Measure Your Emotional Intelligence

Measure Your Emotional Intelligence

by | Feb 1, 2020 | EQ Assessment, EQ Report

You’ve probably always thought that great leaders have some special quality that separates them from the rest of us. Well, you’re right. They do. That ”special quality” are well-developed emotional intelligence competencies.

I think we all intuitively know that we each have our own unique mix of strengths and areas of opportunities when it comes to leadership and interpersonal skills, but figuring out which areas we might need to work on is a challenging task.

 

Understand Your Strengths

The first step towards understanding our strengths and areas of development from a leadership and soft skill perspective is discovering your level of emotional intelligence or Emotional Quotient (EQ).

Your EQ will be in the form of a numerical value that measures your emotional intelligence, in a similar way that IQ measures traditional intelligence.  In fact, emotional intelligence skills are more often a greater determinant of success than cognitive intelligence.  Emotional intelligence is increasingly relevant to developing people, and organizations as a whole, because it can provide a new way to understand and assess people’s behaviours, leadership styles, attitudes, social skills, and their potential.

Whatever your EQ number is, don’t worry. Instead, look at this number as more of a starting point, as your greater self-awareness will help guide you towards continual improvement in your personal and work relationships.

 

Measure Your Emotional Intelligence

For measuring and assessing Emotional Intelligence, we use two assessment tools, the EQ-i 2.0® and the EQ-360®, both developed by Multi-Health Systems (MHS).  MHS measures emotional intelligence into 15 EQ competencies or subscales, and those subscales are broken into the 5 composite scales or areas: self-perception (how you perceive yourself), self-expression (how you communicate and express yourself), interpersonal (how you connect with others), decision-making (how well you make decisions on a daily basis), and stress management (how well you cope with challenging times).

Although it is important to have a high level of emotional intelligence, like many things in life, it is also equally important to have balanced scores. The critical goal is making sure all of your 15 EQ results are relatively close in score to each other. The higher the difference in scores, the more visible the imbalance may show up in your behaviours.  The more well-balanced your EQ scores are the better your emotional and social functioning in the world. Ultimately, you will be more productive, a better performer, and a happier person at work and in life.

Upon completion of either of the assessments, you will receive a one-hour long debrief on your results from one of our EQ coaches, scheduled at your convenience.  We help you interpret your scores and the interrelationships between them.

The purpose of both of these assessments is to collect information on workplace or leadership effectiveness.  It is imperative that you understand that these EQ reports are completely confidential, and will only be seen by you and your EQ coach, and is to be used only for your own personal growth and professional development.

The EQ-i 2.0® Report

The EQ-i 2.0® is a self-report assessment tool that is based on the 15 competencies of the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i). Not only does the EQ-i 2.0® score your total EQ, but it also gives you a score for each of the 15 competencies, highlighting your strengths and potential areas for improvement.

The EQ-360® Report

The EQ-360® delves further because it not only contains the self-report assessment of the EQ-i 2.0®, it integrates what other people think of you. You will select raters from the following categories: manager, peers, direct reports, friends/family, and/or others, and they will also rate you on the same rating scale, which is why this tool is also referred to as the Multi-Rater Assessment.  It is important to know not only how you see yourself, but also to be aware of how others see you.

 

 

Balancing Your Emotional Intelligence

In either of these EQ reports, each of these 15 EQ competencies or subscales are measured and then compared to three other subscales that are most critical to balance.  In order for the main subscale and balancing subscales to be considered “out of balance,” they need to differ by more than 10 points.

Improving your EQ is not a “one size fits all” process.  We are all different and research shows that successfully being able to understand, express, and manage your own emotions involves figuring out which particular strategies and emotional regulation approaches work best for you for any given situation.

At the bottom of each of the fifteen competencies pages, in either of the EQ-i 2.0 and EQ-360® Reports, is a Balancing Your EI section.  As mentioned, each competency has three balancing subscales that are most critical to balance based not only on the relationship with that competency of interest but also because it makes practical sense from a coaching perspective.

Each of your EQ competency scores are compared to the other three balancing subscales, and the difference between the two competencies that differ most is highlighted. Your EQ Report helps you by providing insight into what subscales may need some balancing support.  It provides some How-To Guidance and along with the Strategies for Action so you can create a development plan.

Developing your emotional intelligence will allow you to adapt your leadership style as required so that you can become a more effective and inspirational leader in all situations and with all kinds of people.

Which of your EQ competencies are out of balance now? What behaviours can you adjust in order to regain or maintain balance?

We can help. Book a call with us here; we’d love to listen and provide support in any way we can.

To learn more about emotional intelligence and how it impacts your organization, sign up for our biweekly newsletter here, where you will receive our latest updates, an inventory of resources, and much more! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to keep up with more of our blogs!

How To Get Out of a Rut

How To Get Out of a Rut

by | Apr 15, 2018 | Personal Development, Self-awareness

We have all had those humdrum periods—those times when we seem to be doing the same activities over and over, and we feel miserable and unfulfilled about it.

Perhaps you are bored with your life – there is nothing exciting on the horizon to look forward to, and you’re so immersed in your day-to-day grind that there is no time or space to bring some enthusiasm and spirit into your dull, monotonous life.  In fact, you can’t even remember the last time you laughed and enjoyed yourself…you have even forgotten what makes you truly happy.

Or perhaps you are feeling burnt out on the job – you’re working your butt off, not seeing the results you want, and wondering if your hard work will ever pay off. That goal you have been stretching for seems insurmountable; you are starting to feel unmotivated, and are about to throw in the towel and say it’s not even worth trying to reach for it anymore. Then, we ask the million-dollar question: How can I move forward when I feel stuck?

The 3 tips for getting out of a rut?

Although, it’s not always easy, here are some to get you started:

 

1. Know What You Value

Walt Disney once said, “When your values become clear, making decisions becomes easier.” To avoid getting stuck in a mental rut, know what’s important to you. Until you know these guiding principles, you can’t live the life you were meant to.  You need to determine what you truly believe in, what you would take a stand for, what you will say yes to whenever anyone is saying no…and once you do, you can then walk the talk, and live a life that’s in alignment with your core values.

 

2. Know What You Want

Sometimes we spend so much time going through the motions, we forget why we are even doing it all for. Then, we end up feeling mentally stuck. So, to snap yourself out of ‘auto-pilot’, remind yourself what are your future aspirations?  What are your BHAGs – Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals?  In their 1994 book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, authors James Collins and Jerry Porras coined the term, ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goal’.  A BHAG is a strategic statement used by businesses (similar to a vision statement) focusing on a medium- to long-term organization-wide goal.  BHAG’s are generally audacious, and most likely questionable, to the outside world, but regarded as an aggressive target, but not impossible, to those within the company.

However, why can’t we use these gallant, strategic statements to shoot for the stars for our own personal goals, rather than just organizational goals?  I believe we can and should.  As an educator, I see all too often that our educational system focuses on learning techniques (the best ways to learn) or educational pathways (the right order to take courses in) on what works for, or is appropriate for, the ‘average’ student. This idea is the central premise of Todd Rose’s book, The End of Average: How to Succeed in a World that Values Sameness. 

Do you remember the bell curve from school?  The bell curve is the most common type of graph used to describe data distribution.  The highest point on the curve describes the data’s most probable outcome, and all other occurrences fall equally on either side, creating two downward sloping lines from that top point, one line declining to the right and one to the left.

Once you know where you want to go, it’s a lot easier to decide the things you need to do, or don’t do, to get you closer to what you truly want.  And why put limitations on your desires and goals?  Dream big and then pedal hard.  The only difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the extra.  Are you willing to take the extra step that is going to make you achieve your wildest dreams?? If yes, sometimes only a little extra degree of effort can make a HUGE difference.

 

3. Know How to Have Fun

Sometimes we get so bogged down doing the wrong tasks, the things we have to do or don’t like doing, that we rarely have time for fun and play.  So, think of activities you find fun – the things that truly make you happy. Not sure what fun looks like? Think back to your childhood. What did you love to do as a child? Inject some child-like playfulness into your daily activities.  Studies show that learning and creativity are enhanced when we are having fun.

All too often we let what we do determine who we are.  How many times do you find yourself in social settings, and once you move beyond the “Hi, my name is Carolyn”, the next phrase you say is “I am a ____________ (insert 9-to-5 job here)”.  We, all too often, let our corporate roles define us, and/or allow people to make assessments of us based on what we do.  Instead of saying “I am an accountant” for example, have you ever said “I am a parent of two wonderful kids” or “married to a fantastic spouse” or “an animal lover wanting to help those who can’t speak for themselves” or “a volunteer in the community”?  No…we seldom, if ever, say those things.  We invariably default to the title on our business cards, as if that is the defining label of who we are, and then act in that stereotypical manner within our social circles.

We need to find our fun, silly side.  It’s ok to relax and let go and do the things that put a smile on our faces and those around us.  It’s also ok to lighten up at work and smile in our job, as we go forward.  Once we remember how to have fun and enjoy ourselves, then we can let who we are determine what we do and even how we are going to do it.  In The Levity Effect: Why it Pays to Lighten Up, Adrian Gostick and Scott Christopher share that humor in the workplace has many benefits, including employee satisfaction and loyalty, increased productivity, and innovation for a better workplace and higher profits. For other tips and tricks on how to better your wellbeing, click here for our free emotional intelligence tools!

 

To learn more about emotional intelligence and how it benefits your organization, sign up for our biweekly newsletter here, where you will receive our latest updates, an inventory of resources, and much more!

If you’re stuck in a rut with life, book a call with us here; we’d love to listen and provide support in any way we can.

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