Ee--Ii--Ee--Ii....OH??

There are shows all over television that test our IQ and measure "how smart" we are. Parents have their children take IQ tests when they are young to measure how smart and successful their child is likely to be. Have you ever seen a television show where we are testing someone's EQ? Did your parents rush out to have an EQ test done on you to measure how smart and successful you were going to be? Have you ever even heard of an EQ?


EQ is the measure of one's Emotional Intelligence. In a nutshell, your EQ is your level of social skills. Your ability to remain cool and collected in a situation that might be stressful, the ability to remain calm when you have discussions an upset client, the ability communicate with others carefully and make informed decisions, the ability to be empathetic.


Now, take a moment to think about your co-workers and teams. Maybe your manager or boss. Maybe a doctor or an owner of a practice you work for. Do you think they all have a high EQ? Do you think certain areas/teams of your practice or business need to have a higher EQ than others? Do YOU have a high EQ?

If not, don't worry. EQ isn't like your IQ...it is something you can practice on, build on, and improve. You just have to work at it. It is like any other learned skill---although, probably one of the most difficult to learn. This is not just a skill that benefits you at a veterinary office---it benefits anyone, in any position, in any field...IN LIFE!

"For decades, a lot of emphasis has been put on certain aspects of intelligence such as logical reasoning, math skills, spatial skills, understanding analogies, verbal skills etc. Researchers were puzzled by the fact that while IQ could predict to a significant degree academic performance and, to some degree, professional and personal success, there was something missing in the equation. Some of those with fabulous IQ scores were doing poorly in life; one could say that they were wasting their potential by thinking, behaving and communicating in a way that hindered their chances to succeed.

One of the major missing parts in the success equation is emotional intelligence, a concept made popular by the groundbreaking book by Daniel Goleman, which is based on years of research by numerous scientists such as Peter Salovey, John Meyer, Howard Gardner, Robert Sternberg and Jack Block, just to name a few. For various reasons and thanks to a wide range of abilities, people with high emotional intelligence tend to be more successful in life than those with lower EIQ even if their classical IQ is average."

Isn't it fascinating that YOU are in complete control of your ability to succeed in work, in relationships, and in friendships? I just can't get over how exciting it is to be able to improve upon something that is so imparative in shaping my entire life! I highly recommend taking the Emotional IQ Test (EQ) to determine where you fall. You can just do the free version to get a little blip and a score. I will post some activities you can do to work on improving your score later today. Enjoy!



"If your emotional abilities aren't in hand, if you don't have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can't have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far."
~ Daniel Goleman