Blog

A few weeks ago, I wasn't really sure I knew what the term emotional intelligence meant. It had come up in my studies a few times, but never in any real depth, so before embarking on my TEIQue course with Thomas International I tried to rack my brain. As it turned out, my personal definition, although along the right lines, was severely lacking in terms of depth.

The trait based emotional intelligence approach offers a comprehensive structure via 4 factors, broken down into a total of 15 facets that help to explain some of the behaviour we display and values we hold dear. Receiving feedback on my own emotional intelligence profile was both informative and confirmative; I've always known I'm not what some would call an assertive person but that comes with its own benefits as well as challenges.

The major positive of using this trait based approach is that we don't talk in terms of high and low. There's already a great deal of stigma attached to some of the facets involved with emotional intelligence, so telling someone they have low empathy can instantly incur negative thoughts. But there are situations or roles where we may not want to get too involved, in which case having a self-perceived lower level of empathy would be beneficial.

My time learning about emotional intelligence reminded me of the old adage that "knowing is half the battle"; in this case knowing ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses, helps us to modify our behaviour where needed and better understand the behaviour of others, both in our personal and professional lives.

Although I'm now accredited with TEIQue I feel that I've still only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to exploring emotional intelligence, and I look forward to discussing it further with anyone who may have an interest in the topic. Please do get in touch if that's the case.

Until next time 

Dan