EQ (Emotional Intelligence )

Pro tip: Don’t lick the frost on the swing set, it doesn’t taste like candy.

If you are anything like OLE Program Advisor, Dale Reesor, you may have been that child back in grade school who deliberately pushed the boundaries of authority figures, testing limitations and doing the exact opposite of what was suggested… you may have licked the frost off of the cold swing set pole. Sadly, yet effectively, this was a pain not soon forgotten and never again repeated.

What happened in that playground was likely part of an internalization of learning that encompasses many themes included in what Daniel Goleman calls Emotional Intelligence. Emotional Intelligence in the workplace (and any context, for that matter) includes five important elements:
  • Self Awareness,
  • Self Regulation, 
  • Motivation, 
  • Empathy, and 
  • Social Skill. 
 
For two days last month the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry: Academic Leadership cohort, met in ECHA to engage in the discovery surrounding these five themes of Emotional Intelligence. (EQ) David Cory (Leadership Development specialist) presented concepts around EQ and reinforced the impact of our reaction to circumstance, upon our personal health and professional performance.

Dr. Jackson Wong and Dr. Maury Pinsk
Everyone in the workplace encounters challenging and sometimes painful situations. The underlying question is: what is happening to our emotions while these events are unfolding? Daniel Goleman would suggest that our emotional brain is processing at a much faster rate that our intellectual brain. Consequently, developing a greater awareness around our emotions is vital to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, both professionally and personally.

Our life-long learning, personal experiences, insights from trusted others, and paying attention to our reactions are all part of developing a greater sense of Emotional Intelligence. Albert Einstein is attributed with saying, “one cannot keep doing the same things and expect different results.”

Going back to lick the frost off of the swing set will never return a pleasing experience…but we all knew that anyway.

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