Healthcare careers demand skill, talent, perseverance, and dedication. Medical skills and knowledge determine your career success. In addition to clinical skills and experience, emotional intelligence is as valuable as your studies and experience. Emotional intelligence determines how you compassionately and effectively interact with patients, colleagues, and management to communicate effectively, deliver excellent care, and create professional relationships. We have tips on how to strengthen your emotional intelligence skills.

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What Is Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is a set of skills to help you know, understand, and manage your emotions. These skills help you manage emotions and interact professionally with your colleagues to provide great patient care.

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is the critical foundation of emotional intelligence. Recognizing, identifying, and understanding your emotions helps you monitor feelings and reactions. Self-aware people anticipate the consequences of their reactions when they experience emotions. An example of self-awareness is recognizing fatigue after a long shift and communicating it to a coworker to ask for help.

Self-Regulation

Self-regulation results from self-awareness. When you identify your emotions, you manage your responses in the workplace more productively. Self-regulation is not about suppressing emotions, but about finding constructive ways to respond. For example, being upset with a colleague who does not understand policies can be unproductive. Identifying your upset emotion and regulating your emotions helps you give constructive feedback.

Motivation

Goals are important for emotional intelligence skills. Motivation helps you develop a drive and objectives to identify your emotions through self-awareness and self-regulation. An example of motivation is setting a goal to take more time to listen to a colleague. This motivated goal involves identifying your emotions through self-awareness and self-regulation to carry it through.

Empathy

Empathy is recognizing and relating to the feelings of your colleagues and patients. Using empathy means listening to people express their emotions, understanding them, and responding in context. Empathy is being aware of colleagues when they experience stressful situations and responding to them with caring words and actions.

Social Skills

Social skills are the result of self-awareness, self-regulation, and empathy. When you are aware of your emotions and regulate how you express feelings, you learn how to communicate with colleagues and patients. Communication builds teamwork, conflict resolution, and stronger care. When you listen carefully to a patient’s concerns and actively address their problems, you develop social skills and demonstrate emotional intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence Career Growth Benefits

Emotional intelligence translates into tangible career benefits. When you practice emotional intelligence, this affects workplace relationships, leadership effectiveness, decision-making, and personal adaptability and endurance. There are several emotional intelligence benefits for your career growth.

Resilience

Self-awareness helps you identify areas for improving your emotional intelligence. When you are self-aware about your emotions, you build in resilience and adaptability to new situations. This allows you to navigate change or setbacks in your career.

Improved Communication

Healthcare professionals with emotional intelligence have better communication skills. This improved communication builds stronger teamwork, creates trust with colleagues, and promotes productive healthcare practices. Your strong emotional intelligence and communication skills enable you to connect with colleagues, fostering collaboration and future career opportunities.

Decision-Making and Leadership

Emotional intelligence creates stronger decision-making processes. Under the pressure and daily stresses of a healthcare career, you evaluate challenges more carefully, anticipate potential conflicts, and develop strategies for solving problems. Your decision-making skills earn you colleagues’ trust, recognition, and greater potential for leadership roles in your career.

How to Develop Career Emotional Intelligence

Career emotional intelligence results from skills you develop. Like the skills you learn as a medical professional, emotional intelligence skills require practice. However, expecting to learn every skill, or trying to, is a gradual and imperfect process. Starting with being kind and understanding with yourself is essential to practicing these skills with team workers and patients. There are a number of critical skills for emotional intelligence.

Mindful Awareness

Awareness of your emotions helps you regulate how you express emotions as a healthcare professional. Identify your emotion in relation to your environment to help you put what you feel into situational contexts.

Regulation

Practice regulating your emotions. Pausing before you respond to someone or a situation helps you to organize your thoughts and response. Deep breathing or meditation exercises help practice pausing and responding with emotional intelligence.

Social Awareness

Try to understand others’ emotions, perspectives, and responses. Use active and receptive listening with other people. Seek insights into your social awareness. Constructive criticism from friends, family, and colleagues is the basis for emotional intelligence growth.

Relationship Management

Focus on communication skills. Communication skills are not only about speaking and listening, but also about actions. Address others’ concerns by following through on what you say. However, communication does not mean letting others dictate what you say and do—practice assertiveness and conflict-resolution strategies. Assertiveness, however, is not arrogance. Use praise and positive reinforcement to build strong team relationships.

Self-Care

Self-care is critical for practical emotional intelligence. Maintain boundaries with your time and effort. It’s essential to learn how to say “No.” Take time to relax and take care of yourself. Spending time with friends and family, being by yourself, or engaging in an activity or hobby you are passionate about are vital to your health. Get regular exercise, sleep, and nutritious food to nourish your body and spirit.

Emotional Intelligence for Your Career

Emotional intelligence is important for your career growth. Being motivated to learn and practice self-awareness, self-restraint, empathy, and social awareness helps your professional relationships, personal development, and leadership potential. Emotional intelligence helps your personal growth and resilience. While career mobility and growth are desirable, personal fulfillment, health, and well-being are essential as well.

At ChenMed, we support emotional intelligence in the workplace, individual career growth, and leadership. Our workplaces recognize the importance of emotional intelligence in advancing your career and achieving your professional goals. At ChenMed, we are currently hiring for the following roles in the communities we serve. Click below to explore our immediate openings, or visit Chenmed.com/careers:

Primary Care Physician
Center Operations Directors
Medical Center Support
Membership Growth Sales

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