You probably know all about IQ, but have you ever heard about EQ (also referred to as EI)?

EQ/EI is short for emotional intelligence which, in a nutshell, refers to the ability to express and control one's own emotions as well as effectively understand, interpret, and respond to the emotions of others. For lawyers, emotional intelligence manifests itself as open and constructive expression, reliability, demonstrated resilience, as well as the ability to both inspire growth and manage firm-wide risk.

In general, emotional intelligence consists of four major attributes: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. [1] On the surface, these 4 areas may not seem like they'd have an affect on your legal career as a whole, but it's important to remember that "smart" (IQ) doesn't always mean "successful." Sure, in some cases, intelligent individuals are able to chug ahead with only themselves to answer to but, more often than not, success is accompanied by the ability to empower and inspire others along your journey.

No one enjoys going through life feeling as if they're going to crack under the stress and pressure of their everyday routine. That's why it's necessary to leverage your self-awareness in order to practice the mindfulness and self-care that will enable you to live a happier, healthier, and more enjoyable life. Besides, if you have the self-awareness to realize when you're having a bad day, and the ways in which your personal emotions are affecting your work, you're a lot less likely to end up yelling at your paralegal about the lack of ink in the printer (and no one wants to work with a boss who explodes on a weekly basis).

For all of you legal professionals out there, here are the 4 main ways in which emotional intelligence proves to be, time and time again, a critical skill for setting your firm up for success:

1. Employee Recruitment and Retention

When employees feel valued and supported, they're far more likely to work harder, contribute more to your firm, and be more productive. Emotionally intelligent leaders have the capacity to identify and recruit talent as well as create an energized and supportive organizational culture that truly empowers them to be top performers.

We know that, when you have so much going on, it's easy to overlook the ways in which an organizational culture can truly shape the success of a firm, but it's a concept that should always be marinating in the back of your mind. By promoting a community based on your firm's core values - such as loyalty, healthy competition, encouragement, lifelong learning, etc. - it's much more productive and rewarding to groom future leaders and internally promote the type of leadership that will help your firm achieve its longterm goals.

2. Employee Development

Perhaps one of the most important skills that emotional intelligence offers is the ability to accurately assess the strengths and limits of employees in order to apply that information in ways that are strategic and advantageous to the firm. For example, if you notice that one of your entry level employees happens to be an excellent writer, you might harness their talent for writing in order to offload some of the firm's marketing duties or brief writing. Not only will this help free up precious time for attorneys, but it also offers younger employees the opportunity to have their hands on more meaningful work that plays to their strengths. That said, the ability to zero in on the strengths of team members can translate to an unimaginable amount of increased productivity (and a much less stressful feedback and evaluation process).

3. Improved Management & Client Relationships

Emotional control and level-headedness is endlessly valuable in the legal industry. In a profession where the majority of your time is spent proving that your idea is the right idea, it pays to be able to anticipate and read the emotional reactions of others in order to avoid conflict before it starts. From employees to clients to opposing parties, an attitude of optimism, flexibility, and the ability to manage stress are all essential in keeping your cool under the pressure you face on a daily basis.

As a supervisor, the ability to manage conflict and maintain good relationships is key to inspiring your clients and employees to trust and value your opinion. Additionally, when working with clients, a little empathy goes a long way in maintaining quality relationships that keep your word-of-mouth referral network going strong.

4. Business Development & Competitive Edge

Wouldn't it be great if we had the ability to anticipate potential sticking points with our employees and roadblocks to our firm's goals before they occur? Well, with a little bit of practiced emotional intelligence, it's completely possible. For the most part, all 3 concepts we've discussed up to this point act as a direct pipeline to point #4: when your firm is in a place where employee recruitment, retention, and development are high, it's easier to create a culture that allows your firm to achieve an impressive and desirable competitive edge.

One example of this competitive edge comes in the form of being able to accurately monitor the firm's "pulse" before and after any major changes, which allows management to identify and mitigate the expected negative reactions before change occurs. In turn, this allows for better risk management, better decision-making, and better succession planning, all of which help your firm stay a step ahead of your competitors (instead of being weighed down by an unproductive team and ineffective leadership).

Now that we know emotional intelligence leads to tangible improvements in productivity, retention of top performers, as well as employee satisfaction and engagement, there's just one last thing missing from this equation... So here's the big question: if you don't have a natural inclination towards emotional intelligence, is it something that can be learned? Several studies, including one conducted by UC Berkeley, answer with a resounding YES. (But that's a blog post for another day.)

How do you practice mindfulness and emotional intelligence on a daily basis? Has it had an impact on your stress and/or success?

P.S. For tips on learning how to hone your EI skill set, we highly recommend taking a look at this 10-step article from Psychology Today or doing your own research on EI workshops in your area.