Defining Your Strengths as a Leader Series: #2 Defining Your Emotional Intelligence Strengths

3 MIN READ

I found a recommendation for “Emotional Intelligence 2” by Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves. With the book came a new and enhanced online edition of “the world’s most popular emotional intelligence test,” The Emotional Intelligence Appraisal®.

The Emotional Intelligence Appraisal® provides you with a complete picture of your emotional intelligence. This includes an understanding of:

• What emotional intelligence is
• Your overall emotional intelligence score
• Your current skill levels in the four areas that make up emotional intelligence
• Specific recommendations for action you can take to improve your emotional intelligence

This appraisal will ask you specific questions about your behavior. How you answer these questions is for your eyes only. A true reflection of your emotional intelligence skills depends on your willingness to accurately rate yourself. This requires a lot of thought into how you are in many situations, not just the ones you handle well. When you read each question, create a clear picture in your mind of how you are in different situations, then answer honestly how often you demonstrate the behavior in each question.

Define Your Emotional Intelligence Strengths Activity
Read about the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal - Me Edition. Consider if you would like to take this assessment (it costs less for the hardcover book than the online assessment!). If you decide to take it, put it on your calendar by blocking 2 hours and set a reminder for a few days before so that you do not reschedule it.

1. On the day of, give yourself 30 minutes to unwind before taking the assessment (consider meditating!).
   
2. It should take 30 minutes or less to complete once you start it.
   
3. Give yourself 30 minutes after the assessment to do something energizing or relaxing.
   
4. After your break, take 30 minutes to review the results and set a goal in the next 30 days to take action related to your results.
   

What if you decide not to take it? Reflect on a colleague or loved one in your life who could benefit from the activity and tell them about it!

The accompanying report recommends that I begin practicing on one specific area, Social Awareness, and offers three strategies to nurture my skills in this area:

• Greet people by name. To tackle my tendency to withdraw in social situations.
• Catch the mood of the room. To tackle my tendency to fail to spot the mood in the room.
• Practice the art of listening. To tackle my tendency to miss out on other people’s non-verbal cues.

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​My Take-aways on the Emotional Intelligence Appraisal

1. The test by itself starts at $39.95 to take it online, or you can pay $34.99 for the hardcover book which includes a code to take the test. The test took less than 30 minutes to complete and has multiple sections.
2. I agree with the results. Namely, that Self-Management is my top skill to capitalize on, and I’m aware that it is in large part because of my mindfulness practice and other routines. 
3. Understanding that Social Awareness is a skill that could be a strength with a little improvement, I chose this for my first EQ Goal. In my own words, my EQ Goal is to remember people better by name, their intentions, their needs, and their mood when I meet them. I’ve set this as a goal to complete by April 2020, and the strategies I will practice are: Greet people by name, Don’t take notes at meetings, and Catch the mood of the room.

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Now that you’ve reviewed one assessment, take a look at Assessment #3 the StrengthsFinder by Gallup (stay tuned!).
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About Author: Meredith "Mer" Curry​

Mer has always had a passion for education and helping historically underrepresented groups achieve access and success to higher opportunities. She has consulted nonprofits, educational institutions, and businesses in addition to her volunteerism and mentorship of students.
Learn more about Mer at www.meredithcurry.com.