How to Become a Better Business Owner by Developing Your Emotional Intelligence

Do you want to become a better business owner who inspires their staff? The secret to inspiring leadership is emotional intelligence!

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to manage your emotions and control how you react to other people’s emotions. As a business owner, having the ability to manage your emotions can help you resolve conflicts, build cohesion within your team, and problem-solve more effectively.

Developing your EI means becoming more self-aware, empathic, passionate, and proactive – all qualities that leaders should strive to develop. Below are six ways to become a better business owner by developing your emotional intelligence:

Practice Clear Communication

Being able to communicate your thoughts and needs clearly is essential to managing workplace relationships and resolving conflicts. When your EI is developed you can reflect and understand how your emotions impact others, and how other people respond to you.

This structure can help you maintain productive relationships and to avoid conflict due to miscommunication. 

Hold Yourself Accountable 

Business owners who hold themselves to account are more trustworthy. They also inspire their employees to go above and beyond, since they can feel confident knowing their boss won’t blame them for failures or mistakes

Accountability also helps you to be part of the team, not the owner dictating rules and making decisions from up on high. Emotional intelligence development is essential for leading with transparency and authenticity and encouraging employees to work towards the same goals.

Grow your business and become a better boss by investing in emotional intelligence training for your management team, or sign up for our Leadership Growth coaching package!

Practice Proactive Leadership

Proactive leaders anticipate how others will react and can manage their emotions accordingly. For example, if your business plans to lay staff off due to COVID you can tap into your EI and be proactive in helping staff through these difficult situations.

Even before the pandemic, workplaces were changing quickly; sharing plans and being emotionally responsive can help to manage work-related stress because employees feel included in discussions. 

Show Passionate Leadership

The most inspiring leaders are those who are passionate about what they do. This kind of excitement is contagious and vulnerable, which creates an increased sense of cohesion in the workplace.

However, leading with passion isn’t just about getting excited – passionate leaders bring that enthusiasm to how they encourage employees to engage and collaborate as a team, and participate in working towards a goal with positive humour and grace.

Practice Being Socially Aware

Leaders with high EI are able to empathize with others on a more personal level. They can understand what their employees are going through, and attune how they lead, give direction, and feedback, in ways that are supportive and productive.

This allows you to maintain an open dialogue of communication and will show team members that you’re not being dismissive of their ideas or suggestions.

Give Constructive Feedback

As a business owner, it’s your responsibility to give feedback on how your employees are performing and meeting their goals day-to-day. Leaders with high EI can give feedback in sensitive, constructive ways that build trust among their teams.

Giving constructive feedback tells employees that you’re thinking about their well-being, not just the well-being of your business. This helps them feel connected and excited about their work, which increases how hard they’ll work towards your shared business goals.

Become a Better Business Owner by Developing Your Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is essential for business owners because it improves communication and leads to happier, more productive workplaces. 

Business owners who develop their EI can avoid misunderstandings, confusion, and resentment in their workplace by leading their teams with compassion and authenticity. Learn more about how you can lead for performance with emotional intelligence here.

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