The Components of Emotional Intelligence

From the Teleos Leadership Institute:

The Components of Emotional Intelligence

Many factors during the course of growing up play a part in shaping the development of appropriate or inappropriate use of emotional skills. Traditional schooling, in general, tends to place emphasis on the development of the qualities of the “thinking mind,” such as logic and rationality. Qualities of the “emotional mind” have largely been neglected. It is, therefore, necessary to tune our emotional skills so that we can use them in an appropriate way, leveraging our own and others’ emotions to carry out our responsibilities and reach our aspirations.

In Primal Leadership, the authors identified four main dimensions or building blocks of the “emotional mind” that are essential for learning of emotional intelligence. The first two come under the umbrella of personal skills and the last two are social skills. The dimensions include: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management.

A person who masters the first three is in a better position to effectively manage relationships. Each of these four domains comprises a number of functional units or competencies. Developing competencies across these four main areas is essential for success in life and the workplace. The domains are described as follows:

Self-Awareness: ability of an individual to be in tune with her/his own feelings and to recognize the impact that his/her feelings have on others. The competency that underpins this dimension is emotional self-awareness.

Self-Management: ability to keep negative emotions and impulsive behavior under control, stay calm and unflappable even under stressful situations, maintain a clear and focused mind directed on accomplishing a task. The required competencies for this dimension are positive outlook, emotional self-control, achievement orientation, and adaptability.

Social Awareness: ability to read or sense other people’s emotions and how they impact on the situation of interest or concern. The competencies for this dimension include empathy and organizational awareness.

Relationship Management: ability to influence, guide and handle other people’s emotions. The competencies that underlay this dimension include inspirational leadership, influence, coach and mentor, conflict management, and teamwork.

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