Leadership
Emotional Intelligence in Your Job Search
Enhancing Your Emotional Intelligence
Personal Competence: How we manage ourselves
Self-awareness:
Deep understanding of one’s emotions, realistic, neither overly self-critical nor naively hopeful.
- Seek feedback, and acknowledge your capabilities and limitations.
- Journal your emotional highs and lows.
- Reflect on accomplishments and skills to achieve them.
- Be curious, and ask questions to learn.
| Journaling–whether as a stream of consciousness or on a specific topic–can enable us to make sense of trauma, improve our immune system and moods, and help us sleep better. Daniel Goleman |
Self-management
An ongoing inner conversation.
- Watch and listen to others’ emotional tone and non-verbal language.
- Ask others for their opinions before making a judgment or giving your perspective.
- Give others your full attention, and reflect on their words and feelings.
- Get out of your comfort zone.
| On a good day, 80% of us are lying to ourselves about whether we are lying to ourselves. Dr. Tasha Eurich |
Social Competence: How we manage relationships
Social awareness
Being attuned to how others feel in the moment.
- When emotions start to rise, pause and take a moment before responding.
- Take an active interest, read the currents, and understand different perspectives.
- Get organized, and take time to plan ahead.
- Listen to your own self-talk. If negative, rephrase to be more positive.
| Would You Hire You? |
Relationship management
Handling other people’s emotions and reactions.
- Take time to learn what is important to and motivates others.
- Display a wide range of tactics for persuading others.
- Cultivate a web of diverse relationships.
- Work to resolve disagreements and enhance relationships.
| “Executive presence” is a vague term–its definition can vary greatly from person to person. Yet we can develop traits that contribute to an executive presence, including authenticity and empathy, with strengths in emotional intelligence. Daniel Goleman |
Reading Resources
- Emotional Life of Your Brain, R. Davidson & S. Begley
- Emotional Intelligence 2.0, T. Bradberry (Includes a self-assessment)
- Insight: The Power of Self-Awareness, T. Eurich
- Taming Your Gremlin, R. Carlson
- The Brain and Emotional Intelligence, D. Goleman
- To Sell is Human, D. Pink
Web Resources
- Eiconsortium.org
- Dan Siegel: Mindsight
- Jon Kabat-Zinn: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (Books, Videos, and App)
- Harvard Business Review (Three free a month)
- Emotional Agility, S. David & C. Congleton
- Learning to Learn, E. Anderson
- Inc.com
- Why You Should Hire for Emotional Intelligence
- Why You Need Emotional Intelligence to Succeed
- Key Step Media
- Ted Talks: Five Ted Talks to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence
Aull About U, LLC
Transformation
Life itself is a privilege, but to live life to the fullest – well, that is a choice. ~Andy Andrews – Author
Transformation is going beyond form, it is taking a step into chance. When was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone and took a chance to transform yourself in some way?
Taking a step outside your comfort zone can conjure a wide variety of emotions; excitement, fear, anxiety, relief, nervousness, and wonderment to name a few.
We all have the capability and capacity to go beyond our form; to leverage the strengths and energy within ourselves. For some, the challenge is identifying where to start. Start with focusing on what you are passionate about, the things that give you energy. Ask yourself what you can do to take your passion and strengths to the next level.
Stepping out of your comfort zone to achieve a transformation can take effort. Have you seen a butterfly work to emerge from its cocoon or a chick struggle to hatch from an egg? They put a lot of focus and effort into their transformation, with spectacular results.
Taking time to create and implement a vision and strategy that focuses on doing what you are passionate about will bring you energy. This energy will translate into self-awareness, agility, and innovation; propelling you into transformation. People will be drawn to your energy, creating an engaging environment that supports bringing out the best in yourself and those you interact with.
Are you exploring life outside your comfort zone? Are you inspiring yourself and others to transform beyond your current form? If so, enjoy and savor the journey. If not, take a step, and challenge yourself to the next level, your path is in front of you.
NOTE: In 2019 I went through a major life transformation with a diagnosis of ovarian cancer. This link will take you to videos documenting my life-changing experience that has resulted in me being at my best physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.
If you don’t go after what you want, you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place. ~Nora Roberts – Author
Aull About U, LLC 