What’s Your EQ?

I recently attended a week-long conference for WICT (Women in Cable Telecommunications) and one of the topics we are discussing is EQ or emotional intelligence. Have you heard of it before? Let me break it down for you:

EQ = Emotional intelligence. That innate ability to read people while analyzing their next move. Or you easily adapt to other people’s styles in order to make them feel more comfortable to further your mutual goals.

I would guess most PR people, like me, have strong EQ’s. Reading people is second nature – you are constantly trying to dissect if what is coming out of their mouth matches their body language. If it doesn’t, red flags abound.

EQ tells you when to push for something and when to let go. When to propose an idea, or when its not good time. Some researchers call it “Versatility,” as in this group, Tracom. Tracom created a unique human behavior study called “Social Styles.” I won’t get into what Social Styles are all about, but if you want to learn more, go here.

If Only it Were That Simple. Photo by Joe Shlabotnik

Both Versatility and EQ have nothing to do with changing yourself to please others – but instead its about adapting to your surroundings in order to have the most successful, effective outcome. For example, if you are an exurberant, hand-gesturing, fast-talking person like me, and you are in a business meeting with several analytical people whose style is the complete opposite, then you would slow your speech, keep your gestures in check and calm your body.  You probably do this already and don’t even know it. We immediately adapt to our current environment. Subconsciously, by slowing my speech and showing a calm manner, I’m putting my analytical guests at ease, which hopefully would yield better results from our meeting.

So how can you increase your Versatility or EQ?

• learn to read others more effectively – this means pay attention and stop focusing on yourself so much!
• know yourself – realize your personality quirks – are you a fast-talker? Show lots of energy?
• check for non-verbal feedback – crossed arms? blank stares? You know what those mean

To learn more about EQ and Versatility, check out Tracom’s white paper: http://docs.tracomcorp.com/TPD/Whitepaper/Comparing_Versatility_to_Emotional_Intelligence.pdf

And this book by Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence, Why it Can Matter More than IQ