Assessing Your Emotional Intelligence

This week's article summary is 5 Questions to Assess Your Emotional Intelligence.

I liked that the article’s focus is on us—Trinity’s faculty/staff—and the importance of how we work in concert and in collaboration with one another. Our community bonding during preplanning sets us up for a great school year!

I also liked the article’s simple five questions we should ask ourselves about how we interact with others. As teachers, these are the same expectations we have for our students as they develop essential social-emotional skills and habits, particularly interpersonal,  needed for success in school and beyond.

Thank you for a wonderful first two days of school! Have a restful weekend!

Joe

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Employees who exhibit emotional intelligence (EQ) improve teamwork, communicate better with team members, and share ideas as well as are open to others' ideas. They are also highly adaptable and adjust easily to change and challenging situations.

In practical terms, employees with high EQ know how to handle unhappy customers, disgruntled co-workers, or managers not pleased with their work.

Is there a good metric for getting started in the right direction toward building up your EQ skills? 

You can start by asking a few look-in-the-mirror questions to help you determine where you measure up against the principles of EQ. Answering each question with a 'yes' will reveal your EQ aptitude.

Do you respond rather than react: High-EQ people typically respond, rather than react, with a more patient, "keep calm" approach. They process a situation, get perspective, listen without judgment, and hold back from reacting head-on.

Do you practice self-control: People with high EQ maintain control over their emotions. Self-control is a learned skill to help you be more present, calmer, and focused during times of high stress. It's a necessary emotional skill with a long-term payoff.

Do you exercise self-awareness: People with high EQ are adept at self-awareness and are able to see both sides of an issue to choose a different, and better, outcome.

Do you adapt well to change: Adaptability is a key hallmark of people with high EQ. They are able to recognize when to stay the course and when it's time for a change. In other words, when one strategy is not working, high-EQ people evaluate and determine a different course of action.

Do you serve the needs of others: Besides focusing on their own success, people with high EQ also maintain a strong desire for wanting to see the people around them succeed.