How aware are you of your emotions? Emotional intelligence (EQ) impacts your performance as much as IQ. “EQ is a set of emotional and social skills that influence the way we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with challenges, and use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way" (Source: Psychology Today).
Usually, an event (aka symptom) is the cause and your emotions are the effect. When your emotions take over (crisis or success), decision-making is not as clear.
Dan Goleman’s “Primal Leadership” highlighted these:
· (-) fear, anger, stress
· (+) joy, courage, excitement
One must recognize one's own triggers, and learn how to control these. With this awareness comes self-regulation, or impulse control, so that you don’t go from “0 to 60.”
I was told of an emotional intelligence training in Afghanistan. The participants wore their combat gear, and were surrounded by barbwire and the T-Wall (Texas Wall), which is 14 ft high versus the New Jersey wall (short). Somehow, I think that context gives the training a whole different meaning!
What is your EQ?
