Executive business coaching work with you step by step to improve your self-awareness, self-management, and empathy. Your executive coach will help you develop the fundamental skills associated with emotional intelligence. The following sections will outline several benefits of emotional intelligence in the workplace.
#1 Self-Awareness
As previously stated, one of the main areas coaches focus on is self-awareness. There’s a good reason for this: self-awareness is the catalyst for growth. People will continue to do things in the same way they always have if that first step of realization is not taken. Imagine going through life and being largely unaware of how certain situations, people, or thoughts elicit responsive emotions in you. Perhaps you are aware that you had a “bad” day, but why and what went wrong? Understanding oneself is often the first step in finding answers to these questions. Because of this awareness, they can regulate their emotions.
#2 Self-Regulation
Often, awareness of one’s emotions leads to discipline to control one’s emotions. At the very least, the task of self-regulation is made more manageable. Consider a scenario at work in which you are responsible for a new employee and are experiencing feelings of inferiority, but you are unable to identify these feelings (you are not self-aware). All you know is that when you interact with the person, you feel uncomfortable, tense, or uneasy. Self-awareness is the first step toward regulating your emotions and handling the situation with ease and comfort. Self-discipline is not limited to dealing with unpleasant emotions. As your coach leads you down the path of greater self-control, you will notice an increase in self-management in your professional life as well.
#3 Sympathy
Empathy is that special something that allows people to understand how another person is feeling. If someone empathizes with a problem you are experiencing, chances are you will feel it. Empathy is a powerful tonic that calms the receiver’s soul. Empathy leads to a better understanding of other people’s emotions, which leads to better interactions with business colleagues and subordinates. Furthermore, people will easily be led by you and seek your advice. Empathy is a quality shared by great leaders.
#4 Cognition Enhancement
When your mind broadens in one area, it tends to expand in other areas as well. One of the most important aspects of emotional intelligence is the ability to see situations from other people’s perspectives (hence empathy); when this happens, your eyes are opened to new perspectives on a variety of situations. By exercising your brain, you improve cognition, which will benefit your work in a variety of ways.
#5 Insight
As you begin to achieve success, you will experience increased levels of motivation. Who doesn’t get a rush of adrenaline when their goals are met? Again, it all starts with self-awareness; when people are self-aware, they discover intrinsic motivation, and with self-regulation, they channel that motivation in the right direction. It’s no surprise that motivation is an essential component of success and happiness. It is the driving force behind difficult tasks, long hours, and seemingly impossible obstacles in the workplace. There would be no workforce if there was no motivation.
#6 Social Skills
Social skills are the foundation of successful relationships, whether in the workplace or elsewhere. Teams with high emotional intelligence have a wealth of advanced social skills. They have excellent communication skills, which allows them to lead without appearing domineering; they negotiate effectively so that all parties feel like it was a win-win situation; and they work well in teams, combining their leadership and negotiation skills to help achieve the goal.