Ever said the wrong thing at the wrong time? Smiled when someone’s told you terrible news? Spoken over a colleague to get your point across? The reason you cringed right now is your emotional intelligence (EI or EQ for short). Good news: being emotionally brainy is a powerful skill you can build over time. But using it to grow your business, land that promotion or lead your team starts with measuring your EQ starting point. Take this free emotional intelligence test to find out yours!
Here’s what you’ll need to test your EQ:
Tempted to scroll straight to the free emotional intelligence test? Feel you.
But first, it’s more important than having a firm-but-not-aggressive handshake to understand this mystical skill that determines 75-80% of business success.
“The capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.”
– Oxford Languages
Long story short? EI is a learnt skill that helps us better perceive, understand and manage emotions in ourselves and others.
This influences our productivity, decisions, behaviours and even:
Spoiler alert: unshakeable emotional intelligence is critical in any person-facing role (in business and life). AKA every day. With every individual. Throughout every interaction.
It’s the key to successfully landing that promotion, building respect with your colleagues, and being dubbed thoughtful or selfless.
It’s also how you:
(Pro tip: take notes from Michael Scott on what NOT to do 😅)
Today, many experts dub EQ more important than IQ. Why? I’m gonna come right out and say it: because if you’re existing in the world through the lens of intellectual intelligence, you’re missing out on all the heart intelligence. Not in a woo-woo way. More in a genuine connection, empathetic and intuitive way. It’s emotional intelligence’s role to bring the head and heart together.
Want an easy way to remember the difference between EQ and IQ? So pleased you asked!
“IQ gets you hired, but EQ gets you promoted.”
– TIME, 1995
This is incredibly important, because while IQ is measured by the speed of your brain’s processing and is quite set in stone, emotional intelligence isn’t . In fact, it can actually be strengthened. Testing your emotional intelligence is the first step!
The key thing you struggle with is how to:
a. Effectively lead a team
b. Read clients before they speak
c. Support your team to work together
d. Position yourself as a standout team member
A family or team member comes to you with a problem they’re experiencing. You:
a. Tell them you also have problems, but you’re not whinging about them
b. See red and plot a revenge plan on the person causing them pain
c. Tell them to forget about it and have some fun
d. Tell them about a problem you have too and change the subject
When a problem arises in your business or work, you:
a) Cancel your meetings and take the day off
b) Blurt out how unfair the situation is
c) Keep quiet, it’s best if you just handle it
d) Blame someone else
You have a magic wand! You wish for:
a) A respected reputation for workplace effectiveness
b) Landing clients with your charm alone
c) A team that thrives even when you’re not around
d) Strong relationships in high places
You receive some ‘constructive’ feedback. You:
a) Don’t know what they’re talking about, the work is perfect
b) Give them some ‘constructive’ feedback in return
c) Aren’t impressed, since they have the easiest job ever
d) Show the work to someone else to get approval
In a meeting, you’re mostly:
a) In your head, thinking about what to say next
b) Yawning (these things go forever!)
c) Redirecting the topic to what you want to talk about
d) Shushing people and telling them to listen
In the workplace, emotions are best:
a) Locked away, we’re here for business not sap!
b) On the table, no matter what they are
c) Kept positive
d) Openly shared with the team and not in smaller groups
Strength: Motivation and initiative
Gap: Self-awareness
You’re a talented professional who’s serious about being a #boss and having a hardworking team. Though, while you’re kicking KPI goals, smashing deadlines and making big things happen, don’t forget to bring your team along for the ride. Success comes in many forms, though you’ll propel forward further with a team that also feels a part of the evolution.
An area of opportunity for you is developing your emotional self-awareness . This relates to understanding your own emotions and how they affect your performance. Being aware of how others see you will be critical for growing a successful team .
Resource: How to build a happy high-performing team
Opportunity: Explore high-performance leadership programs
Strength: Openness and intuitiveness
Gap: Self-management
Building trust with others comes easy for you. Some may even say you have no filter, so it’s always clear what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling about any given situation! While you’re guided by your emotions, try taking a beat before sharing them. Working on your emotional self-management is how you gain control over impulsive feelings and are more likely to build resilience, which helps you adapt to changing circumstances and be seen as level-headed and trustworthy.
Resource: Thriving as an entrepreneurial woman
Opportunity: Look into 1:1 Business coaching
Strength: Optimism
Gap: Social awareness
You work with a smile on your dial. And while you have friends on the outside world, you believe the office is a place to be bright, stay a little surface-level and keep clear on who ‘work you’ is. With this drive to achieve, remember to slow down and be aware of other people’s emotions. Sharing authentic thoughts, beliefs and feelings helps to build trust in your team and bonds that create a cohesive working environment (AKA what really makes a team thrive). Social awareness is your best friend.
Resource: How to build a happy high-performing team
Opportunity: Discover people and culture consulting
Pro-tip: In people and culture consulting, we discover your profile online, unpack one on one, then come together as a team and look at your team’s relative strengths and opportunities. In our second session, we work to strengthen your collective emotional muscle and apply strategies to your exact team.
Strength: Clear vision
Gap: Relationship management
It’s no secret that you don’t settle for ordinary. In fact, your eyes are firmly set on progressing your career to the next level. With such a clear vision, you’re determined to be the next team member on the boss’s radar for that killer promotion. But remember, it’s the relationships you form along the way that have the power to position you as a trustworthy, high-quality and up-and-coming contender for that role. As the saying goes, it’s not what you know, but who you know. So, emotional relationship management should be a clear focus for you.
Resource: How to get promoted using psychology
Opportunity: Deep-dive into career coaching
Knowledge is power, but it’s how you use it that matters. As you know, unlike IQ, your EQ can absolutely change, evolve and strengthen over time, no matter your emotional intelligence test results.
While this emotional intelligence test is a good baseline of information, it’s just the *tip* of the iceberg. In fact, we’ve only scratched the surface of four out of seven emotional intelligence areas.
Image sourced via Genos North America
Since every person has a unique emotional intelligence fingerprint, once you uncover yours in HD detail, you’re able to work with your strengths, fill in your gaps and flex your EQ muscle.
As a business psychologist (AKA an expert on emotion and behaviour), it’s my job to work directly with you to craft actionable, personalised strategies to integrate into your team, workplace or world. It’s through this application that you can use your emotional intelligence to fuel your business, team and career. What do you say? Let’s do this!
