A fun thing today….

I took the emotional intelligence appraisal at talentsmarteq.com/test… This is an exam that was from the book “emotional intelligence 2.0″”… They give you the code for the exam and you can only take it twice. The initial and the follow up…. Personally, I considered this exam a survey and not really an exam… but prove me wrong…

It seemed my relationship management was lacking, so I read Chapter 8 for Relationship Management Strategies of emotional intelligence 2.0 book…. where it talked about numerous strategies I can apply in real life.

While the strategies that was covered in the book seemed straight forward, it’s hard to practice in dynamic environment. Putting oneself in diverse situations will make the strategies hard to implement… This is a chapter that I’d love to read more than just once…

For today, I will focus on just my communication style portion of the book. I will write down top good and top lacking communication habits and focus on how I can best improve the lacking habits. For good habits, I have using non verbal cues, providing constructive feedback, and active listening. For lacking habits, I have ask clarifying questions, being direct and clear, and showing empathy.

To enhance clarifying behavior, I should learn to paraphrase more and ask questions. I tend to not ask questions a lot because at times I don’t want to waste anyone’s time and don’t want to come off as not hearing it the first time or dumb. I should really learn how to graciously ask for clarification without sounding dumb. I can say stuff like “I’m almost there, I think I need a little more detail and I think I can understand you completely”. and lead that into “can you re-explain this part in a different way, I may need to hear it in a different way”. This shows that I’m not completely understanding it, but shows humility and the willingness to learn.

To better my behavior of not being direct and clear, I should learn to break things down into pieces and make it as concise as possible. It’ll also help if I focus on single topic and not lose track by going tangent. Lastly, I should be more patient and allow others to express more than my own. Additionally, I should immerse myself into other’s conversation to be in their world. Otherwise, I can’t feel what they feel.

While I’d love to learn more… I need to balance my time with my love! This is work that is to be continued for life..