EDGE – Emotional Intelligence

With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, the EDGE team welcomed BlueEQ™ keynote speaker Dr. Bruce Jackson to introduce & discuss Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

During the workshop we learned that Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions as well as the emotions of others. Learning these skills enable us to harness our reactions and apply better strategies to tasks like thinking, problem solving, and technical work. They also enable us to be aware of the emotions of others and to become aligned with them to accomplish complex tasks. High emotional intelligence empowers us all to influence others to achieve superior levels of business impact.

Some key takeaways included:
• There are 2 sides to developing yourself as a leader: The job itself (technical) and you as a leader/performer (human factors)
• The smartest people are often not the best performers and leaders—that “what” you know is
only as good as “who” you are
• The core 5 skills: Self-Awareness, Self-Regard, Self-Control, Social Perception, and Social Effectiveness
• EQ skills increase Psychological Safety which increase career and business success
• We need to keep in mind our own personal strategies for managing: Impulse Control, Motivation, Stress Tolerance, Mindfulness, Resilience and Emotional Stability
• Remember the value of a ‘Strategic Pause’ and how taking a few seconds or minutes can help us make better and more informed decisions
• Red zone workplaces produce low Psychological Safety and Blue Zones produce high levels
• Culture is the extension of us all as individuals. We need to start with ourselves and be intentional about being in the blue zone!

This workshop proved to be a valuable introduction to exploring new principles, mindsets, and strategies that can be used to up our game as leaders, both on the job or at home, wherever we lead and serve.

The EDGE Team