Emotional intelligence is a beautiful gift to develop in yourself, and to foster in others. Emotional intelligence is the ability to read the emotional states in others as a means to communicate more deeply and more fully. When we’re communicating with emotional intelligence, others feel seen and heard.

Our work lives can often be transactional. We may tend to focus on completing the tasks at hand and meeting our deadlines. We perform our functions; we focus on accomplishment. We punch the clock. At times, we may forget to be present in the moment.

Shifting our mindset toward becoming more emotionally intelligent is truly a powerful way to lead. What might change for each of us if we were to consider our work to be much deeper and more meaningful than just completing tasks?

The first step in developing emotional intelligence is building self-awareness. This can help a person to appreciate their own strengths and weaknesses, and see themselves more objectively.

A few tips for continuously developing self-awareness that you may want to consider:

·       Include development of self-awareness as one of your goals.

·       Slow down and notice your thoughts.

·       Set a reminder in your electronic device each day to check in with yourself for a few breaths.

·       Adopt a daily journaling practice.

Becoming more self-aware may be the first step to building emotional intelligence. This may truly put you on course to having a more fulfilling experience as a leader.

Continue to follow my blog for more in the series about developing emotional intelligence.