Regardless of the type of employment and the industry in which you work, you need emotional intelligence to be satisfied from your job. High EQ at work is manifested by the fact that you deal with the performance of our duties smoothly and it gives you joy; moreover other people are pleased to work with you. In contrast, EQ deficiencies cause that execution of tasks becomes 'hard work’ for both you and your colleagues. The same applies to recipients of your services. Research about the causes of the loss of customers showed that 70% of it was related to the deficiency in emotional intelligence of employees, and only 30% loss of customers was due to other causes (Orioli, 2000, for: Bharwaney, 2007). Emotional intelligence is also crucial for teamwork. Emotionally intelligent team is characterized by: – mutual understanding, – sense of humor, – perceiving the positive aspects of their work, – openness to giving and receiving praise. Members of such teams are open to the emotions and feelings of others. The attitude of acceptance may manifest in:

• letting other people to share their feelings and thoughts;
• telling others that you respect their point of view;
• listening to others,
• showing your support in a non-verbal way.

In contrast, lack of acceptance of feelings, is manifested by a lack of information about the results of one?s work, personal attacks, sarcasm or fits of anger. These results in a gain of defensive behavior by co-workers, the emergence of tensions, antagonisms, avoidance of responsibility, ignoring superiors and may even lead to change of one?s job. So how could you increase your level of emotional intelligence? For a start it is worth to think for a moment and answer a few questions:

• How well do I know myself: What are my life experiences? What I experience, thinking about my career path? What makes me real and valuable?
• How well do I know my co-workers: What do each of them experienced in life? How did they find themselves in the place where they are now? What makes it worthwhile to know them and trust them?

If you can?t find out what others feel, what issues are important to them and vice versa, then, you are just the name and the face / body for themselves. In such a situation, it is difficult to build relationships as partners or mutual trust; arouse enthusiasm and work engagement in others. If you want to increase your emotional intelligence, look at the following guidelines:

1. Look for or create your own list of emotions, and then ask yourself, when, in what situation, and if at all you experience them. This will increase your awareness of your emotions.
2. Take some time to work with your own thoughts ? the basis of how you feel, what choices you make and how your relationships with others looks like, is in your mind. Exercises of changing the perspective, positive thinking and meditation will help you improve your well-being and prevent you from automatic, unfavorable choices.
3. Take some time to physical activity ? do jogging, dance, practice yoga, tai-chi, etc. The body, heart and mind influence each other, so you should increase the awareness of your own body, and thus the emotions.
4. Read relevant books, articles and other materials – thus develop your empathy and horizons.
5. Look inside yourself – a reflection of your own values, goals, close relationship will give you the answer to the question, what is the most important in your life and should give you the impulse to act in accordance with them both at work and in your private life.

  Bharwaney, G. (2007). Emotionally Intelligent Living. UK: Crown House Publishing Photo credit: ???? / Foter / CC BY-ND