Lesson 2: Self-Evaluation of Emotional Intelligence

Learning Objectives

Perform a self evaluation of emotional intelligence (EI).

Lesson Introduction

To develop your emotional intelligence, you must be willing to reflect on how different situations affect you—both emotionally and performance-wise.

Make sure your working space is uncluttered and free of distractions so you can focus on your self-assessment. Take good notes as a foundation to creating your development plan.

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You may also want to take this free assessment (opens new tab). Select the blue “Start” button to begin the quiz. It takes only a few moments to complete and provides you with an immediate result. While not a comprehensive self-assessment, it can give you a good sense of how skilled you are. In addition, you might ask people you trust to give you objective feedback; after all, it is difficult to see yourself clearly in every situation.

Once you have some idea of your strengths and weaknesses, you can use the data to formulate a development plan. Many people find they are stronger in some domains than others. As you gain insights about your strengths and opportunities for growth, you can focus your energy on targeted areas (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002).

Developing any set of competencies is iterative, so do not become frustrated if progress does not happen in a linear way. Taking an initial assessment and outlining the action steps to develop certain areas is a significant step. You must then put your plan into action: build skills, reassess how you are doing, and continue to be mindful of the four areas that comprise emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management).

Conducting a Self-Assessment

The following questions provide a foundation for you to assess how emotionally intelligent you are at this time. Allow yourself quiet time, when you will not be interrupted, to reflect on the following items.

It is important to be self-aware and to self-manage your emotions.

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Sometimes, it helps to complete this over the course of a few days because you will be more likely to notice what is happening internally. Be sure to jot down notes, insights, and maybe even questions that you want to ask other people.

Remember: There are no right or wrong answers. This is a way for you to gauge your awareness of yourself and others; doing so allows you to identify gaps to work on. If you have a trusted friend or partner, it may be a good idea to check your responses with that individual’s perception of you; only do so if you are comfortable.

Self-Awareness

How self-aware are you?

Are you aware of your emotions? Can you identify them? When asked how you are feeling, are you able to provide an answer readily?

Do you sense how your emotions change over the course of a day? Do you know what triggers certain strong emotions in you, such as anger?

Self-Management

Are you able to adapt to a change in circumstances or people? Are you willing to change course or are you reluctant to change what has been agreed upon?

How well do you control your feelings? Do you express your feelings in appropriate ways?

How goal-oriented are you? Are you able to work toward your goals?

Are you optimistic? Do you look for the positives and prepare for success?

Social Awareness

How easy is it for you to show empathy and understanding? Do you acknowledge others’ emotions?

How would you rate your ability to explain yourself? Are you aware of how well you are understood? Are you able to sense the level of comprehension of your audience?

Relationship Management

How well do you inspire others?

Are you able to influence others?

Can you work effectively with others even if they do not have much in common with you?

Do you mentor or coach others?

(Goleman, 1998)

Free Online Assessment

The Global Leadership Foundation has published a free emotional intelligence assessment. It consists of 40 items, and it is estimated to take about 10 minutes to complete. After you hit the Score Test button, you will get a profile of your EI scores.

Learning Check

A manager is reviewing this list of questions:

Are you able to adapt to a change in circumstances or people?

How goal-oriented are you?

How optimistic are you?

Which component of emotional intelligence is addressed by this list?

Self-management

Self-awareness

Relationship management

Social awareness

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Development Plan

Now that you have your notes and perhaps your online self-assessment score, you are ready to put together a development plan. A good way to ensure that you keep on track is to identify a support partner; that is, someone you trust who will give you objective feedback in order to help you achieve success.

This plan will be in place for an amount of time specified by you. You want to see results, so do not overwhelm yourself with too many goals. It is a good idea to identify one or two goals to work on for this period of time.

You may have identified four areas for you to work on. You would like to be able to:

be more adaptable and willing to change course when needed,

increase your control over your facial expressions when you are angry or frustrated,

increase your influence skills, and

be more optimistic in the face of challenges or hurdles.

Tackling all four would be too much. You want to be able to focus your energy so that you can make greater strides on one or two. Remember, this is a process; no one achieves perfection.

Here are the questions to answer when completing your development plan:

Which areas will I work on for the next _____ months?

Why are these areas important for me to work on?

Which actions will I take to make the improvements I desire?

When will I take these actions?

Creating a development plan template will help you practice the skills and abilities you want to improve.

Learning Check

What is the benefit of having a support partner when putting together an emotional intelligence (EI) development plan?

The individual will hold the person with the EI plan accountable to stay on track with goals.

The support partner can share their personal EI experiences to help guide the development process for the person with the EI plan.

The support partner will provide guidance and mentoring to the person with the EI plan throughout the development process.

The individual can provide objective feedback to help the person with the EI plan meet sought EI goals.

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Lesson Summary

Take a moment to think about what you have learned in this lesson:

Conducting an honest and thorough self-assessment of emotional intelligence competencies is the first step in raising your level of overall competence.

When doing your self-assessment, consider both your behaviors and your performance. Note your emotional state during specific situations and identify the impact this had on the outcome.

Create a development plan for two areas in which you would like to see improvement. Note what, why, and when. It is important to understand why something is important in order to keep motivation going.

Attributions and References

Goleman, D. (1998). Working with emotional intelligence. New York, NY: Bantam Books.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). Primal Leadership: Realizing the Importance of Emotional Intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Hughes, M., & Terrell, J. B. (2007). The Emotionally Intelligent Team. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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