Exciting News About Emotional Intelligence
I’m honored to be one of only 30 global meta-coaches selected for Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence Coaching Certification. This in-depth program is akin to a professional degree and I can’t wait. If you’re familiar with my work, you know that I speak and write about emotional intelligence (EI) often.
What is EI? EI is a measure of your ability to monitor, identify, understand and use emotional information, whether it comes from you or from somebody else.
Why do I care about it? Because it is one of the single most important skills for leaders— understanding one another is vital; the inability to do so is often the root cause of conflict, lack of engagement, and loss of talent.
It is also directly related to the bottom line. Pepsi found that executives with high EIs generated 10% more productivity, had 87% less turnover, brought $3.75M more value to the company, and increased ROI by 1000%. And that’s just one example.
So the opportunity to dive deeper into my understanding of emotional intelligence is extremely valuable to me. Not only will I deepen my own EI, the training will enable to help my clients in new and effective ways.
To celebrate this opportunity, here is a roundup of the posts I’ve written about EI (also called EQ) in the past.
Emotional Intelligence Roundup
1. Four Ways to Amp Up Your Emotional Intelligence Today
We’ve all heard stories or perhaps even witnessed leaders who just can’t keep their cool. They may storm through the office, slam a phone down, berate a manager or simply send dozens of nasty emails. This type of behavior is extremely uncomfortable for employees to witness, eats away at organizational culture, breaks down trust, and is completely unproductive.
What would cause a leader or manager to behave that way? It could be anything. Maybe they are having family problems, or their brand new car broke down for the twelfth time, or their stakeholders came down hard on them that morning. The truth is it doesn’t matter why a leader behaves in such an explosive way. If the leader had a high Emotional Intelligence Quotient, this behavior wouldn’t be happening regardless of the reason.
Developing emotional intelligence is a lifelong process. Here are three tips to get you started.
2. Why Emotional Intelligence Affects the Bottom Line
Having a high EQ isn’t for promoting warm and fuzzy feelings in the workplace. It is directly related to the bottom line. L’Oreal found that salespeople with a high EQ sold $2.5M more than others. And when Sheraton decided to incorporate an EQ initiative, their market share grew by 24%.
To read a real-world example of a manager lacking emotional intelligence, and find out if you have a high or low EQ, read here.
3. It Takes Courage To Use Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence. We hear the term all the time, thinking it’s some abstract leadership model that only the elite use to improve themselves and their teams.
I’m here to tell you that EI is real and the opportunity to use it occurs many times a day, if you’re willing to listen and use it.
Here are three personal stories of how I successfully, and unsuccessfully, used my EI in challenging situations.
4. Coaching 101: Eight Quick Tips for Interpersonal Communication & Relationship Building
Despite the variation of locations, industries, and audience, there is a common denominator in all questions I get asked when speaking or training: working relationships. No one is asking me how to create the most effective spreadsheet or improve a technical skill. No one asks how to make a widget or fly a plane. What everyone struggles with is interpersonal skills and relationships, otherwise known as soft skills. Emotional Intelligence is a core element of this skill.
Read more to find out eight quick tips to improve your interpersonal communication and relationship building skills.
I’d love to hear about your own experiences with EI. Do you struggle with it? Have you ever worked with leadership lacking EI? Let’s talk about it. Leave a comment below, send me an email or find me on Twitter.
