Have you been wondering how many past scenarios in your life could have turned out differently if you only knew the right way to react to them? Do you find yourself vowing to respond in a better way to similar situations if given a chance? You are not alone — not everyone is born with top-notch social intelligence.
Many people allowed opportunities to pass them by just because they were not attuned to the nuances of their social interactions. In truth, they could have avoided a lot of personal and professional disasters if the conflicts had been analyzed and dealt with correctly.[1]
However, to anticipate and handle critical social interactions with grace, you have to build up and tap into your social intelligence. In this complex world that we live in, you’ll be glad to have social intelligence backing you up as you navigate increasingly tumultuous waters.
What Does It Mean to Be Socially Intelligent?
To start with, most people associate intelligence with just the general type as it relates to analysis and reasoning. That’s all well and good, but there are also other forms of intelligence, which factor significantly in human interactions.
For one, there’s emotional intelligence, which refers to skills in understanding and managing your emotions. Emotionally intelligent folks can identify and evaluate these emotions and ultimately control them.[2]
Each of these methods can be applied to a wide range of personal and professional situations.
Being a human being can be hard, and we all want positive, productive, and genuine relationships.[3] When you use these social intelligence skills correctly, you will be able to get the best out of each interaction, and those you interact with will also place more confidence in you due to your consistent and transparent display. No one becomes a loser then even after the toughest of conflicts.
Bottom Line
There’s no doubt that social intelligence plays a crucial role in forming and fortifying human interactions. Learning and harnessing social intelligence skills will not only keep you highly relevant but also turn you into a trusted influencer in your personal and professional circles.
More Social Skills for Success
- 15 Social Skills That Will Make You Successful In Every Aspect Of Life
- 12 Ways To Improve Social Skills And Make You Sociable Anytime
- 10 Habits You Need To Quit Today To Be More Sociable
- 5 Ways to Start Building Social Confidence Today
Featured photo credit: Phil Coffman via unsplash.com
Reference
[1] | ^ | Disaster Avoidance Experts: Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters |
[2] | ^ | Know more about them in this guide: What Is Emotional Intelligence (And How to Develop It)) As mentioned above, social intelligence exists, too. It is especially crucial during this pandemic when our routines and relationships have been rattled, if not upended. The uncertainty in the air calls for more careful handling of social interactions, specifically when dealing with new life scenarios, physical distance from our colleagues, and social changes in our close personal relationships. ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ Most people tend to simplify being socially intelligent into merely being friendly or approachable. But the truth is, learning to develop and harness your social intelligence can spell the difference between seeming approachable and having the capacity to build secure connections, diffuse conflicts, and communicate long-term solutions. Social intelligence is the capacity to evaluate and influence other people’s emotions and relationships by knowing one’s self and others. It develops through time and experience with people concerning success and failure in social settings. Even more significantly, some social intelligence-based skills and methods will allow you to break the ice and strengthen trust in valuable relationships. (Check out What Socially Intelligent People Would Never Do) 6 Essential Social Intelligence SkillsSocially intelligent individuals tend to have an extensive, efficient network of social connections that they can rely on personally and professionally. This is because social intelligence comes with a set of powerful skills that you can use to build, maintain, and improve relationships. The following skills can help you identify key people, understand and pay attention to them, and smoothly resolve any conflict that comes up during different scenarios: 1. Assessing Life InfluencersAs you go through life, you will meet and regularly interact with people who have a significant impact on your journey. They are your life influencers. ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ To determine who they are, look for these three attributes:
2. Empathetic ListeningGo beyond the surface level and try to understand the people you interact with, whether you’ve just met them or they are one of your life influencers. In other words, when they are communicating with you, you need to listen to what they mean and not just what they are saying. Your goal is empathy — the skill of understanding what other people feel. Focus not only on their message’s content but also on their tone and body language. By doing so, you will be able to figure out the meaning behind their words and what explains their feelings. One of the best ways to demonstrate empathy while engaging with others is by showing them that you are paying full attention to them via: 1. Nonverbal signs include:
2. Non-interruptive verbal signs such as saying “uh-huh,” “ok,” “go on,” etc. at appropriate times 3. Echoing and MirroringAnother way to show your undivided attention is by echoing and mirroring, which uses one or a combination of the following methods:
⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ 4. Building RapportYou can also convey how you understand the person you are interacting with by building rapport. You need to help them feel that you are on their side and that you are a part of their tribe. Without explicitly stating it, signal that you grasp their emotions, goals, incentives, values, and obstacles by doing any of the following:
5. Curious QuestioningInjecting some genuine curiosity in your conversations will go a long way in expressing your sincere interest in your influencers’ needs and concerns. It will help facilitate effective knowledge-sharing and further refine your understanding. To do it correctly, try to envision what someone wants you to ask them. Express curiosity in your questions without coming off as probing or provocative. Keep in mind that many people may not want to reveal their emotions directly, so a practical approach is to throw an indirect question at them. For example, you can say, “If I were in this situation, I would feel _______. How about you?” You can also share a story about someone who felt an emotion that you think the other person is feeling in a similar situation and see how they respond. ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ 6. Conflict Mediation and ResolutionManage your feelings and then try to resolve the conflict through social intelligence. As a proactive measure, try to scan your relationships for signs of conflict. Don’t give in to the temptation of ignoring potential disputes in hopes of seeing them disappear because that’s when minor molehills turn into major mountains. Then, you may employ the following ideas during interactions:
|
[3] | ^ | New Harbinger: The Blindspots Between Us: How to Overcome Unconscious Cognitive Bias and Build Better Relationships |