10 Signs of People Who Lack Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence is our ability to manage and understand our emotions and those around us. It is a key predictor of our success in life and profession. Even though people can be high performers with excellent technical skills, if they can’t control their emotions in stressful situations or have difficulty getting along with colleagues, their success will be quickly over.

Emotions are critical to our effective thinking and play an important part in our communication and relationship skills.

Here are 10 signs of people who lack emotional intelligence:

1. They are unable to control their emotions. They have difficulties regulating and controlling their emotions. They can easily experience an emotional hijacking – a state when an individual’s cognitions are overpowered by his/her emotions.
2. They declare that they don’t care if people like them or not.
3. They have difficulties identifying how they are feeling and why. They often downplay the importance of emotions, saying that what really matters are knowledge and logic.
4. They interrupt others with their own opinions and talk over them.
5. They lack empathy and compassion. They struggle to express an appropriate emotional concern for others.
6. They have difficulties forming relationships, both professional and romantic. They don’t tell you where you really stand with them.
7. They are insensitive to feelings when watching movies. Love stories, thrillers or horrors films have little emotional resonance with them.
8. They do not take feedback well, get defensive, and shut down when comments are made. They find it hard to admit mistakes.
9. They are rigid and inflexible. They need to have structure and rules to feel secure. They are resistant to anything that forces them to make changes, from relocating their work desk or dealing with new work procedures.
10. They tend to find faults in every situation and tend to be negative.

Emotional Intelligence is a skill that can be developed by means of training, coaching, and experience. If you recognize yourself in any of the signs listed above, simply take the steps necessary to grow in that area. And don’t be afraid to ask for guidance and feedback along the way.