Emotional Intelligence Competencies

Emotional Intelligence (EI) Competencies

To build upon the article last month and the workshops we’re running with guest speakers Heather Baker, John Hotowka, David Liddle, Lindsay Taylor and Sue France we have been putting together a simple assessment for EI Competencies. Although still in an early stage we are happy to share the model so far with our members.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Definition: ‘the ability to understand, identify and manage our own emotions, and to understand and influence the emotional state of others.’ Although not usually stated in definitions, the implication is that we would do the above with the intention of a positive outcome.

The following model for emotional intelligence suggests 2 high-level competency clusters; Personal (inwardly directed) and Social (outwardly directed).

PERSONAL COMPETENCY

Within the Personal Competency there are 2 mid-level competencies; Self-Awareness and Self-Management. The Self-Awareness competency is a result of internally-directed understanding and the Self-Management competency is a result of using this self-awareness and the insights it provides to influence meaningful action.  As can be inferred from the arrows high self-awareness helps with our self-management.

High levels of self-awareness also tend to strengthen our social awareness as well. Similarly, high levels of self-management means that we are better able to influence our relationships in an intentional way.

Self-Awareness

This mid-level competency is built upon three core competencies:

Self-Management

This mid-level competency is built upon six core competencies:

SOCIAL COMPETENCY

Within the Social Competency there are 2 mid-level competencies; Social Awareness and Relationship Management. The Social Awareness competency is a result of externally-directed understanding and the Relationship Management competency is a result of using this social awareness and the insights it provides to influence meaningful action. 

As mentioned under Personal Competency, high levels of social awareness and self-management influence our competence at relationship management.

Social Awareness

This mid-level competency is built upon three core competencies:

Relationship Management

This mid-level competency is built upon eight core competencies:

COMPETENCY ASSESSMENT

This basic assessment requires you to complete a self-assessment against the EI competences identified by Daniel Goleman.

Following the self-assessment is a similar form designed to be completed by your friends and colleagues. To get a well-rounded view you should try to get as wide a range of answers as possible; for example, close friends, family, peers, staff, manager, customers, etc.

In some cases they may only be able to complete a partial form; you should let them know this is understandable and anything they can provide will be helpful.

Guide to Scoring

For each of the specific competencies you, or others, will rate you on this scale and tick the appropriate box on the questionnaire:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
weak area requiring development	minor shortfall requiring some development	competent area	extremely effective

Weak area requiring development (rating of 1 or 2) – chose this for competencies that you absolutely know that you need to work on.  This is a competency that you have probably struggled with for years and have had negative feedback on in that time; although it can be disappointing to receive the feedback you are rarely surprised that it is negative. In all likelihood you don’t have too many competencies falling into this assessment, but most people have a few.

Minor shortfall requiring some development (rating of 3 or 4) – chose this for competencies that you are ok at but struggle with doing consistently or confidently. This is a competency that you are fine with on ‘good’ days but you know that under stress, or if rushed, your ability can drop easily. If you get positive feedback for this area it usually comes as a surprise to you.

Competent Area (rating of 5 or 6) – chose this for competencies that you feel comfortable you are doing consistently or confidently. You deliver in these areas on most days and due to natural ability or intentional development your performance only dips under extreme stress. You are not surprised when you get positive feedback for this area.

Extremely effective (rating of 7 or 8) – chose this for competencies that you absolutely know that you excel at.  This is a competency that you have delivered on for years and have had positive feedback on in that time; the feedback is often unsolicited, and people may have used quite dramatic descriptors (e.g. ‘perfect’, ‘exceptional’, ‘outstanding’). In all likelihood you don’t have too many competencies falling into this rating, but most people have a few.

Notes on Scoring

1. Each assessment block is split into two for a more subtle assessment. For example, you may have spent time recently on developing your skills in a certain competency, so you can justify marking it as a ‘Competent Area’. However, you know that it is not yet second nature and you give yourself a rating of ‘5’. This gives you scope in a year’s time to upgrade to a ‘6’ to reflect further improvement even though you wouldn’t yet classify yourself as a ‘role model’.
2. We recommend that you don’t over-think your first assessment. Complete the assessment using your ‘intuitive’ thinking and then set it aside. A few days later review the scores that you gave yourself – ideally you want to do this when you are not likely to be disturbed and when you have had nether a terrible day or an extremely successful day, since both of these can affect our accurate self-assessment. If you meditate or practice mindfulness then following a session of either of these can be an excellent time to review.
3. Following your review, it can be beneficial to also talk it through with someone whose judgement you trust.
4. Even better, use our ‘third party assessment’ form to get a rounded perspective.
5. Although it is a given to be honest with your self-assessment, you should also guard against being too harsh or too generous. In particular, awarding yourself a ‘1’ or an ‘8’ should only be done if you are absolutely certain.
6. If you have given yourself more than five ratings of ‘1’ or ‘2’ then we recommend that you re-assess, preferably when you are feeling positive. Or perform a review with someone who you know is supportive of you. The reason for this is that more than five ratings that low means you may have been very self-critical, particularly if one of the low ratings is for ‘Self-Confidence’. Don’t change the ratings for the sake of the model, though. It is entirely possible to have many areas for development and you may balance some of these with very high scores in other competencies.
7. If you have given yourself more than five ratings of ‘7’ or ‘8’ then we recommend that you re-assess. Or perform a review with someone who you know is likely to be pragmatic in their assessment of you. The reason for this is that more than five ratings that high means you may have been too generous with your assessing, particularly if one of the high ratings is for ‘Self-Confidence’. Don’t change the ratings for the sake of the model, though. It is entirely possible to have many areas of excellence and you may balance some of these with very low scores in other competencies.