Being on top of the game as an entrepreneur in a competitive business environment is no easy feat. It requires you to go beyond having the basic entrepreneurial qualities. One essential skill that will make you stand out is emotional intelligence – the ability to recognize and understand your emotions and those of other people.
As entrepreneurs, it is not just enough to have the intellectual capacity or financial resources to start up or promote a business to the next success level. You also need emotional intelligence to ensure your business success.
You might be curious about why you need emotional intelligence as an entrepreneur and why is it important. In this piece, you’ll find your answers as we explore how emotional intelligence benefits your business, giving you a competitive edge as an entrepreneur.
Table of Contents
What is Emotional Intelligence?
Emotional intelligence also known as “emotional quotient (EQ)” is a soft skill that entails being able to manage your motions and those of people around you. While managing these emotions, you must be able to identify, understand and respond to them.
Journalist Daniel Goleman in his book, “Emotional Intelligence” wrote and I quote: “For better for worse, intelligence can come to nothing if emotions hold sway.” This means no matter how much cognitive intelligence an individual has, it can be trampled when their emotions get a better hold of them. This skill is often needed in the workplace and is now a requirement for job seekers to work in any organization.
As an entrepreneur, your business represents you and what you have to offer. Your offering is meant to serve the needs of your target market/audience. Possessing this ability will help you assess how others feel about certain things, helps you connect with them via their emotions.
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Reasons Entrepreneurs Need Emotional Intelligence
An high emotional quotient is one critical ability every entrepreneur should cultivate. This is because the need for it will always arise and when you don’t have a combater, you and your business suffers. As much as it doesn’t sound necessary, it is a secret to unlocking great opportunities and achieving great feats as an entrepreneur.
The entrepreneurship journey entails many activities that requires an emotionally intelligent entrepreneur. While skills like strategic thinking, marketing expertise, problem-solving and financial management may be essential for building and sustaining business, an high emotional quotient is even more significant . It gives it all the difference.
Below are a few of the reasons you need to become an emotionally intelligent entrepreneur:
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Building strong relationships
With emotional intelligence, you can understand and connect with your team, customers and investors on a deeper level which helps to foster strong and healthy relationship in business. Being able to recognize the emotions of others, you can tell their mind before they say it to you, making them trust and confide in you. This drives business success as many people would want to do business with you.
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Effective communication
Being an emotionally intelligent entrepreneur also aids effective social communication. Good communication in business is essential. It is the bedrock of activities that goes on in an organization. Employers communicate with their employees and customers.
To ensure effective communications, both parties need to understand one another. Here’s where emotional intelligence comes in. Your emotions should not make you communicate wrongly or harshly to your team or customers. It should help you regulate and manage your emotions during tough times.
Read also: The Importance of Emotional Intelligence in Nigerian Workplaces
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Decision making
This is inevitable in business and it requires rational thinking because every decision you make as an entrepreneur in business counts. To make any decision, it’s best to be in the right frame of mind. You should make decisions that will have positive impacts on your business and not on the influence of your emotions. This will help to avoid making irrational decisions and getting impulsive results.
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Team building
At one point or level, you’ll need to work as a team in business. Possessing the ability to control your emotions and those of other people will help you work effectively as a team. As an emotionally intelligent entrepreneur, you perform better and build an inclusive team that creates a positive environment to achieve set goals.
How to Build Your Emotional Intelligence
It is okay not to be aware of certain things or to take them trivially because you don’t have a knowledge about it or its usefulness. But when you eventually get to know them, it is best that you make use of them for improvement. Building a high emotional quotient takes conscious time and effort. However, with patience and consistency, you will develop these skills.
Here are a few tips that will help you to build or increase your emotional intelligence:
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Identify your strengths and weaknesses
You need to first identify your strengths and weaknesses, values and emotions. Recognizing them will help shape how your emotions influence your behavior and decision making. As you keep this in mind and reflect on them, you’re able to keep your emotions in check as well.
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Show empathy
As an entrepreneur, learn to put yourself in the position of your customers or employees such that, you see and feel from their point of view. This helps you to become a better listener and build relationships with others as you identify their needs and respond appropriately.
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Practice active listening
You need to be a good listener to build your emotional quotient. Listen attentively to people when they talk. Read their non-verbal cues and observe their body language and gestures. With this, you can understand emotions and manage them.
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Show gratitude
Always be grateful to people for the little things they do. Never feel too big or bossy not to appreciate your employees or customers. It helps you to better relate with them.
Read also:Creativity and Innovation in Business: Benefits and Ways Leaders Can Enhance Them
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Talk to people
Don’t always be the quiet-moody type. Talk to people when you feel bad about certain things that affect your emotions. Also, create an atmosphere for people to talk and relate with you. It will help them to be more responsive and innovative.
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Seek feedbacks
Always seek feedback to know if you have met your customers’ needs. Try to understand and do not ignore these feedbacks or count them inconsequential to your business.
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Conclusion
Entrepreneurship is an all-round venture that involves putting in your all to stand out. It’s a competitive adventure. Having just the basic intelligent quotient (IQ) skills, capital or resources to start and own a business is not enough to give you an edge in the competitive business environment, emotional intelligence is key.
Edited by Priscilla Ajayi.
About Author
- A content writer, copywriter and fictional author. I like to explore writing on lifestyle, entrepreneurship and many more with valuable and highly insightful contents that relates with prospects to educate and motivate.
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