Are you on EI? That’s emotional intelligence folks!
Posted In: Coaching April 29th, 2013 divider No Comments »I had the pleasure of attending my Intersol colleague Raymonde’s Emotional Intelligence (EI) workshop last Friday. For those who are not familiar, EI has many definition but is often defined as the skill in perceiving, understanding, and managing emotions and feelings or the awareness of one’s own emotions and moods and those of others, especially in managing people.
This was geared at the workplace but it also provided some insight that could be used in everyday life and sport situations.
It looks at the five pillars which make up EI:
- Self-perception
- Self-expression
- Interpersonal
- Decision making
- Stress management
It argues that if you take care of those five factors, you will achieve more performance and well-being. I believe it!
Upon further review, it’s very similar to the “Practical Wisdom” concept I chatted about earlier this month. It’s all about combining empathy with detachment. Really cool stuff as it gets you to take a step back and look at decisions and situations with a critical eye. If you have a sober second thought, you’re more likely to take the emtions out of the situation, which will help you make a more rational decision.
I’m sure you can picture some folks who have good EI and some who lack it. And usually these traits also come out in your activities or racing. Someone who can be aware of their emotions when the rollercoaster of racing takes over is usually more successful. To me that’s usually the difference between a good race and a poor one.
One of the biggest takeaways for me was that awareness is key. That awareness piece seems to come in a lot of what I do these days it seems…
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Here’s a great blog entry from fellow ChiRunning instructor and elite runner Damian Stoy. It looks at shoes and them impact they have on running technique.
More and more we’re seeing the link in studies and everyday life!