Week 25: Eagle Focus
It’s All About EQ
In this session, we are going to take a look at what is perhaps the most important component of our personal and professional success: Emotional Intelligence (EQ). It is through the development of our EQ that we will be able to truly make a difference in the lives of those we love, live with, and lead.
EQ (Emotional Intelligence)
What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)? It is the ability to be aware, understand, and manage emotions within yourself and other relationships.
Bradberry & Greaves (Leadership 2.0) state that, “Emotional Intelligence is a set of skills that capture our awareness of our own emotions and the emotions of others and how we apply this awareness to manage ourselves effectively and form quality relationships.”
What does this mean for us when interfacing with the different personality types of the Monkey, Lion, Camel and Turtle? By continuing to develop our Emotional Intelligence, we can leverage ourselves to have deeper connections with the people we influence. We can also learn to manage relationship challenges that will evidently come our way as we continue to lead others.
Research conducted by The Carnegie Institute of Technology shows that IQ can help you to be successful in 20% of your life, but the remaining 80% depends upon your EQ.
Four Components of EQ
The Four Components of EQ that we will be discussing are:
Self-Awareness: The ability to accurately perceive our emotions in the moment and understand our tendencies across situations.
Self-Management: Using awareness of our emotions to stay flexible and direct our behavior positively. This means managing our emotional reactions to situations and people.
Social Awareness: The ability to accurately assess and understand others’ emotional responses.
Relationship Management: Using awareness of our emotions and those of others to manage interactions successfully.
Of these four, we are specifically going to focus on self-awareness as it relates to understanding ourselves and the people we lead. Daniel Goleman reminds us that, “If our emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if we don’t have self-awareness, if we are not able to manage our distressing emotions, if we can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart we are, we are not going to get very far.”
