There are many forms of intelligence, but EQ, emotional intelligence, may be one of the most important for managers. Our ability to accurately “read” and interpret the emotional state of our colleagues gives us an advantage when it comes to motivating, supporting, and engaging with our team members. Additionally, our ability to recognize our own emotions and respond intentionally instead of automatically, enables us to show up productively even during difficult moments.

Today’s guest is Ilana Zivkovich. Ilana is the Founder and CEO of Werq, a strategic leadership advisory firm headquartered in Austin, TX, serving clients around the country and abroad. An experienced executive leader and Certified Executive Coach and certified Genos Emotional Intelligence Practitioner, Zivkovich helps leadership teams align their people, processes and strategy so that businesses can achieve exceptional results.

Ilana and talk about EQ, emotional intelligence - what it really is, why it’s a critical skill set for managers, the three different dimensions of it, and how to develop your emotional intelligence capabilities. 

Werq has offered 10% off their Team Chemistry Workshops. These workshops are the perfect way to reach new levels of success using data-backed personality assessments alongside proven coaching mythology for an incredible team strengthening experience. To get this discount, become a member of The Modern Manager community by going to www.themodernmanager.com/join.

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Read the related blog article: Emotional Intelligence Is A Skill. Here’s How To Improve Yours

Key Takeaways:

• Emotional intelligence is a learned skill. 
• The cornerstone of EQ is self-awareness. There are two types of self-awareness; big picture awareness and momentary awareness. 
• Big picture self-awareness means being aware of who we are; what we’re good at, our general communication style, understanding how people perceive us, and how we tend to behave in the world. 
• The best way to improve our big picture self-awareness is through feedback. 
• Momentary awareness is being aware in the moment of what we’re experiencing by honestly observing and assessing our automatic reactions to experiences.
• To improve your momentary awareness, use the POWER acronym. Pause when you feel yourself reacting to a difficult situation. Observe what you are thinking and feeling. Widen your perspective to think about the greater context behind how you’re responding. Elect to make a choice about how you want to show up in that moment. Respond how you see best. 
• In order to improve your EQ in relationship to others, the most important things to do are to focus and pay attention. 
• If you’re dealing with a lot of Zoom calls these days, turn off the “self-view” on your camera so that you aren’t thinking about what you look like.

KEEP UP WITH ILANA

• Website: https://werqpeople.com/blog/
• Twitter: @Werqpeople

Additional Resources:

• Top 25 Team Building Podcasts You Must Follow in 2021: https://blog.feedspot.com/team_building_podcasts/

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