Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence: What is it?
Jun 08, 2022
Lawyering… well good lawyering requires relationships with people and therefore customer service skills. We need to be able to listen to our clients’ needs and find a way to get them what they want. In order to do this, we need to understand our client’s situation and in order to do this well, we need to develop our emotional intelligence. Lawyers are known for their high IQ’s and low EQ’s (emotional quotient). We need to find ways to develop our EQ as a profession.
To do so, we need to know what exactly is emotional intelligence? It is the “ability to recognize, understand, and regulate our own and others’ emotions.” Ronda Muir describes emotional intelligence as having four components:
- Emotional Perception
- Emotional Understanding
- Emotional Empathy
- Emotional Regulation
Why should we care about Emotional Intelligence? In Muir’s book about Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence, she finds that lawyers with emotional intelligence are better attorneys in all fields of law (negotiation, litigation, and judgeships). Such lawyers also make more money and are healthier, both mentally and physically. She also finds that emotionally intelligent law firms have better leadership, performance, teamwork, and client satisfaction, while having lower attrition, healthcare, and professional liability costs. Obviously, emotional intelligence is important in our profession. The next question is, how can we practice and develop our emotional intelligence? Stay tuned for next weeks post to find out more!
Interested in our services?
Sign up for a complimentary wellness check up and see if we're a good fit!
Stay connected with news and updates!
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.
Don't worry, your information will not be shared.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.
