Most of the things you and I have been taught about entrepreneurship center on…
- the hustle,
- the grind,
- the mental aptitude,
- and having tenacious grit for both your goals and your growth.
Make no mistakes: these characteristics are necessary.
However, there is a growing amount of research that your emotional intelligence matters just as much as these characteristics — if not more.
In this article, you’ll learn all about emotional intelligence for consultants: what it is, why it’s important, and practical ways to improve yours.
What Is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence is your ability to recognize, understand, and control your own emotions. It’s also your ability to recognize and understand the emotions of others to better lead or affect change.
It’s about understanding that emotions drive behaviors, and behaviors drive outcomes (both the positive and negative ones).
As consultants, we are in the relationship business. The better we are at understanding our own emotions and the emotions of others, the better we’ll be at starting and developing relationships.
Why Is It Important For Success In Consulting?
If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that change is constantly happening. The emotions that follow will also continue to flow.
It’s in our ability to identify and regulate emotions in ourselves and in others. In doing so, we can adapt to changes more effectively, with less stress.
But what sort of tangible results can developing your EQ have in your consulting business?
A report by TalentSmart showed that more than 90% of top performers have a high EQ. Another study from The Hay Group shows that salespeople with a high EQ produce twice the revenue as those with average or below-average emotional intelligence scores.
Paying attention to — and being able to perceive -— the emotions of those around you gives you, the entrepreneurial consultant, the upper hand in business.
Take marketing, for instance. As a highly emotionally intelligent business owner, you are able to keep a pulse on your customer’s emotions, their feedback, and desired outcomes. You can quickly flex and adapt, delivering both what the customer needs and what they want. This results in a stronger connection and loyalty between you and your customer.
In sales, having higher emotional intelligence helps you better regulate your emotions. And this helps you stabilize negative emotions such as fear, anxiousness, or frustration, which can be quite common on tough sales calls. That ability to maintain your composure will also aid you when the going gets tough during difficult conversations and challenging times.
You’ll also build a stronger network due to your increased social skills. For you, that means better prospecting and more clients. Improving your interpersonal soft skills enable you to persuade and influence others. You’ll offer advice that people intuitively trust.
Why EQ Is More Important Than IQ
It’s not enough to just be book smart. A new entrepreneur who succeeded academically may find the world of business an uphill battle if they lack the “soft skills” connected to emotional intelligence.
Softer, more interpersonal skills such as…
- cultivating healthy relationships,
- moving through complex challenges,
- and handling difficult conversations with more ease,
…are an indicator of performance and success — and are connected to those with a higher EQ.
In his book and subsequent articles dubbed, “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ” Daniel Goleman states that only about 20% of our success comes from IQ, while the rest is correlated with our EQ.
Your IQ will help you get good grades and solve complex problems. But you need more than quick thinking to control your impulses, handle life’s stress, and communicate effectively with others. Those skills require EQ.
Emotional intelligence helps you with the biggest challenges of all: improving the way you perceive and handle life’s ups and downs.