Coaching Yourself to Leadership: Five Key Strategies for Becoming an Integrated Leader

CHAPTER THREE

Be Emotionally Intelligent:Build Your EQ Muscles

Of all the keys to being an integrated leader, I think emotional intelligence is the most difficult for people to get their arms around. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is more abstract than the first two strategies of values and vision. These strategies focus on understanding yourself. You can figure out what you value by thinking about your experiences, and you can determine your vision by picturing where you want to go and what you want to achieve. However, EQ calls for you to understand others as well as yourself. Basically, emotional intelligence is the ability to be intelligent about your own emotions and the emotions of others. Without the proper amount of emotional smarts, you ...