You're working in a sustainability career. How can you use your emotional intelligence to get ahead?

1 Assess yourself

The first step to improve your EI is to know yourself. How do you react to stress, feedback, and conflict? What are your strengths and weaknesses as a sustainability professional? What are your goals and motivations? To answer these questions, you can use self-assessment tools, such as the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) or the Emotional and Social Competency Inventory (ESCI). You can also ask for feedback from your colleagues, managers, mentors, or clients. By assessing yourself, you can identify your areas of improvement and set realistic and specific action plans.

2 Listen actively

The second step to improve your EI is to listen actively. Listening is not just hearing what others say, but also paying attention to their tone, body language, and emotions. Listening actively shows that you care, respect, and value others' opinions and perspectives. It also helps you understand the needs, expectations, and challenges of your stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, partners, or regulators. To listen actively, you can use techniques such as paraphrasing, summarizing, asking open-ended questions, and giving feedback. By listening actively, you can build trust, rapport, and collaboration with your stakeholders.

4 Communicate effectively

The fourth step to improve your EI is to communicate effectively. Communication is not only about conveying information, but also about influencing and inspiring others. Communication is crucial for sustainability professionals, as they often need to persuade and motivate others to adopt more sustainable practices, behaviors, or policies. Communication can help you showcase your expertise, vision, and passion for sustainability. To communicate effectively, you can use strategies such as framing, storytelling, or visualization. By communicating effectively, you can raise awareness, engagement, and action for your sustainability goals.

6 Learn continuously

The sixth and final step to improve your EI is to learn continuously. Learning is not only about acquiring new knowledge, but also about adapting and growing from your experiences. Learning is essential for sustainability professionals, as they often face uncertainty, change, and ambiguity in their work. Learning can help you cope with stress, failure, and feedback. To learn continuously, you can use practices such as reflection, feedback, or mentoring. By learning continuously, you can enhance your resilience, performance, and satisfaction in your sustainability career.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?