Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is “the ability to identify your own emotions and the emotions of others and use this information to guide behavior.” Often times this is a key difference that separates okay leaders from great leaders. In class we watched a short video on emotional intelligence (YouTube Video). Take away from the video were that it is often referred to as emotional quotient (EQ) which is very similar to how Intelligence Quotient is called IQ. Another take away was that if someone has a low EQ they can still improve it because it is altered by experiences. 

Emotional Intelligence is made up of 4 categories; Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social-Awareness, and Relationship Management. Self-Awareness is being able to self-reflect and be aware of your own emotions. Self-management is being able to handle your emotions in various situations through self-control, adaptability and transparency. Social Awareness is being able to adapt your emotions to the environment. Relationship management is being able to work with individuals with various emotions.

Of the 4 categories I find myself having a strong sense of self-management and relationship management. Both of these areas help me to work well with groups. Working in groups often brings many people of different strengths together but working with others can be a challenge. The other two areas, self-awareness and social-awareness are something I find to be my areas of weakness. Often in situations I let my emotions get the best of me whether it be stressing about something to much or if its dealing with someone that disagrees with me. I have to work on both of these areas going forward to grow my leadership skills.