Resources, for Humans. That’s Purple Ink’s slogan, and the resources available to people are numerous. One of those resources is training on a wide variety of intriguing topics. One of the most popular, but often most misunderstood, is Emotional Intelligence (EQ). How many people have you met who seem to be brilliant IQ-wise but maybe don’t have EQ people skills to reach their full potential? As that number grows, so do client requests for a program on EQ to fill that gap. Whether we’re aware of them or not, our emotions are helping and hindering us throughout our professional and personal lives.

At its finest, Emotional Intelligence programs provide strategies, techniques, and tips participants can use to their advantage, thus contributing to its popularity. However, some programs can feel threatening, causing participant concerns that they might be deemed emotionally unintelligent with embarrassing, even punitive results. Another misconception includes instructors taking on the role of Dr. Phil, psychoanalyzing everyone in front of the class with forced sharing and lots of tissues. And no, this program does not include linking arms around a campfire and singing Kum Ba Yah.

So what is Emotional Intelligence? I had the opportunity to find out when one of my clients asked if I offered that training. I replied, “No, but I’d be interested in doing so.” That led to my long, frustrating search for a program that did not live up to others’ often threatening misconception of the topic. Finally, I found EQ-i 2.0, a multi-faceted program developed by Multi Health Systems (MHS). Quite simply, it became life-changing from the moment when, emotions swirling, I decided to invest in MHS’s certification program.

First, I took the MHS assessment that provided me with a comprehensive report about 15 emotions this program explores. Unlike the other EQ programs I’d found, this one did not assess whether I was good or bad at managing my emotions or judge how right or wrong I handled them. Instead, the MHS assessment showed me how frequently I choose to use those emotions. Instead of intimidating me, my scores empowered me. After becoming certified to guide others through their EQ-I journey, my training career took off in new, rewarding directions as I created my own EQ-i workshops and felt the joy in my life increase regarding my own emotions.

What are those 15 skills? Take a look at the colorful wheel below that shows the 5 composites of behavior and 15 related EQ-i subskills this program includes:

To help you understand the 5 composites, I invite you to join me on a journey through them with me as your tour guide. Let your journey begin!

Self-Perception: Your journey starts with YOU, which includes both your strengths and opportunities for improvement. Explore YOU and what you’d like to do on your journey before you set out on it.

Self-Expression: Once you know more about YOU, consider how you come across to others. Just as you have travel options like cars, buses, trains, boats, or planes, you also have a variety of communication styles you can use to make a favorable impression on others.

Interpersonal: It’s not just YOU on your journey because you’re sure to travel with or encounter others along the way. Consider how you interact with and communicate with your fellow travelers throughout your journey.

Decision Making: Decision making includes those forks in the road, construction delays, or frustrating detours we all face during our journeys. The best ways to handle them involve decisions you make along the way.

Stress Management: Stress can derail every aspect of your journey. It can start as you head out and continue through travel delays, accommodation mix-ups, and all the other mishaps that leave you too stressed to enjoy the journey or even celebrate when you reach your destination.

These 5 composites each include the 3 related EQ sub-skills you can see on the wheel.

Let me share one of my “AHA” moments for one of my clients. She focused on three skills: Self-Actualization, Empathy, and Impulse Control. Her Self-Actualization was one of her most frequently used skills because one of her passions was setting goals, which she then worked with her team to accomplish. During meetings, she would enthusiastically share her goals with her team, throwing out challenging questions to them. When they didn’t toss quick answers back at her, her low Impulse Control led her to answer for them. Her lack of Empathy hadn’t allowed her to consider what she was asking of them emotionally from their perspective, frustrating all of them in various ways.

Once she became aware of this, she engaged her high Problem Solving skill for a creative, effective solution. She now brings her coffee to the meeting in a mug with a handle. She still throws out quick questions, but now she sits back and grips the handle of her mug as a reminder to wait for them to share the answers they were always capable of coming up with—after they’d had time to settle in their seats, take out a pen and paper, and engage their brains for productive responses.

By investing in an EQ program for you and your team, you too can begin a journey filled with practical tips, techniques, and strategies for an enjoyable training trip toward your destination of a more emotionally intelligent YOU!

Contact Purple Ink to learn more about my EQ workshop, “Exploring Emotional Intelligence”!