Emotional Intelligence And Software Developers Or Not.

Ever wondered, as a software developer/designer or any other person in any career/industry, why emotional intelligence is referred to as a soft skill and not just any soft skill, one of the most important skills needed to survive in the advent of major tech trends.

Did You Know?

The World Economic Forum has ranked Emotional Intelligence as one of the top 10 skills needed for the fourth industrial revolution in 2020 and beyond.
The McKinsey Group has identified that between now and 2030, the need for social and emotional skills will grow at a much faster pace than the need for cognitive skills.
The Institute for Health and Human Potential’s research indicates that Emotional Intelligence skills now account for 85 to 90 percent of what is required for exceptional performance and leadership.

What Is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence has been defined as the set of skills comprising self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, motivation, and social skills. Explaining these skills a bit more:

Self Awareness: the ability to understand your emotions, identify and classify them.

Self-regulation: with this knowledge of E.I, we can guide our thinking and behaviour.

Motivation: being motivated enables us to handle and/or change our emotions in order to reach our goals.

Empathy: helps us to understand and anticipate the feelings of others.

Finally, Social skills: help us to develop positive and enduring relationships.

What Emotional Intelligence is not.

Emotional Intelligence does not involve the ability to solve problems, connect dots, evaluate complex structures, and perform research and innovation. Instead, it's the I.Q that involves all of that.

(Intelligence Quotient - is a test of a person's ability to think. That is, it's supposed to evaluate how well someone can use facts and reasoning to answer questions and make predictions.)

What Emotional Intelligence Is.

Emotional intelligence is that which enables us to excel in collaboration, nurture leadership, create good relationships, display initiative, and collaborate well. You are also known as a leader, a manager, and a great team member. Emotional intelligence directly leads to business performance, not just cognitive intelligence.

Benefits Of Emotional Intelligence.

Those with higher E.Q know themselves better and adapt better to change. People with a high EQ are better at recognizing their own emotions. They can recognize how they feel and know they're upset or frustrated and that means they're able to respond in a more calculated way.

They work well in teams. People who have a high degree of emotional intelligence appear to work well with others and are able to establish relationships and get on well with a wide range of people. People who have high EQ can also make very good leaders because of these social skills.

Studies show that emotionally intelligent individuals perform better than their less emotionally intelligent colleagues in production and sales, and then, logically, they also get the most promotions and bonuses.

How To Build Emotional Intelligence.

Observe how you relate with others, make a conscious effort to put yourself in their place, and strive to be more responsive and respectful of the interests and perceptions of others.

Examine how you react to difficult situations and work to stay calm, collected and under control.

Anything that you do or say has an effect on others. It's a small influence most of the time; it can be significant at other times. Try to be mindful of the effect your words, actions and actions, they have effect on others.

Your emotional intelligence is proportional to your capacity to listen. Listening is an involved mechanism that makes sense of what you hear. It's a vital ability for all your relationships, honesty, and nothing is implied or being assumed.

Adetola Jesulayomi