Growing your Emotional Intelligence Skills

Can empathy skills be taught? Can you develop your emotional intelligence and empathic capacities and increase trust and builds bonds? 

People are born with general emotional intelligence that will determine their potential for learning emotional competencies.  Research shows that if EI competencies can be improved, then they are sustainable!  Older people show higher levels of empathy, suggesting that empathy may be learned through life experience.  The more situations you experience, the easier it will be for you to emphasize with others and “put yourself in their shoes”.

So, while IQ is very much fixed…..EI can be improved with the right motivation!

Tips to improve your Emotional Intelligence:

Ask people questions about their lives, interests, hobbies, their challenges, their families, their aspirations!

Pay attention not only to verbal cues but also to body language. It can say so much more!

Listen without judging. Tricky…but so important.

Use active listening; double check the meaning of what another person is saying by paraphrasing.

Don’t interrupt.  Don’t change the subject. Let the person talk….and you listen!

Be fully present with body and mind.  Never multi-task! Don’t read e-mails, take calls or think of something else.

Encourage people to speak – especially the quiet ones.

Grow in your emotional intelligence skills! Always!

Learn more about Emotional Intelligence and Empathy and how you can be more successful using these valuable tools…with HorsePower!

For more information about Emotional Intelligence and other topics, contact me at

http://www.betticoffeypresents.com/contact-betti.html