I was blessed to have a remarkable father who was incredibly intelligent, successful, and kind.

He started talking about emotional intelligence four decades ago before the discipline became fashionable.

There were maybe one or two books on the subject back then, but my dad was already evangelizing the importance of EQ in leadership positions.

For many years people have celebrated the importance of IQ as the catalyst for success. In fact, many people still do.

There are many corporate executives, academic elites, and politicians that value accomplishment over the importance of understanding the idiosyncrasies of human behavior.

When people operate in a world of rewards and punishment, their actions are driven by competition, productivity, compliance, and absolute truths, usually their own.

They become indoctrinated in a belief system that affords little tolerance, and poor listening skills that fail to appreciate alternative perspectives.

As a result, their leadership skills suffer because they refuse to recognize people’s true potential if the individual doesn’t exhibit the attributes they believe are synonymous with success.

It’s easy to measure someone on academic achievement and identify top performers based on productivity and results. The challenge, recognizing the emotional aptitude that might be the driving force behind their success.

People that do well in school and meet productivity standards at work are a dime a dozen.

The rare individual that excels in emotional intelligence is more difficult to identify, because most companies don’t bother recruiting these people. It takes time, tremendous effort, talent and money.

However, people with high emotional intelligence are top performers and possess natural leadership skills that can be coached and cultivated.

So how do we determine who has the emotional intelligence to help our organization flourish?

EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT PEOPLE DO 9 THINGS TO BE SUCCESSFUL:

01. MANAGE STRESS

Emotionally intelligent people manage stress well and they don’t carry their problems into the workplace. People that fail to nullify stress affect our work environments with unresolved anger, resentment, and hostility. These people often manage their stress with external mechanisms that exacerbate health problems. Emotionally intelligent people manage their stress in a healthy way, and it reflects in their work relationships.

02. ASSERTIVE

People with high emotional intelligence understand the fine line between being assertive and being obnoxious. These people are great at sales and enjoy healthy relationships at work and in their personal lives. They know how to balance being assertive, with setting boundaries and removing toxic people that create stress and consternation.

03. COMMUNICATION

Less than 30% of all people have the ability to understand and communicate their feelings well. People that have done the difficult work of personal improvement and have tamed narcissistic tendencies excel at communicating well. These people master their emotions and communicate without being defensive or making accusations. They listen to understand and choose their words wisely.

04. DEFENSIVE

People that lack emotional intelligence take everything personally. Watching politicians attack their adversaries on evening news programs demonstrates their emotional deficiencies. Leaders don’t have the luxury of reacting emotionally to everyone that challenges their opinion. When they do, it creates an echo chamber where compliance and agreement is the only acceptable response. Great leaders distance themselves from the temptation to take everything personally and let their thoughts ferment before responding. They can disagree without being insulting, condescending and ostentatious.

05. VINDICTIVE

People with poor emotional intelligence are vindictive. These are the adolescent politicians on Twitter that blast off insults and demonize anyone that disagrees with their politics. They are loud mouths with massive megaphones, but they aren’t leaders. These people harbor animosity and believe the world is out to get them. They hold grudges and spew their vitriol of hatred when threatened. Emotionally intelligence people mitigate stress and let go of negative emotions and they don’t vilify their colleagues that disagree.

06. SOLUTIONS

Emotionally intelligent people take ownership of their mistakes and focus on solutions. Watching political leaders mess up and constantly blame past presidents and opposing parties is nauseating, and it’s the sign of emotional weakness. Strong people claim their failures and forge ahead by focusing on solutions. They are constantly learning and resist the temptation to use blame and outrage as their explanation for failure.

07. EMPATHY

People with poor emotional intelligence lack empathy. They struggle to appreciate how their words and actions impact other people, because they only care about themselves. When you lack compassion, you operate without emotional aptitude and hurl insults, accusations and eviscerate anyone that disagrees. Lack of genuine empathy is a common problem with corporate executives that signal virtue for social causes to appease stakeholders.

08. BLAME

Emotionally intelligence people take full responsibility for their lives and their actions. They don’t waste time blaming everyone and everything for their personal and professional failures. They focus on progress and personal improvement, not marinating in excuses for their shortcomings.

09. THIN SKIN

People with high emotional intelligence have confidence, clarity, conviction, and a strong sense of purpose. People that don’t embrace cheap imitations for their lack of true authenticity. They also have thick skin and don’t take everything personally. They know how to recognize critics that are being unreasonable and resist the need to seek retribution.

IF YOU FOUND THIS ARTICLE USEFUL PLEASE SHARE IT WITH A FRIEND OR ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE