The Importance of Managing Your Emotional Intelligence

Written by: Awaz Ahmed, Executive Contributor

Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.

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Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to manage emotions in a positive way to eliminate or reduce stress, communicate effectively, practice empathy, and help overcome conflict. Emotional intelligence plays an important role in an individual's well-being. Unable to manage emotions may negatively impact mental health, impact relationships and organizations.

Emotional intelligence has shown to be a very strong predictor of success and well-being. Often, our emotions get in the way of our behaviors: personal and professional. Therefore, the vital steps of managing your emotions are being self-aware, other awareness, self-management, and relationship management. What does this mean? Self-awareness refers to being aware of their own emotions and having personal power. Other awareness refers to having empathy and being aware of situations. Self-management refers to behavioral self-control, integrity, innovation, resilience, stress management, and imitative and bias for action. Lastly, relationship management refers to communication, interpersonal effectiveness, powerful influencing skills, conflict management, inspirational leadership, and building trust. Emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of your emotions as well as those around, particularly in the moment, in order to manage ourselves and other relationships (ISEI, 2020).

It seems complicated, but it’s that simple. We get caught up in the moment and forget to stop or reflect on what’s going on. It’s no surprise going through different emotions such as angry, upset, frustration, or happiness influences those around you without realizing it sometimes. Therefore, managing emotional intelligence is essential to an individual's personal and professional well-being.

What techniques can you use to manage your emotions?

I will teach you 3 easy techniques to use to manage your emotions: professional or personal emotions.

1. Permission Slips Technique. Permission slips allow you to feel how you’re feeling in a given time. Feeling upset, overwhelmed, stressed or frustrated?

Task: write yourself a permission slip. Simply take a paper and write down, “I give you permission to be (insert emotion).” This allows you to manage your emotions by being aware and allowing yourself to feel the emotion because you’re giving yourself permission.

Please note: if you’re a visual person: write your permission down. If you’re an auditory person: record your permission, and if you’re a kinesthetic person: write down the permission on a slip and stick it on something meaningful to you to feel.

2. Breathing Technique. This breathing technique helps reduce negative emotions and calms an individual during conflict.

Task: Breath in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds and exhale for 4 seconds for 4 times or as needed.

Please Note: This can be done sitting or lying down.

3. Mood Tracker App Technique. The mood tracker app allows you to keep track of your emotions and create reports or overview of your different emotions.

Please note: This isn’t practical for everyone and could be done as a personal mood journal instead.

Institute for Social + Emotional Intelligence®, (2020). https://the-isei.com/home2.aspx.

For more information, visit my website!

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Awaz Ahmed, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine

Awaz Ahmed is a Business Psychologist and Coach, helping organizations and individuals in the workplace by encouraging and facilitating clients in a range of professional and personal areas. In addition, she has worked internationally and is the founder of aweology; a company platform of Business Psychologists and professional coaches. With a MSc in Business Psychology and coaching Awaz Ahmed, is also a certified emotional intelligence coach, NLP practitioner, certified 70+ hours of ICF coaching training, member of the British Psychology Society, American Psychology Association, Society for Industrial and organizational psychology and currently studying her PHD in Business Psychology. Through her extensive experience and education in Business Psychology, she is highly skilled and passionate about research, psychometrics, assessments, training, development, recruitment and coaching.