Keys to increase emotional intelligence

Soft skills or transversal competences go beyond the knowledge acquired through study. Moreover, competences and skills are increasingly valued by employers. Emotional intelligence is therefore essential to successfully overcome a recruitment process. It is also crucial for a satisfactory personal life, to establish healthy relationships with others in a professional or social environment and to develop an empathic and transforming leadership. In short, it is an essential feature for future leaders capable of managing different teams and adapt to a changing environment.

According to the thinker who drew the attention to this issue, David Goleman, we refer to the “capacity to perceive and control our own feelings and to correctly interpret those of others”. But, how can we develop emotional intelligence? Here we leave some of the keys of this enriching process greatly present in lecture rooms of CEU Universities:

To work on introspection and self-knowledge

This means, understanding oneself and our behaviour. It involves doing things consciously knowing how to identify the emotions they generate and discovering therefore new aspects about ourselves. It is a statements breaking with the idea of “let it flow” and the automatic pilot with which we act most of the time. In short, it involves avoiding distractions, taking a moment a day to reflect or meditate and being able to focus on our sensations.

At this stage it is the time to identify how we feel but without expressing any opinion; we only wish to understand why we are feeling as we do. All emotions appear for a reason; what is important is to find that reason.

To learn how to manage emotions

Emotions show us what to pay attention to and how to face it. The key is to identify what we feel, decide if it is an emotion that matches the situation we are living and act accordingly. The idea is to channel emotions towards an objective. Knowing how to manage our feelings is also crucial for our wellbeing and our relationships with others.

To find our own motivation

Doing things is a good motivation. Starting to do something and analysing how we feel will give us an idea on how to act afterwards. What is important is to use our own emotions to start. The dynamic of the action itself will take us to find what motivates us.

To empathize with others

Recognising others emotions is basic to understand them, to interact with them and to build healthy interpersonal relations. Therefore we should be capable of identifying the emotional needs of others and respecting them. Empathy is what makes the difference but listening and expressing our feelings is also important. To respect others is not so much understanding but accepting and valuing their feelings. This is the basis for every healthy relationship both personal and professional.

Emotional intelligence but with values

There is little point in being a person emotionally intelligent if our actions are not guided by positive values. Only with them as a guide will we be able to develop an effective work for the transformation of society.

The goal of CEU Universities is to form leaders capable of improving their environment, guided by Christian humanism values. Therefore all these competences are transversal in our educational offer. Moreover, each centre offers orientation and also psychological assistance for our students to improve in whatever it is identified as necessary. Moreover, throughout the academic year the centres offer training workshops, coaching sessions and activities greatly related to the development of emotional intelligence and related skills.