I interviewed millionaire early retiree Steve Adcock recently on the subject of financial regrets.

Adcock identified one thing he wishes he knew in his 20s that would have made him wealthier faster: how much emotional intelligence matters.

“Your personality will get you 10 times richer than your intelligence,” Adcock told me. “I learned that throughout my career, slowly but surely. I worked with a lot of smart people, no doubt about it. But those smartest people in the office weren’t necessarily the ones getting the raises and promotions.”

In short, your EQ can get you more opportunities for raises and promotions than your IQ, he said.

I think that was something I generally understood to be true, but hearing it aloud got me a little nervous. I’m one of the few fully remote workers on my team. I’m doing good work, but who would you promote — the guy you chat with on Slack or the person who you take your lunch break with every day?

So I enlisted the help of Vicki Salemi, a career expert at Monster, to find out how anyone – remote or not – can show off their EQ at work. She suggests three strategies.

1. Act the part. If you think you’re ready for a bigger job at your company, start stepping into that role. “Even if the management position doesn’t exist, act as if you are the manager and take the lead,” she says. That doesn’t mean start bossing people around. Rather, make it a point to come to meetings ready to propose new ideas and initiatives.

2. Get people on your side. If you’re looking to hone your soft skills, ask your boss or even colleagues or external clients which ones they think you should focus on in order to advance your career. “Ask them what areas you need to develop. Make them part of this journey with you,” says Salemi.

3. Find a mentor. Do you have a favorite person in the office? It could be someone whose career you aspire to have or the colleague you enjoy working with the most. Ask them to show you the ropes, either in a formal or informal mentoring relationship, Salemi says. What’s more, think about what makes them such a great colleague and emulate them.

CNBC