Week 38: Your Emotional Quotient (EQ) Contribution – #AlphaFemaleFriday

Week 38: Your Emotional Quotient (EQ) Contribution – #AlphaFemaleFriday

“ WEEK 38 / 133 – 133 WEEKS TO SUCCESS ”

There is your Intelligence Quotient, better known as your IQ, and then there is your Emotional Quotient known as your EQ. When it comes to being both successful and business savvy, your strong EQ can make the difference between just meeting the client versus actually getting the client. There are five main measures of EQ: self-awareness, self-regulations, empathy, social skills, and motivation. In Nice Girls Still Don’t Get the Corner Office, Lois P. Frankel points out that while women tend to surpass men in the first four of those aforementioned measures, and while men and women are quite equal on motivation, women do not use their strong critical skills to their ultimate advantages.

Instead, women tend to undervalue them. Women tend to work harder and longer hours to prove their work, to show they can hang with the big boys. Alternatively, women can use their inherent EQ skills to their advantage. Women and men must understand that while certain skills may come inherent to women, men can learn these skills and women must learn how to hone in on their skills. While some children are inherently great painters and artists and others must practice and practice until they are masters of their craft, we can all learn how to improve our EQ.

It is vital for us to improve our EQ in the workplace whether it is for the sake of our own careers or for the good of our colleagues and the company. Research has shown that when companies hire or promote more women in leadership roles, those companies tend to have greater financial returns than companies that do not hire or promote women in leadership roles. On average, women tend to exhibit certain leadership behaviors more than men. Women in such leadership roles tend to form connections with others to develop relationships, focus on team building and working together toward a common goal, using positive reinforcement to motivate their team, and talk through a business approach with the incorporation of their team’s ideas before making final decisions.

I’m an extremely empathetic person and pride myself on being a great listener for others’ grievances. For several years, I wondered if I was cut out for the business world based on such qualities that business sharks may call soft and wimpy. I’m writing this paragraph now with Kevin O’Leary from Shark Tank’s voice, whispering into my ear saying, “maybe you should be tougher, you little cream puff.” Still, I think we should not assume those who are kind and patient listeners as weak and soft-spoken. If anything, being empathetic and a great listener is a fantastic tool to learn about others and obtain vital information. Know what your strengths and weaknesses are, and that even your supposed, cream puff weaknesses can be used as strengths.

Cheers,

Kelly

@AlphaFemSociety tweets by @KellyRGonzales                                                                                

About:

Each week, I take a tip from Lois P. Frankel’s book, Nice Girls Still Don’t Get the Corner Office, and explore how each of these tips affect myself and other women in similar positions on the road to becoming the women we want to be. There are far and few between who are a few steps behind me, and many more who are far advanced. I found that Lois P. Frankel’s advice applied to novice, intermediates, and experts alike. It helped me see that I was already doing right, served as a reminder to keep on doing what I was doing and how to keep that momentum going. The book also showed me areas where I could improve, and gave realistic tips to jump on board. There are a total of 133 tips, and explore one tip per week in a program I call: 133 Weeks to Success.

Join the movement using the hashtag #133WeeksToSuccess with posts which are posted every #AlphaFemaleFriday.