What’s your biz EQ?
When you think of what it takes to run a successful business or be an entrepreneur, what comes to mind?
Do you think it starts from a very clear mission, vision or your WHY? Is it your unique value proposition - that one thing that sets you apart from the sea of competitors in your industry? Is it financial stability, a good sale pitch, or simply a scalable revenue structure that is working?
Maybe you think it’s a fancy website and marketing strategy designed by yours truly.
It is absolutely a balancing act of all of those things, yup! But there is ONE thing that is usually overlooked when it comes to thinking of the ingredients of success for your business…
emotional intelligence
So what is that, and more importantly, how in the heck do your emotions or feelings relate to the cocktail of success in your business?
Let’s start by breaking down what emotional intelligence (EQ) is.
EQ comes down to your ability to recognize and manage your emotions (and the emotions of your team), and it is the thread woven into the very fabric of success in your business.
You can think of EQ as a set of soft skills like self-awareness, social skills, and, our fav, empathy.
How leaders experience and regulate their emotions plays such a HUGE role in their ability to work through the ebb and flow of day-to-day business. Those day-to-day trials include leading your team through projects effectively and creating a positive, motivating work culture.
It also includes how you manage your clients, how you approach things when they don’t go as planned, and even how you handle your marketing.
What does a low EQ look like?
If your EQ is low, you will struggle to lead, deal with clients, manage the ups and downs that business brings, and market your business most impactfully for us. It can look like many things and shows up when, yep, you are feeling emotional or stressed.
Here are some signs of low EQ:
You have difficulty managing your own emotions. Well, duh, right? This could look like mood swings or getting a little sassy towards your team when you’re stressed out and things aren’t going as planned. It can also come across as a blame game, which can make your team feel small.
Inability to handle feedback of any kind. Instead of taking feedback as a constructive way to help you level up, you may feel like you are being personally attacked and that alone can hijack your ability to learn and grow from the feedback you are getting. You may even shut down completely and feel defeated, unmotivated, and reactive in your work.
Not being a good communicator. If you aren’t clear with your team or your clients or even openly communicative, this can lead to lower engagement, preventable misunderstandings and a lack of trust.
On the flip side, someone operating with a higher EQ may approach each of the above examples in this way:
Your emotions are in check. You are pretty balanced and consistent in your emotions. You may have higher resilience and capacity to handle the stress that comes from managing your business. You are able to understand the emotions you are feeling and process them before acting on them. (i.e. instead of taking it out on your team when things don’t go as planned, you take responsibility for what’s happened, make a plan to remedy the situation, and motivate your team the whole way through).
You’re great at receiving feedback. Almost addictively! You see feedback as a way to learn and grow, and it becomes an exciting opportunity to find better ways of doing business.
You believe communication is key. You like to be crystal clear in all communications to ensure that your team and your clients are 100% in the know. This helps in negotiations, and navigating conflicts, and creates stellar collaboration across the board!
EQ = productivity, creativity, and collaboration
The bottom line is that you can't master business until you master your emotions and emotional intelligence. But guess what? You can LEARN how to do that.
If you held your breathe through some of those lower EQ examples because you know you struggle with them, then you are off to a great start! You are SELF-AWARE, which means it’s the perfect time to start practicing EQ.
One way you can cultivate space to develop your EQ is by getting really still and self-aware.
Start paying attention to how your feelings are showing up in your behaviour, thoughts, and even your decisions. This can be a huge asset because you can see your patterns and those stressors that keep coming up and create strategies that will help you manage them.
We’d love to hear which one of these you are working on, too, so don’t be shy. We’re all out here growing together.
