More EQ For You

My previous posts about Emotional Intelligence, also known as EQ, discussed the concept and delved a bit deeper into the aspect of personal competence, so now we'll take a closer look at another key component known as Social Competence.

Social Competence is just what the name implies, your ability to understand and manage other people's moods and behaviour, determine their motives and needs, and respond appropriately. 
Essentially, it's using your social awareness to read and react to other people in an effective manner, thereby producing a positive outcome.

Much like the concepts discussed in EQ Two, there are two elements of Social Competence which contribute to the overall picture.

Social Awareness is the ability to read other people's emotions and understand what is going on in any particular situation.

Six Easy Ways To Improve Social Awareness

1. Think about people's behaviours or situations that make you feel uncomfortable or have you reacting negatively and write them down in order to better define the reasons for your reactions.


2. Think about your body language and how your non-verbal communication affects your interaction with other people.


3. Actively listen to what people are saying to you with real interest.


4. Own up to your mistakes and apologise for negative errors in judgements or actions.


5. Seek feedback from those with whom you interact and be willing to hear criticisms.


6. Be patient and realise that your willingness to improve will not occur overnight, and that it's better to take it one step at a time and not try to do too much at one time.

Relationship Management is your ability to use the awareness of both yours' and others’ emotions to manage interactions in a positive manner and achieve success. There is no easy way to state the complexities of how your self awareness and self management will work with your social awareness to create relationship management, but working to improve those 3 skills will certainly help. 

Seven Steps To Help Improve Your Social Skills

1. Take a bit of time, engage with people, and act social, even when you don't feel that way. 


2. If you have anxieties or lack experience with interacting, keep it simple and start small.


3. Let others talk, using open ended questions to encourage them talk about themselves, genuinely listening to their thoughts and ideas.


4. Be aware of current trends and events, even if you do not wish to engage in certain topics such as politics.


5. Focus on the positives of any conversations and engagements with other people.


6. Use good manners by showing gratitude and being polite.


7. Use the S.M.A.R.T. system to help set and achieve self improvement goals.

Just like any self improvement strategy, it is essential to continue to use your positive personality traits to your advantage while working to improve your weaknesses.