The Consumer Law Magazine Issue #2 Nov 1 | Page 6

How can Lawyers Benefit From emOTIONAL Intelligence

Working as a lawyer is an intellectually rewarding and prestigious profession. It topped the list of the highest-paying occupations. Nevertheless, the profession of lawyer is one of the most emotionally challenging jobs in the world. Although Emotional Intelligence is a very useful and important skill for lawyers, studies revealed that while lawyers score high in intelligence, they generally score below average in emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the sum of a person’s abilities to recognize emotions, understand the intentions, motivations, and desires of other people and their own, as well as the ability to control their emotions and the emotions of other people in order to solve practical problems.

The emotionally intelligent lawyers perform better at a law practice, and they have strong time management skills. Moreover, the revenue of emotionally involved lawyers is much higher compared to their less emotionally intelligent colleagues. And they get the most promotions as well. A high EQ enables lawyers to communicate better, relieve their anxiety and stress, and overcome conflicts at the workplace. By nourishing their emotional intelligence, lawyers can learn to oversee the provoking situations that produce unwanted outcomes and improve their performance. The attorneys can easily build trust and a sense of justice with their clients by fostering their emotional self- awareness, and the abilities to control their emotions and actions.

Over the past centuries, lawyers have been taught to be cynical of emotions. They underestimated the power of emotional intelligence. In today’s world, lawyers have started to understand how they can benefit by developing their emotional intelligence. Your emotions influence your behavior and decision making, and these behaviors impact your relationships with others, including your clients. Finally, the relationships that you build with your clients affect the results of your work. If you want to become a great lawyer and the master of your emotions, you should learn the art of developing emotional intelligence.

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