EQ

A few weeks ago I participated in a three day seminar on Emotional Intelligence. I took a test and my results demonstrate that I have room to grow emotionally. Fortunately I already knew that. I also feel quite strongly that the value of EQ cannot be easily dismissed. Sure part of me has the same reaction as many of you - what are we going to talk about our feelings, hold hands and sing? However the other part of me - the more emotionally grounded and mature side (the side I keep very well hidden)recognizes that being emotionally savvy is what leads to success. Many of you wonder what we talked about over three days. Mostly we talked about you. Actually we discussed the ill effects of toxic people on work environments, understanding the role that emotional baggage plays in communication, and opportunities for individuals to grow and become more savvy in their communications. For instance, it is not a good idea to treat a complete idiot like you think they are a complete idiot. Sure they are dumber than dirt and it pisses you off that you have to deal with them. However dumb people don't like to be reminded of their failures. Really they should be admired. They have gotten by on shear luck and their ability to convincingly deflect their inadequacies. The dumber someone is, the nicer your tone should be (not condescending and keep all frustration out of your voice). What keeps people from succeeding is not a lack of talent or smarts - its their inability to properly filter what they say and play nicely with others. Certainly I am infamous for some of the truths that fly out of my mouth. I had to learn that there is a time and a place. My filter is firmly in place at meetings with external folks. In fact I seem like a totally different person (to me at least). Packets of my wisdom only pop out when I want them to for strategic reasons - that is a function of EQ.