For me part of my never
ending quest for mastery of self includes refining and improving emotional
intelligence skills, my inner world projected outward. Digging discovering and
transforming emotional roughage is something that I have pursued since leave Omaha
and moving to New York City at the age of 17. In my accidental training to be a
leader/light warrior in life and in love, and later setting out on a process to
earn an MBA/MPA at Presidio Graduate School in SF I have have learned how to be
most effective by shining a light on my strengths as well as reflecting on
areas of myself to improve.
A few weeks ago at
residency, one of my professors, sustainability consultant Cynthia Scott,
imparted to me that in the world of leadership training it is very common for
people to focus on their own areas of weakness. However, she believes since
life is short, improving "weak" competencies first is overwhelming
and misses the point. Her belief is that instead it makes more sense to focus
on core strengths and continue to build on those. She used the metaphor of tent
poles that signify various area of emotional intelligence for leadership and
said that to lift the tent up, all tent poles can never all be even or high
enough at once, that in business leadership it is far better to have a few
longer well sharpened and honed poles than many shorter ones. Because of this I
choose to focus on one strength at a time for greater mastery instead of
focusing on something I am not naturally gifted at to begin with. Her theory is
that there are enough people in this world with a variety of experts to cover
the areas that others are not as proficient in. Together we can all raise
various tent poles. At a microlevel as an individual hoping to contribute
to the greater whole, you want to have two or three really high poles or
emotional competencies that you are mastering before moving on to others.
If you are interested in
knowing and improving your leadership skills then an in-depth self-assessment
like the EQ-I is for you. The EQ-I is a self-administered online test that
measures emotional intelligence. As you probably know, emotional intelligence
has been all the rage in corporate environments for awhile now. It used to be
that intelligence was measured only by logic and knowledge. EQ-I is defined as
“a set of emotional and social skills that influence the way we perceive and
express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with
challenges, and use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way.”
Emotional
intelligence (EI) reflects one’s overall wellbeing and ability to succeed in
life. While emotional intelligence isn’t the sole predictor of human
performance and development potential, it is proven to be a key indicator in
these areas. Emotional intelligence is also not a static factor — to the
contrary, one’s emotional intelligence can change over time and can be
developed in targeted areas.
According to the
test’s website, the EQ-i 2.0 online test, https://tap.mhs.com/EQi20.aspx by MHS Assessments, measures the interaction between a
person and the environment he/she operates in. Assessing and evaluating an
individual’s emotional intelligence can help establish the need for targeted
development programs and measures. This, in turn, can lead to dramatic
increases in the person’s performance, interaction with others, and leadership
potential. The development potentials the EQ-i 2.0 identifies, along with the
targeted strategies it provides, make it a highly effective employee
development tool.
The EQ-I test measured me
at the highest level (115) for flexibility: “adapting emotions, thoughts and
behaviors.” This makes sense because I see change and innovation as a must,
necessary for pleasing your consumer audience and for having a competitive
advantage. When I co-founded one of my old companies, Henley Premium Vapor
which mission was to use a harm reduction approach as a tool for reducing the
number of smokers in the world and increasing longevity and health, one of my
primary goals was to create team impact and positive change culturally by
challenging employees to think outside of the box. At one point our team had
the idea of opening up a 2,000 square foot Willy Wonka themed flavor “vaporium”
in the heart of SoHo, New York where a smoke free lifestyle could be
appreciated and many types of ecigarettes along with 350 eliquid flavors were
available for sampling and purchasing. The core emotional competency of open
mindedness and willingness to try new things was infused in a completely new
consumer market, e-cigarettes, and helped the company to innovate and get
noticed. Among competitors, nothing like a “vaporium” with
"vapologists" serving up nicotine concoctions existed at the time and
it became a very popular mechanism for marketing which increased media coverage
and revenue resulting in a solid brand that attracted investors, influencers
and loyal customers. Thousands of people successfully quit smoking with
us.
During this time I
learned that, when leading staff to adapt to new behaviors, there are multiple
approaches for integrating flexibility in the workplace. Open-mindedness
without enough discrimination or feedback can lead to confusion among team
members. In the past, I used to get very excited about ideas and If not
mindful, assume that the rest of the team would adapt to the implementation
process quickly. As a leader, one of my gifts is an actively creative mind that
would like to implement ideas. Doing it too quickly which can be problematic.
Today I'm learning that strategic planning, constructive data analyzation and
team buy in is key otherwise the overarching mission can be compromised. Too
much independence and quick-movement implementation can result in fear and lack
of cohesion (instead of interdependence) for the rest of the team. During my
first semester at grad school, I took a course in leadership and vowed to
further develop the goal of pausing and listening whenever the team at work or
school is struggling with change. I have learned the importance of pausing,
inquiring, listening and empathizing in transitional times of change. The
consideration of others perspectives and concerns is extremely valuable as an
individual and the organization as a whole. We need more of a holarchy approach
to leadership in today's world where constructive team discussion and inclusion
of other’s ideas is valued. As a leader, flexibility of mind with the added
process of team inquiry and discovery is a necessary continued skill to improve
daily.
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