The Self-Awareness Guy

18 Emotional Intelligence Examples That Self-Aware People Recognize - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

18 Emotional Intelligence Examples That Self-Aware People Recognize

Self-aware people practice emotional intelligence because they have the ability to experience, manage, and use their feelings to take positive action, including in social settings. They also are able to identify and positively deal with other people’s feelings, perspectives, and ways of doing things.

Here are some emotional intelligence examples that self-aware people will recognize:

  1. A person who is not threatened by emotions and doesn’t run away from or try to avoid them.
  2. A boss who is in touch with emotions and is able to use them to be a kind person at work and treat employees with care and compassion.
  3. A person who makes positive decisions regardless of the emotion they are feeling inside.
  4. A boss who is comfortable dealing with employees’ and co-workers’ emotions and is able to listen to them regardless of the situation.
  5. A man who is able to identify and manage his anger so that it helps him learn, grow, and treat himself and his family better.
  6. A man who is able to identify and manage his sadness so it doesn’t affect him and others negatively and helps him learn more about himself and move in a positive direction.
  7. A teacher who understands students’ emotions and provides support and comfort.
  8. A person in a leadership position who is comfortable with emotions and avoids doing things to hurt others.
  9. A father who encourages his son to experience emotions without getting in the way or trying to stifle certain ones.
  10. Any person who is able to identify and name the emotion being experienced and use it to do positive things.
  11. An individual who is able to be there for someone else when the other person is experiencing an emotion.
  12. A person who doesn’t let negative emotions affect how they treat others.
  13. An individual who doesn’t live in fear, sadness, or anger because they have learned how to identify, feel, and deal with emotions.
  14. A person who has worked through a difficult emotional history and emerged stronger and healthier.
  15. An individual who understands that emotions are normal.
  16. A person who uses emotions to live a balanced, happy life.
  17. An individual who feels good inside and knows what to do when negative emotions arise.
  18. A person who gets along well with others.

The key to being emotionally intelligent is to build self-awareness by consciously identifying what you’re feeling deep inside and then using the emotion in a positive way, whether it’s to learn or do something beneficial.

Practicing emotional intelligence takes time and effort but, when you do it, you’ll live a much happier life. What will you do to develop self-awareness and emotional intelligence?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Aware People Know How to Be Emotionally Intelligent - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Aware People Know How to Be Emotionally Intelligent

People who lack self-awareness aren’t emotionally intelligent because they’re not willing or able to look deep inside themselves and keep working on being in touch with who they are and feeling things openly and constructively.

Increasing self-awareness and developing emotional intelligence doesn’t just happen, it takes a lot of deliberate effort. If you’re like the vast majority of people, you were raised or currently function in an environment that actively distorts, discourages, ignores, fears, or mocks emotions. That leaves you with less than ideal tools to deal with your own and other people’s emotions.

There’s a lot of drama going on but nobody knows how to make things better. Luckily, there’s something you can do about it. Here are some practical ideas on how to be emotionally intelligent:

  • Learn to name the four main emotions: happiness, anger, sadness, and fear.
  • Learn how to accurately identify these feelings when they are going on inside you.
  • Learn how to deal with or manage the emotions you’re feeling in a positive way.
  • Learn how to name the emotions other people are having and deal with or manage them in a positive way.
  • Learn how to use your emotions to live a happy, balanced life.

So, how do you learn these things? You practice them. For example: The next time you feel angry about something, stop and take five deep breaths, then take five minutes to simply feel what’s going on inside your body; don’t react or take action in any way, just feel what’s going on inside. Do this each time you feel the anger. Over time, you’ll become adept at feeling the emotion instead of reacting unconsciously to it. Once you’ve learned how to experience the emotion without falling apart, you can move on to taking action in a positive way.

The key to being emotionally intelligent is to be able to feel what’s going on inside you and use it positively, as well as being comfortable with other people’s emotions. When you possess emotional intelligence, you’re no longer simply reacting to what’s going on within and around you, you’re deliberately and wisely dealing with and managing the situation.

What will you do to increase your self-awareness and be emotionally intelligent?

Cheers,

Guy

How Self-Aware Leaders Deal with Problems at Work - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

How Self-Aware Leaders Deal with Problems at Work

Self-aware leaders are able to deal with problems at work because they understand their and others’ emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, which helps them build highly functional workplaces.

We all know people who keep going when things get tough at work but it’s another story to do it ourselves if it happens to us. It’s so much easier to tell someone else how to keep going but not quite as simple when you have to do it yourself. Here are some tips on what you can do to use self-awareness when challenges arise in your work life.

This Too Shall Pass
Even the most difficult situations eventually go away and transform into something else. Change is constantly happening at work and and even terrible times eventually end.

What Can I Learn?
Everything that happens to you is a chance to learn. Think about what you would and how you might prepare differently in the future.

New Opportunities
Any challenge that comes your way is an opportunity to think in new ways and discover alternate approaches.

You Can Handle It and You Don’t Have to Control It
There really isn’t anything you can’t handle unless you convince yourself that you can’t. Remember that there are things that you simply can’t control.

Your Mental Attitude
You don’t have to forget that things are difficult but you can focus your thoughts on what you can do about the situation rather than what you can’t change.

Take Care of Yourself
Do things to comfort yourself, that bring you joy and don’t cost money. Take a walk, hug your significant other, exercise or do any other activity that helps you feel better.

Try these ideas the next time you feel that work is too much. With some practice, you’ll find that you can handle anything that comes your way in your career and workplace. What will you do to develop self-awareness and deal effectively with the problems that come your way?

Cheers,

Guy

Team Building, Self-Awareness, and Healing the Past to Move Forward - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Team Building, Self-Awareness, and Healing the Past to Move Forward

When people in a workplace, starting with leadership, possess self-awareness, they are able to practice effective team building and heal negative situations, memories, and other remnants from the past in order to move forward together successfully.

Many teams hang on to hurts from the past that get in the way of practicing effective team building. Although it’s highly beneficial to heal past hurts, it’s common for leaders and teams that lack self-awareness to pretend that they don’t exist and avoid dealing with them. When you heal the past you get rid of the junk that clogs up your workplace interactions. You get a chance to hit the reset button and move in whatever direction you want with your team.

I am not recommending that your group wallows in agony and despair. Your goal is to develop self-awareness, benefit from acknowledging the past, and then move forward. If you have some issue that affects your team’s functioning today why not do something to move past it? Once you resolve it you’ll be ready to grow without having that issue holding you back in any way. Here’s how you can get started working together on putting the past behind you.

1.  Think of something that happened to the team that still affects everyone to this day.

2.  Acknowledge that it exists.

3.  Write down how it affects each person currently.

4.  How would the group be different if this issue were not in the picture?

5.  What is each member of the team willing to do to move beyond the issue?

Your answers to these ideas will help you start a dialogue and create a starting point so that you can move forward without the the past weighing you down. You’ll also all work together more happily without the stuff that was holding you back.

What will you do to increase self-awareness in your workplace and build strong teams that heal the past?

Cheers,

Guy

Leadership, Self-Awareness, and Your Beliefs - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Leadership, Self-Awareness, and Your Beliefs

The more self-awareness you possess, the more positively you view your environment because you’re able to deal effectively with your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, which leads to beneficial beliefs.

Your leadership style reflects what you believe about the world: If you think change is undesirable, your workplace will reflect that perspective; if you believe that trying new things is advantageous, your workplace will move in that direction. Your level of self-awareness and the resulting beliefs impact how your organization functions and sends your employees distinct messages about their roles and importance. Let’s look at two leadership belief systems and the underlying messages they broadcast:

We’ve Always Done It this Way

  • Don’t rock the boat.
  • Do as you’re told.
  • Change is scary.
  • Keep things as they’ve always been.
  • Flexibility is weakness.
  • Don’t question.
  • Follow the rules.
  • Know your place.
  • Keep your ideas to yourself.
  • There’s only one way to solve a problem, my way.
  • Self-awareness is discouraged.

Something New, Better or Different Is Possible

  • Shake things up.
  • Do things based on your own judgement.
  • Welcome change.
  • Be open to trying new things.
  • Flexibility is agility.
  • Question things.
  • There are no rules.
  • Design your own role.
  • Share your ideas freely.
  • There are many ways to solve a problem.
  • Self-awareness is valued.

When I describe these two leadership approaches when I consult with organizations, someone who lacks self-awareness will inevitably say something like, “There has to be order and someone has to be in charge, you can’t just let everyone do what they want,” to which I answer, “Why not?”

Leaders can design any type of workplace they want. They can give their employees power by allowing them to think and act independently, develop new ideas and question current practices or they can keep making people toe the line and do what’s always been done. The only obstacle is what they believe is possible.

What will you do to develop self-awareness and use your beliefs to build a healthy workplace for everyone?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness, Leadership, and Dealing with Difficult Situations at Work - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness, Leadership, and Dealing with Difficult Situations at Work

Leaders who possess self-awareness are adept at dealing with difficult situations at work because they are able to deal with their own emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, as well as thinking about how others perceive what’s going on.

I often get questions from leaders who are diligently trying to figure out what to do in a difficult situation at work but can’t quite find an answer. Most leaders and managers care for the well-being of their employees but may not have access to resources to resolve challenges. There’s nothing terrible about this kind of situation, all you need to do is add another tool to help you deal with the matter at hand.

I encourage people to think in terms of increasing self-awareness and finding their own solutions to tough issues in the workplace. For example, spend some time thinking and doing the following:

1. What would I name this issue?

2. What are some possible solutions for the issue?

3. Which solution makes the most sense to me?

4. What do I need to do to start working on the solution?

As you answer these questions (in order) you will begin to improve your self-awareness and formulate a strategy to deal with whatever situation comes your way. If you think about it, this four-question process simply defines what you’re dealing with and narrows down your options so that you can focus on a solution.

Try using these four steps and arrive at your own carefully thought-out decisions. Dealing with tough issues doesn’t have to be complicated. Break the situation into manageable pieces and you’ll be able to work on it more effectively. What will you do to develop self-awareness and deal effectively with difficult situations at work?

Cheers,

Guy

Self-Awareness and Becoming a Better Leader - On Developing Self-Awareness and Being Self-Aware

Self-Awareness and Becoming a Better Leader

Self-awareness can help you become a better leader because, when you understand and are able to consciously manage your emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, you are in the position to interact much more positively with others and get more done with less effort.

When I work with leaders we frequently talk about the concept of leading more by doing less. It’s a different way of thinking about leadership because it asks us to have the self-awareness to give more power to our employees so that we will eventually lead well. Here are four ideas to help you start moving toward inspiring your staff.

Let Go of Power and Control

The idea that we have to be on top of people or dominate them in some way pervades our leadership practices. I’ve found that self-aware leaders let go of the need to be the “expert” or “top dog” and move toward a model that gives more power and control to their staff. The whole point of doing this is to give your people the ability to function well on their own. This will make you look great in the end even if it feels counter-intuitive at first.

Be a Resource Instead of a Supervisor

Instead of micromanaging or riding your employees set yourself up as a resource. This allows you to breathe and be there for your employees when they need it. Make yourself available for any questions or feedback but please refrain from giving advice at every possible moment. People will ask you for help when they believe that you’re there to help them rather than judge or correct them.

Encourage People to be Independent and Grow

One of the best ways to retain employees is to get out of the way and let them shine. This means that we have the self-awareness to learn to identify our employees’ talents and abilities and then let them use them in the workplace. This helps people feel invested and valued in the organization. Employees are far more likely to want to excel and do more if we allow them to use their interests.

Leadership Is Up To You

Leaders frequently ask me, “But how do we do this stuff in a work environment that doesn’t support it?” The answer is that you get to lead in any way you choose, even within the parameters of a given situation. In other words, you choose whether you take action to inspire your employees.

Try these ideas as you move toward being a leader who truly inspires his or her employees. What will you do to develop self-awareness and become a better leader?

Cheers,

Guy

The Self-Awareness Guy