Emotional Intelligence

When I first heard the term emotional intelligence, it was an abstract concept. What the heck did it mean? How did one develop it?

The basic definition was being aware of our emotions and being able to control and express them, maintain good interpersonal relationships, and have empathy. This didn’t feel directive, or maybe it would be better to say that this definition sent me further searching.

Ultimately, I felt overwhelmed with no real sense of what I was doing or how to improve my emotional intelligence (EQ).

Then in 2021, as part of becoming an ordained minister in the Unitarian Universalist tradition, I had to do a career assessment. An element of the career assessment was a report on my Emotional Quotient Inventory 2.0 assessment.

The assessment allowed me to see the different areas that were analyzed, my scores in those areas, and recognize the areas I could and needed to work on.

Not everyone will be able to take EQ-i 2.0. Still, each of us can work on our emotional intelligence by looking for ways to develop the multiple components of EQ.

How do you work on your emotional intelligence?