Emotional Intelligence is a way for people to apply qualitative reasoning beyond the ‘facts’ of a situation. These skills are essential for professionals who are on a path to become partners within their organization. The technical skills that got rising professionals noticed need to be supplemented with relationship building and other intangible leadership skills.
For accomplished professionals, enhancing your Emotional Intelligence can help you expand your trusted advisory skills to better serve your clients. The ‘Emotional’ in Emotional Intelligence may cause people to erroneously dismiss its applicability for their business.
The adage “it’s not personal, it’s just business” is a cop out, because business is personal. It has always been personal –that’s how trusted advisors become trusted. Without these qualitative professional skills, a trusted advisor will have no clients to advise.
Trusted advisors become trusted by observing their clients’ behaviors and choosing how they will react and advise them according to the situation. Emotional Intelligence is based on observation and choice. Professional consultants and advisors engage their emotional intelligence strengths when they tune into their client’s Why, What, and How.
Observing how their clients view their mission, communicate their message, engage their colleagues and staff, react to daily stresses, and resolve problems is the first phase of Emotional Intelligence engagement for a professional advisor. The second phase begins with the questions they ask their clients, themselves, and the choices they offer their clients.
Emotional Intelligence does not simply address feelings, it provides a framework around the essential “people skills” that trusted advisors use to build relationships, earn a client’s trust, and gain the insights to give excellent advice.