EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, The Key to Understanding Yourself

Monday Message from Jerry Houston, President and CEO of HPISolutions

Last week I talked about the idea of your emotional quotient, or in other words your ability to understand and manage your emotions.  If you missed reading that Monday Message click here.

This week I want to talk about what makes up our emotional quotient and how there is now the ability to measure these factors and, down the road, share with you how you can improve your emotional quotient.

What are the benefits of learning your Emotional Quotient?

• Identifying your strengths and areas for improvements
• Connecting your goals to specific actions you can employ in the workplace
• Determine what will be most beneficial for your role and develop specific aspects that will put you more in control of your emotions

Emotional Quotient measures five dimensions

First, in your intrapersonal emotional intelligence resides three of the five dimensions

• Self-Awareness – do you understand yourself from an emotional perspective? Do you understand your strengths, developmental needs, skills, experiences, etc.?
• Self-Regulation – Are you able to manage your emotions, or do you “fly off the handle” or “shut down” when faced with conflict or crisis? Do you understand the triggers that move you out of control?
• Motivation – Do you understand what is important to you beyond just money? Do you know if you are satisfying those motivators, and helping you in your ability to manage your emotions?

Second, is your interpersonal emotional intelligence (between you and others) which encompasses:

• Social Awareness – How well do you understand the emotional makeup of others? Are you able to make a connection that makes them open with you because they sense that you are in control of your emotions?
• Social Regulation – How well are you able to manage interactions and situations with others? Are you able to negotiate well, and see the other person’s perspectives?  Are you able to manage the situation to get to the desired conclusion for all involved?

There is much more to this whole concept of maximizing your overall emotional quotient which will lead to a much greater ability to interact with others and to be seen as a person who is in charge of their emotions, while having a good level of understanding of the emotions of others in a specific situation.

Have a Great Week!