, the person who blows everything out of proportion and sees disaster and doom everywhere.  This is not the sign of an emotionally intelligent professional. Emotionally intelligent professionals keep their responses proportionate to the issue at hand. So, if something is serious, they take it seriously. However, they don’t make mountains out of molehills or exaggerate issues in order to get others worked up or to feel more important themselves.
  2. Emotionally intelligent professionals don’t take everything personally. They realize that not everything, especially the behavior of others. revolves around them. For example, they strive not to let something like the failure of a colleague to say “good morning” morph into “my colleague must be mad at me.” They look for an explanation for someone’s behavior that is less self-centered and more aware of the other person’s internal state or external challenges.
  3. Emotionally intelligent professionals don’t react.  Rather, they respond.  Emotionally intelligent professionals understand the difference between reacting and responding. When we react to things and events, all of the power lies with external things or events. This is sometimes known as having an external locus of control. It’s a fancy way of saying “victim of circumstances.” Having an external locus of control means all the power lies outside of you.  Emotionally intelligent people know that regardless of external events, they always get to choose how they will respond to those events (an internal locus of control). They exercise their power to choose how they will behave and communicate and don’t give away that power to other people, events, or circumstances.

To learn more on what emotionally intelligent leaders and professionals do and don’t do? Check out this live webinar!

Pamela Jett is a communication skills and leadership expert who knows that words matter! In her keynote presentations, workshops, books and online learning programs, she moves beyond communication theory into practical strategies that can be implemented immediately to create the kind of leadership, teamwork, and employee engagement results her clients want.