{"id":542,"date":"2021-05-07T23:38:56","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T23:38:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d2fpc.com\/?p=542"},"modified":"2021-05-07T23:38:56","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T23:38:56","slug":"real-emo-intel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d2fpc.com\/?p=542","title":{"rendered":"Real Emo-Intel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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EQ-i 2.0 is based on nearly 20 years of research<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One summer day, after receiving a 21-page PDF report breaking down my so-called \u201cemotional intelligence,\u201d I did the logical thing and forwarded it to my friend. He glanced at the list of categories on the second page and exclaimed\u2014before reading my results\u2014\u201dFlexibility, uh oh!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report was the result of an assessment I\u2019d taken three weeks prior called the EQ-i 2.0, which is based on nearly 20 years of research and has been taken by some 2 million people\u2014and sure enough, it told me I\u2019m about as inflexible as people close to me seem to think I am. Shortly afterward I scheduled a call with its developer, Steven J. Stein, who reviewed my results and offered this suggestion: \u201cI would start looking at how you operate\u2014what your routines are, how you get through a day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I asked him for an example of a routine I might want to shake up, he said, \u201cLike, eat a different breakfast or something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I glanced down. It was a Wednesday morning, and at my elbow was a Tupperware containing one of two breakfasts I pack myself pretty much every day. (Today it\u2019s yogurt, some sliced orange, and granola.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaaah, noted,\u201d I muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept of emotional intelligence (\u201cEQ\u201d or \u201cEI\u201d for short) has been around for over 20 years, but it\u2019s still enjoying buzzy prominence in HR circles. The more technology reshapes (and in some quarters, automates) the workforce, the more valuable human-only skills seem to become. So I took the EQ-i 2.0 to figure out what it could tell me about my strengths, weaknesses, and what they might mean for my career.
\nIt\u2019s About Balance<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ideal thing is not just getting all high scores,\u201d Stein says, \u201cit\u2019s about balance.\u201d That means that my low score for flexibility\u201462 in a normal range of around 40\u2013145\u2014isn\u2019t necessarily \u201cbad.\u201d But it also means that my comparatively high score for \u201cemotional self-awareness,\u201d for instance (121), isn\u2019t fundamentally \u201cgood.\u201d The real question is whether my tendencies in other areas stack up in ways that counter any day-to-day challenges of being so stubbornly routine-bound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn your case,\u201d Stein tells me, \u201cyou\u2019ve got some wide ranges here. For example, your self-awareness is much higher than your reality testing.\u201d What that means, he explains, is that \u201cyou\u2019re focusing more on your own feelings than what\u2019s going on around you,\u201d even if I\u2019m better than a lot of people at attending to both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re feeling upset, you tend to know why and what it\u2019s about, as opposed to people who are oblivious\u2014you\u2019ve got a good handle on that,\u201d says Stein. But according to the assessment, I may not have an equally good handle on the goings-on around me, at least not when I\u2019m feeling stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stein says the tool doesn\u2019t just point out areas to work on; it also suggests how best to work on them. In my case, tackling the flexibility issue might be the key to reducing some of the other imbalances the test detected. \u201cThat\u2019s a really good predictor of change\u201d overall, Stein explains. \u201cA whole range of people, from the business world to drug addicts, use that to predict success.\u201d For me, he says, \u201cit\u2019s a stumbling block, but the idea here is we\u2019re aware of it, and these are all trainable skills.\u201d
\nA Different Mix for Different Jobs<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EQ-i 2.0 also points out that I\u2019m a bit of a pessimist. \u201cOptimism\u201d is my second-lowest score, after flexibility. Thanks to the large data set the assessment draws on, Stein says certain patterns actually emerge by profession. While I\u2019m \u201coften looking at the downside\u2014what\u2019s wrong,\u201d so are lots of print journalists, he says. \u201cWhereas TV journalists are more [often] optimists, always looking for the good news, the good side\u2014how can we make this a \u2018good\u2019 story?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stein rightly points out that in my line of work, skepticism is helpful for asking tougher questions and assessing motives. But I know what he means when he says there are times it can get the better of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for other traits that could hold back my career, I score somewhat low on problem solving. Frankly, I\u2019m (ahem) skeptical of that one. Luckily, so is my boss, Fast Company senior editor Kate Davis. When I shared my results, she said this about my problem-solving score: \u201cI haven\u2019t noticed it in a big way in your performance, but as a manager, that\u2019s helpful to know as a potential area that I can help you develop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s a good example of how interconnected these attributes can be. \u201cThe idea is to balance your emotion and your logical thinking\u201d to solve problems, says Stein, so he muses that my pessimism and inflexibility might be culprits. \u201cIt could be that you focus so much on how you\u2019re feeling,\u201d he says, that my emotions cloud my reason, or that \u201cyou\u2019re so pessimistic that you discard those feelings,\u201d and overlook some possibilities.
\nWhat EQ Means for the Way You Work<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not hard to see the interplay of these types of factors in an ordinary workday. For instance, I might be able to lean on others more in order to strengthen my problem-solving muscle; my \u201cinterpersonal relationships\u201d and \u201cempathy\u201d scores were high, which could mean they\u2019re underleveraged resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stein gives another couple of examples: \u201cIf someone ranks highly for reality testing, they\u2019re more likely to know when they are the one not pulling their weight.\u201d This way they probably won\u2019t have to be convinced that they bear some of the blame when a team isn\u2019t performing up to par. \u201cIf someone ranks highly for assertiveness,\u201d he says, \u201cthey\u2019re more likely to honestly express their thoughts and feelings in a common situation like meetings, where there are tough or challenging issues to discuss.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Short of actually taking the EQ-i 2.0, these are a few questions Stein says anyone can ask themselves to determine approximately how they rank on some of the major components of emotional intelligence:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empathy: \u201cDo I really listen to people when they talk about their issues, or do I just try to give them a solution? Do people tend to confide in me?\u201d
\nEmotional self-awareness: \u201cWhen my body gives me physical signals that something is wrong, do I pay attention to it and sense what\u2019s going on?\u201d
\nSelf-actualization: \u201cAm I doing the things in life that I really feel passionate about\u2014at home, at work, socially?\u201d
\nImpulse control: \u201cDo I respond to people before they finish telling me something?\u201d
\nInterpersonal relationships: \u201cDo I enjoy socializing with people, or does it feel like work?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If these feel kind of abstract, well, they are. Our thoughts and behaviors are highly situational and influenced by countless factors, many of them that our conscious minds never detect. But patterns tend to emerge anyway\u2014in my experience, uncannily so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the true measure of the predictive power of emotional intelligence itself is that a 15-minute online quiz is all it takes for a researcher to tell you how you eat your breakfast\u2014and how you should consider eating it tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Rich Bellis — <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One summer day, after receiving a 21-page PDF report breaking down my so-called \u201cemotional intelligence,\u201d I did the logical thing and forwarded it to my friend. 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