A641.3.3.RB - Working with EI: Getting Results!

This entry into my MSLD Blog will discuss the four EI (emotional intelligence) dimensions: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social skill. How each of these applies to me, my strengths, areas that I need to develop, and how the dimensions have helped or hindered me in my performance and/or career.

Self-awareness: (sometimes also referred to as self-knowledge or introspection) is about understanding your own needs, desires, failings, habits, and everything else that makes you tick. The more you know about yourself, the better you are at adapting life changes that suit your needs.

Essentially, the more you pay attention to your emotions and how you work, the better you'll understand why you do the things you do. The more you know about your own habits, the easier it is to improve on those habits. In most cases, this takes a little experimentation.

Self-awareness has helped and hindered me. I have always wanted to keep my emotions to myself, be cool. This at times has helped me from reacting to situations in the wrong way. The this has also distance me for family and coworkers.

Self-management: a key skill that will help you throughout your life. It involves setting goals and managing your time. Developing your motivation and concentration skills will help you to overcome the lure of procrastination. Effective self-management will help you to avoid stress and provide you with more opportunities to get involved in fun campus activities.

A key skill in self-management is self-regulation. Self-regulation refers to individuals monitoring, controlling and directing aspects of their learning for themselves.

I excel at this at work, not so much with school assignments and housework.

Social awareness: Social awareness gives you the ability to understand and respond to the needs of others. Awareness of social situations means you carefully consider what people want, and plan to communicate with them in a way that is intended to meet that need. More importantly though, when you respond to the needs and feelings of other people, you gain their trust.

Leaders in organizations have traditionally viewed empathy with suspicion, thinking that there is no place for soft emotional skills in the tough world of business. But changing times and the need to consider the feelings of employees has led to social awareness becoming a critical skill for effective leaders. Empathizing with someone - understanding their point of view - doesn't mean you must agree with their point of view.

This is one of my strongest skills and has helped me working aviation. Because the aviation industry is so diverse anyone that want to go far in this profession must understand and practice social awareness.

Social skill: Social skills have the most value when it comes to the ability to work on a team, trading off tasks based on skill sets or ability. It's usually easy to talk to and like people with good social skills, another sign of high emotional intelligence. Those with strong social skills are typically team players. Rather than focus on their own success first, they help others develop and shine. They can manage disputes, are excellent communicators, and are masters at building and maintaining relationships.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to accurately perceive your own and others’ emotions; to understand the signals that emotions send about relationships; and to manage your own and others’ emotions. It doesn’t necessarily include the qualities (like optimism, initiative, and self-confidence) that some popular definitions ascribe to it.

The most effective leaders are alike in one crucial way: they all have a high degree of what has come to be known as emotional intelligence. It’s not that IQ and technical skills are irrelevant. They do matter, but…they are the entry-level requirements for executive positions. My research, along with other recent studies, clearly shows that emotional intelligence is the sine qua non of leadership. Without it, a person can have the best training in the world, an incisive, analytical mind, and an endless supply of smart ideas, but he still won’t make a great leader. (Goleman, Introduces Emotional Intelligence, 2012)

References

Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2005). Resonant Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business Press.

Goleman, D. (2007, March). Why aren't we more compassionate? Retrieved from TED: https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_goleman_on_compassion

Goleman, D. (2012, April 23). Introduces Emotional Intelligence. Retrieved from YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7m9eNoB3NU

McKee, A., Boyatzis, R., & Johnston, F. (2008). Resonant Leader. Boston: Harvard Business Press.