Developing Emotional Intelligence Could Save Your Career

In this newsletter, you can expect actionable tips for business and life based on my 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur.

This week, I’ll be covering:

• Growth Spotlight: Developing Emotional Intelligence: A Roadmap
• Growth In Business: How A ‘Vision/Traction Organiser’ Improved My Business
• Growth Q&A: How Do You Adapt To Change?

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Growth Spotlight
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​Developing Emotional Intelligence: A Roadmap

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to recognise, understand, and manage both your own emotions and those of others. It’s not just about keeping your cool during a tough meeting or plastering on a smile when things go awry. It’s a deeper skill set involving self-awareness, empathy, social skills, and the ability to navigate emotionally charged situations with grace.

In business, EQ helps you to make better decisions, build stronger relationships, and, ultimately, lead more effectively. The good news? It can be developed.

Let’s explore how.

Step One: Get to Know Yourself

The first stage of emotional intelligence is self-awareness—understanding your own emotional responses. Ever find yourself getting annoyed in a meeting for reasons you can’t quite place? Or perhaps you’re feeling overwhelmed but don’t know why? Developing self-awareness involves pausing to reflect on those emotions.

Start by identifying your emotional triggers. Keep a journal or make mental notes when you feel a strong emotion, positive or negative. Over time, you'll notice patterns. Once you understand your triggers, you can manage them better, which brings us to the next step.

Step Two: Master the Art of Self-Regulation

Self-regulation is the ability to control or redirect your emotional responses. This isn’t about bottling up your feelings but rather managing them so they don’t control you. After all, people seldom make a brilliant business decision in the heat of anger or frustration.

When you feel your emotions taking over, take a moment to breathe, count to ten, or even step away for a quick walk. These small actions give you the space to respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively. In business, this skill is invaluable—it allows you to maintain professionalism under pressure, negotiate more effectively, and keep your team motivated, even in challenging times.

Step Three: Develop Empathy and Social Skills

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. In business, this means stepping into someone else’s shoes—whether it’s a colleague, client, or competitor. Understanding how they feel allows you to anticipate their needs, resolve conflicts, and build trust.

Coupled with strong social skills, empathy can transform your business relationships. Social skills involve effective communication, active listening, and the ability to build rapport with people from all walks of life. These skills help you connect with others, influence outcomes, and create a positive work environment.

Applied to Leadership

In leadership, EQ enables you to inspire loyalty and motivate your team. When you’re self-aware and empathetic, you make decisions that consider not just the bottom line but the people involved. This leads to higher employee engagement, stronger client relationships, and, ultimately, a more successful business. In short, emotional intelligence isn’t just a soft skill—it’s a business superpower.

At JustFix, I’ve made a dedicated effort to improve my EQ. It’s something that I think can be continually improved, and I’ve seen the impacts. Slowly, over time, you create a culture of empathy, and I think that is key to working as one cohesive unit.

Growth In Business
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​How A ‘Vision/Traction Organiser’ Improved My Business

If you're a business owner, you've likely experienced the chaos of juggling too many ideas, plans, and projects all at once. That's where the Vision/Traction Organiser (V/TO) comes in—think of it as a business satnav that actually gets you where you want to go. It helps you align your vision with practical steps and ensures your whole team is pulling in the same direction.

Let’s run through what a V/TO is, and how it improved my business, JustFix.

Clarity of Vision: Seeing the Bigger Picture

One of the V/TO's key strengths is its ability to clarify your long-term vision. It's like someone wiping the smudge off your glasses—you can suddenly see the road ahead. By focusing on your company's core values, purpose, and goals, the V/TO ensures everyone in your business understands exactly where you're headed.

Before I used the V/TO, I had a vague idea of where I wanted my business to be in five years, but no concrete plan on how to get there. The V/TO helped me define not only where I was going but also how I’d get there—step by step, brick by brick.

Traction: Turning Vision into Reality

Having a clear vision is lovely, but without action, it’s just a wish list. The V/TO bridges the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. It forces you to think about quarterly targets, the team responsible for achieving them, and the roadblocks that could slow you down.

Since I implemented the V/TO, my business meetings have gone from endless to focused discussions with tangible outcomes. We now know what our priorities are and, more importantly, who’s accountable.

How the V/TO Helped JustFix

When I started using the V/TO, it was a turning point for our business. Before, we had goals, but each team member was working independently, often in silos. The V/TO brought clarity and alignment to our efforts, helping us focus on shared priorities and providing measurable targets to work towards. It removed any uncertainty—everything we needed to focus on was clearly defined and mapped out.

In short, the V/TO has made my business more focused, more organised, and far more efficient. If you’re seeking a tool that can turn plans into action and drive real results, the V/TO is an excellent choice. It’s truly transformative.

Growth Q&A

I’ve built many businesses over the years, with my latest endeavour being JustFix. It’s a home maintenance platform that connects tradespeople to anyone, anywhere in the UK.

Think of it as Uber for home maintenance. If you’re looking for some home maintenance, click the button at the bottom of the email to download the JustFix app.

As such every week, I’ll be opening up the floor for questions about buying and selling businesses, or general growth mindset topics. You can reply to this email with whatever you’d like to know.

Our question this week is from Melissa:

Very thoughtful question, Melissa. It’s certainly changed a lot.

The business landscape has certainly evolved in ways I couldn’t have imagined when I first started. In the early days, it was about building relationships, delivering quality, and maybe the odd fax or two. Today, everything moves at lightning speed, driven by technology and a constant demand for innovation.

In the late 90s, when I was getting started, business was largely local, built on personal relationships, and often done face-to-face. Technology was there, but it wasn’t the driving force it is today. Even emails felt like a luxury. Success back then was about having a great product, delivering excellent service, and knowing the right people. To that end, it still is.

Then came the 2000s, and with it, the internet boom. Suddenly, everything was online, and businesses had to adapt to a global market. Websites became a necessity, not a nice-to-have, and we all learned the hard way that an outdated website could do more damage than not having one at all. During this time, I had to shift my mindset from thinking local to thinking global, learning how to reach customers far beyond our immediate borders.

The 2010s brought another wave of change, particularly with the rise of social media. Suddenly, businesses needed a presence on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter — and not just a presence, but a strategy. Marketing became more about building relationships and engaging with customers in real-time. Data analytics also emerged as a critical tool, allowing businesses to understand their customers on a deeper level and make informed decisions.

Now, in the 2020s, we’re facing a whole new set of challenges and opportunities. The pandemic accelerated digital transformation beyond anything we’d seen before. Remote working, online meetings, and virtual events became the norm, and businesses had to be more agile than ever to survive. Personally, I founded my current business in 2020, so I had to deal with these challenges straight away, so it had less of a debilitating effect than it had on many other companies.

The key to surviving — and thriving — in this constantly evolving landscape has been adaptability. No matter how much things change, a focus on innovation, customer relationships, and a bit of forward-thinking has kept me on course. It’s not always easy, but staying ahead of the curve is what makes the ride worthwhile.

Until next time,

Adam