Want to bridge the gap between emotional intelligence theory and real-world application? In this special episode, Dan breaks down the basics of his emotional intelligence (EI) model and how his flagship online courses help EI learners grow this specific skill set. Along with Daniel Goleman EI Course Facilitators Michael Stern and Patricia Figueroa, they discuss the four domains and 12 foundational and relational EI competencies, the learner experience, aha moments in the learner journey, what it takes to build a lifelong EI practice, and the future of emotional intelligence.
The Foundational Skills of Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Relational Skills of EI courses are both six-week, asynchronous, online learning experiences. There are seven live, synchronous, group check-ins—four during the Foundational Skills course, and three during the Relational Skills course. You will be grouped into cohorts facilitated by trained EI coaches. Discussions and conversations between members of a cohort are entirely online, through chat and messaging features in the Dream See Do eLearning platform.
Modules
(One Week per Module)
Each course consists of six Modules (plus an introductory Module demonstrating the features of the platform), released weekly. They each represent a key aspect of EI. They are intended to be completed over five days, with one lesson outlined per day.
Live Events
(90 Minutes per Live Event)
Facilitators will also host seven 90-minute synchronous live group check-ins (four during the Foundational Skills course, and three during the Relational Skills course. The purpose of these sessions is to strengthen the relationships between cohort members, deepen understanding of the material, and invite feedback to help us continue to improve the Learner experience.
It is highly recommended you attend these sessions live, but we will provide recordings as well. Learners will see the dates for their Live Events in the introductory module on Dream See Do.
Lessons
(~15-30 Minutes per Lesson)
Each module contains 5-6 lessons. You should expect that each lesson will take approximately 15-30 minutes in total, though some lessons will ask you to complete steps at various points over the course of a day. These are not live events.
Steps
(~5 minutes per Step)
A single lesson consists of multiple steps (generally 3-5). These steps will contain some combination of readings, videos, audio files, or short journaling prompts. They should only take a few minutes per step.
Relational Skills of Emotional Intelligence
The structure of Relational Skills of Emotional Intelligence will largely mirror that of the Foundational Skills of Emotional Intelligence: 6 modules, 3 Live Events, 5-6 lessons per module, and 3-5 steps per lesson.
Learners will see the dates for their Live Events in the introductory module on Dream See Do.
Emotional intelligence has become a must have skill and critical basis for strong leadership.
Daniel Goleman, who popularized EI, describes emotional intelligence (EI) as a different way of being smart and cites it as a critical factor underpinning high performance and exceptional leadership.
“It’s not your IQ; it’s how you manage yourself and your relationships.” – Daniel Goleman
Being an emotionally intelligent leader can pay dividends when it comes to inspiring teams, managing stress, staying focused, delivering feedback, empathizing with colleagues, and working together toward a shared goal.
And the benefits don’t stop there.
If you’ve ever wondered about the impact emotional intelligence can have on personal and professional development, consider these findings:
Studies show 90% of top performers have high emotional intelligence and a higher average annual income
Empathic leaders perform more than 40% higher in employee engagement, coaching, and decision-making
More than 95% of surveyed founders stated EQ (emotional intelligence) in leadership is more important than IQ
People with high levels of emotional intelligence earn an average of $29,000 more a year
Developing EI happens one person at a time — it starts with you and me — but our growth can be felt by the people in our life. Friends, family, and colleagues are all impacted when we practice emotional intelligence.
As a predictor of life success, EI has become one of the most highly valued and sought after skill sets, with no slowdown in sight. By 2024, global demand for EI skills is actually expected to increase by 6x.
The good news is the economic value and business case for EI has been well made.
Even better news? Emotional intelligence is both teachable and learnable.
If you’re ready to jumpstart your emotional intelligence journey, you can learn the 12 emotional intelligence (EI) competencies from Daniel Goleman’s EI model through a series of facilitated, six-week online courses: Foundational Skills and Relational Skills.
The EI skills included in the Foundational Skills Course: Emotional Self-Awareness, Focus, Emotional Self-Control, Positive Outlook, Adaptability, and Empathy.
The EI skills included in the Relational Skills Course: Conflict Management, Teamwork, Inspirational Leadership, Coach and Mentor, Influence, and Organizational Awareness.
These 12 competencies are crucial for developing your best self, becoming an outstanding leader, and building high-performance teams.
As part of an engaged cohort and led by a trained facilitator, you can join a community of peers and experts while learning the science behind each core competency, why they matter, and how to apply them to positively differentiate yourself, build deeper relationships, and pave a path toward fundamental transformation.
Grow your EI and earn a certified digital achievement badge while:
Developing one of the most in-demand and highly valued job skills
Mastering the underlying abilities that make stellar leaders
Achieving greater self-awareness, self-worth, and values alignment
Building positive relationships and meaningful connections
Invest in emotional intelligence today. Your future self will thank you.
A recent workforce trend has consistently dominated headlines: “The Great Resignation” (also dubbed “The Big Quit”).
According to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report, 4.3 million American workers quit their jobs last December, continuing a trend of record high employee turnover since the second half of 2021.
Quitting only tells half the story.
Some of the varied drivers contributing to the mass worker exodus include COVID health concerns, childcare challenges, reluctance to return to pre-pandemic work environments, higher pay, more flexibility, entrepreneurial pursuits, and, unsurprisingly — burnout.
Indeed’s recent Employee Burnout report found burnout was on the rise, with 52% of respondents saying they experienced it in 2021, up from 43% the year before.
If you’re feeling burned out, you’re not alone.
Understanding Burnout and its Impact
What is burnout?
The World Health Organization defines employee burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”
Burnout can be characterized by feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance or feelings of negativism related to one’s job, and reduced productivity.
Indeed’s Employee Burnout survey also found workers struggling to achieve a healthy work-life balance, exacerbated by having to work longer hours.
Even more startling, 61% of remote workers and 53% of on-site workers reported finding it more difficult to “unplug” from work during off-hours.
Flexjobs’ Mental Health in the Workplace survey had similar findings. Seventy-five percent of respondents said they experienced burnout at work, and 40% said they experienced burnout specifically during the pandemic.
Visier’s Pulse on Employee Burnout survey puts the number at 89%. Visier’s results also found the biggest contributing factor to burnout was an increased workload, followed by a toxic work culture, and being asked to complete work faster.
Whether onsite or remote, Millennial or Baby boomer, private or public sector – workers of all industries, races, ages etc. are grappling with varying degrees of exhaustion, stress, emotional trauma, and mental health challenges.
While operating in sustained crisis mode throughout the pandemic.
The “Great Resignation” is only one possible side effect. According to a Gallup study, chronically burned out employees are:
23% more likely to visit the emergency room
2.6 times more likely to leave their current employer
63% more likely to take a sick day
To take an even wider lens on this, an in-depth survey from Mental Health America estimated workplace stress costs the U.S. economy more than $500 billion dollars in lost productivity annually.
How to Combat Burnout by Balancing Stress and Renewal
Hopefully your employer is taking steps to address burnout and support employee health and well-being.
Whether that’s true or not for your workplace, there are ways to better understand and manage stress that are within your reach.
It’s important to understand stress and renewal are two sides of the same coin.
Stress over-activates our sympathetic nervous system, the responses that help us survive, adapt, and perform.
Renewal activates our parasympathetic nervous system, prompting our body to release stress-reducing, feel-good hormones that help us feel more energized, innovative, hopeful, loving, and open-minded.
Just as stressors are unique to each of us, so too are what renews and replenishes us.
The following is a guide to some renewal strategies to consider.
What will make them impactful is applying emotional self-awareness to make them specific to your needs and what will ultimately support and fulfill you best.
1:Find Value and Purpose in Your Work
We all want to feel like the work we do is meaningful and that it contributes to a shared goal or greater good.
Daniel Goleman, acclaimed psychologist, journalist, and NYT best-selling author of Emotional Intelligence, says we’re wired to seek a sense of purpose. And there’s no time like the present.
Two out of three American workers say the pandemic has prompted them to contemplate their true purpose, so much so that some alternatives to “The Great Resignation” include “The Great Reflection” or “The Great Reprioritization.”
No matter what you call it, take the time to reflect on how your work makes an impact, how it affects others, and how your individual contribution connects to something bigger.
Understand your “why” (what drives you), what goals/metrics are meaningful to you, and how you can anchor your work, progress, and impact toward it.
2: Establish Boundaries and Structure
Create a structure and systems to help you disconnect and unplug after (home) office hours.
A physical boundary, such as a designated work space you can leave after your work is done for the day, is a great start.
Consider structuring your day with a realistic start and end time for focused work, punctuated by small breaks in the day for lunch, recharging, getting up and walking around, and generally taking a few minutes to yourself.
When your work day is over, shut off your laptop and turn off notifications. Give yourself time to transition from being in active “work mode.”
Once you’ve made the transition, do activities you enjoy and spend quality time with people you care about.
Resist the temptation to return to work or feel like you have to constantly “be on.”
3: Make Time for What Fills Your Cup
It may be obvious, but be mindful and intentional with identifying what matters most.
What parts of your life do you want to nurture? How do you want to invest in yourself and your relationships? What would make you feel happy, renewed, and motivated?
For some, that may mean pursuing a passion project or learning a new skill. For others, it may mean doing yoga or running outdoors. Perhaps it’s spending distraction-free engaged time with your kids.
Once you’ve identified what helps you feel renewed, protect your time and energy to prioritize them. Don’t be afraid to say no to distractions and low value demands on your time.
Stress is a fact of life and work. Balancing it with renewal is key.
4: Prioritize Self-Care
In our hustle-obsessed, constantly on-the-go, and competing priorities culture, it can be easy to put yourself last.
Remember, self-care isn’t selfish. It’s prudent.
You can’t take care of anyone or anything (including work) if you’re not healthy or feeling your best.
And it doesn’t have to require a big effort. Taking small and consistent steps can make a big difference for reducing stress.
Make sure you’re getting adequate sleep every night. Hydrate and eat throughout the day. Schedule downtime to relax by reading a book or taking a bath. Watch an episode of your favorite show. Listen to a podcast. Go for a walk. Meditate.
Or give yourself a break and do absolutely nothing.
Whatever feels right for you is right for you.
5: Cultivate a Growth Mindset
What’s the link between mindset and mental health? A Harvard University study found that among teen students, a fixed mindset was associated with more mental health challenges.
When compared to peers with a growth mindset — looking at everything as an opportunity for learning — those with a fixed mindset were nearly 60% more likely to show more severe symptoms of depression, anxiety, or aggression.
When you allow yourself to be a lifelong learner, you enable resilience, evolution, and empowerment.
Focus on continued learning and progress, not perfection. Embrace failure and constructive feedback as opportunities for growth. Look beyond current setbacks and focus on a clear vision and creating a path forward.
There is no linear path or exact formula for overcoming burnout. The more you recognize the sources of stress and renewal in your life, the better you can manage and balance them.
If you think of burnout as having an empty tank, prioritizing time and focus on meaningful renewal activities can help to refuel and fill up your tank.
Introducing a self-guided tool that will help you take stock of the sources of stress in your life and identify ways to foster balance and restoration.
What is emotional intelligence (EI)? This is one of the most frequently asked questions that Daniel Goleman (Dan), psychologist and author of the New York Times bestseller “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ,” gets from his audience.
If you’re new to the work of EI or if you’re in need of a refresher, this article will define emotional intelligence and break down the four domains and twelve competencies that make up Dan’s framework. We’ll also provide guidance for how you can assess your own emotional intelligence and outline some resources you can use to continue your EI learning journey.
What does Emotional Intelligence (EI) mean?
Emotional Intelligence refers to a different way of being smart. EI is a key to high performance, particularly for outstanding leadership. It’s not your IQ, but rather it’s how you manage yourself and your relationships with others.
—Daniel Goleman, Crucial Competence: Building Emotional and Social Leadership
The 4 Domains and 12 Competencies of Emotional Intelligence
A competence is a skill needed to perform a role, or task. There are two types of competency: Threshold Competencies and Distinguishing Competencies. Threshold Competencies are the minimum one needs to handle the cognitive complexity of a given task. Distinguishing Competencies are those traits found the the highest performers that set them above the average. Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis analyzed the internal competency models of dozens of organizations to identify Distinguishing Competencies common to all, and built their model of Emotional Intelligence from that data.
The 12 Emotional Intelligence Competencies Defined
What is Emotional Self-Awareness?
Emotional Self Awareness lies at the heart of emotional intelligence. Emotional self awareness is the ability to understand our own emotions and their effects on our performance. You realize how your feelings affect you and how well you’re doing. Your values and sense of purpose help set your course of action.
What is Emotional Self-Control? Emotional Self-Control (also known as emotional balance) is the ability to keep your disruptive emotions and impulses in check to maintain your effectiveness under stressful or even hostile conditions. With emotional balance, you recognize disruptive emotions—emotions that get in the way like high anxiety, intense fear or quick anger—and you find ways to manage your emotions and impulses. You stay calm and clear headed under stress, even during a crisis.
What is Positive Outlook?
Positive Outlook is the ability to see the positive in people in situations and events. It means persistence in pursuing goals despite setbacks and obstacles, you can see the opportunity in situations where others would see a setback that could be devastating, at least for them.
What is Achievement?
The Achievement competence means that we strive to meet or exceed a standard of excellence. We look for ways to do things better. We set challenging goals, we take calculated risks. There’s a big paradox about achievement orientation, and that is when you have positive goals, it’s very helpful. But if you stay in this overdrive all the time and try to drive other people in the same pace, you can become a toxic leader. Even though achievement drive helps you get your career goals, it may make you unhappy in your life.
What is Adaptability?
The Adaptability competence is flexibility and handling change and juggling multiple demands, adapting to new situations with new ideas or innovative approaches. It means you can stay focused on your goals, but easily adjust how you get there. You can meet new challenges and you’re nimble and adjusting to sudden change. You’re comfortable with the uncertainty that leadership can bring.
What is Empathy?
The Empathy competence means you have the ability to sense others feelings and how they see things. You take an active interest in their concerns. You pick up cues to what’s being felt in thought. with empathy, you sense unspoken emotions. You listen attentively, to understand the other person’s point of view, the terms in which they’re thinking about what’s going on. empathic leaders are able to get along well with people of very different backgrounds and cultures, and to express their ideas in ways the other person will understand. Empathy doesn’t mean psyching out the other person so you can manipulate them, but rather, it’s knowing how best to collaborate with them.
What is Organizational Awareness?
Organizational awareness means the ability to read a group’s emotional currents and power relationships, identify influencers, networks, and the dynamics that matter in making decisions. A leader who can recognize networking opportunities and read key power relationships will do a better job at leading. Such leaders not only understand the forces at work in an organization, but also the guiding values and unspoken rules that operate among people.
What is Influence?
Influence as a competence refers to the ability to have a positive impact on others, to persuade or convince them to gain their support. If you’re strong in the influence competence, you’re persuasive and engaging and you can build buy-in from key people. Remember, leadership is the art of getting work done well through other people. And influence is the most powerful way to do that.
What is the Coach and Mentor Competency?
The Coach and Mentor competency is the ability to foster the long term learning or development of others. By giving feedback and support. You have a genuine interest in helping them develop further strengths. You give timely, constructive feedback, you understand the person’s goals, and you try to find challenges for them.
What is Inspirational Leadership?
The Inspirational Leadership competence is the ability to guide people to get the job done to bring up their best. With inspiration, you can articulate a shared mission in a way that motivates and offers a sense of common purpose. Beyond people’s day to day tasks.
What is Teamwork?
The teamwork competence is the ability to work with others toward a shared goal, participating actively sharing responsibility and rewards and contributing to the capability of the team. you empathize and create an atmosphere of respect, helpfulness and cooperation, you can draw others into active commitment to the team’s effort. Leaders skilled at the teamwork competence build spirit, positive relationships, and pride of identity at being on the team. And it’s not just teams. This competence holds the key to collaboration of any kind.
What is Conflict Management?
The conflict management competency means the ability to help others through emotional or tense situations, to tactfully bring disagreements into the open and to define solutions that everyone can endorse. leaders who take time to understand the different perspectives work toward finding a common ground on which everyone can agree. They acknowledge the views of all sides, while redirecting energy toward a shared ideal, or an agreeable resolution. Clearly being able to manage conflict matters for leaders. But that doesn’t mean convincing other people that yours is the correct opinion. There’s a difference between winning and effectively managing conflict.
How to Measure Your Emotional Intelligence (EI) Competencies
Daniel Goleman and Richard Boyatzis developed an instrument in partnership with Korn Ferry to help people who want to develop their strengths in emotional intelligence. The assessment tool is called the Emotional and Social Competence Inventory (ESCI). The ESCI is a 360 degree measure meaning that you first evaluate yourself, and then you ask up to 10 people who know you well, and whose opinions you value and trust, to rate you anonymously. The information collected is then fed back to you as an aggregate with a profile of your strengths and weaknesses.
The value of the ESCI is that you can understand how others see you in relation to each of the emotional intelligence competencies. The tool also helps you identify which competencies you are skilled at and which you may need to strengthen in partnership with an EI-certified coach or develop on your own.
Emotional Intelligence Resources
If you are just beginning to explore emotional intelligence, our hope is that this article served as a valuable starting point. If you’re interested in delving deeper into emotional intelligence, below is a list of resources which may further your understanding of the brain science behind the work.
For years, Daniel Goleman’s work has been applied in personal development and business contexts to help people become better leaders. But what does emotional intelligence look like when we go beyond the first person application?
The day we’ve been waiting for is finally here! Today marks the launch of the First Person Plural: EI & Beyond (FPP) podcast.
Over the course of the first season, we hope to inspire FPP listeners to apply emotional intelligence to their lives, their relationships and the systems they are a part of — including their families, communities, workplaces, and society at large.
This podcast will take you on a journey, shifting from the individual “I” into the plural “us.” In a world that has become increasingly more isolated, independent and Individualistic, we will explore how our emotions and actions cast ripple effects throughout the world.
Emotional intelligence will always begin with us — by looking within and honing our strengths in self-awareness and self-management. But this podcast will take you on a journey, shifting from the individual “I” into the plural “us.” In a world that has become increasingly more isolated, independent and Individualistic, we will explore how our emotions and actions cast ripple effects throughout the world. Using the theory of emotional intelligence, we will learn to ask deeper questions about change and collective good.
For more detail about what we can expect from the FPP podcast, we invite you to listen to the first introductory conversation ( “Episode 0”) between Dan and Hanuman Goleman.
Then, Be sure to keep an eye out for a bonus episode coming next week entitled, Emotional Intelligence 101: The Basics of EI. This episode will offer a brief overview of the theory of Emotional Intelligence for those new to the work or for anyone who could use a refresher.
Our first official three act episode, which explores wellbeing and purpose, will be released on February 9th. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on the latest.
None of this would be possible without the generous support from our Kickstarter supporters who helped us raise an incredible $12,000 to support the production of our first season! Thank you for believing in us and the power of emotional intelligence. Your enthusiasm and generosity has been a beacon as we delve into this adventure.
If you’re interested in supporting our work and getting special behind-the-scenes access, consider becoming a monthly Patron!
As I type this (well, not literally), I’m putting the finishing touches on a promotional video for First Person Plural: EI & Beyond, a new podcast from Key Step Media. While my brain is awash in keyframes, masking layers, and animated warp deformations, I thought I’d take a moment to introduce myself, and my role in bringing you First Person Plural.
My name is Bryant Johnson. I’m a graphic designer, illustrator, and lately, an associate producer on First Person Plural. I’ve been working with Key Step Media (né More Than Sound) for seven years, designing the visual look for books, videos, pamphlets, and online trainings.
This spring, as I hunkered down in the pandemic bunker with my partner, my cats, and more streaming video than one could reasonably expect to consume in a lifetime (actually, I should have written “more books”—pretend I typed that instead), Hanuman reached out to me with the idea of creating a podcast on emotional intelligence with his father Daniel Goleman. He wanted to do a more freeform exploration of the subject, emphasizing lived human experiences. And, he asked if I’d be interested in working on it.
Of course I said yes.
Audio isn’t exactly my medium—I’ve spent most of my life working in visual media: first in print, then video and board games, and later graphic design. But the subject is one I hold dearly.
Emotional intelligence is the reconciliation between the inner world of our thoughts, emotions, hopes, fears, and biases, with the external world of our interaction with others, and the systems we all navigate.
It’s a vocabulary to describe the dynamics we’ve observed and experienced for our entire lives, but didn’t know how to express. And when everything feels like it’s on fire, it’s a bucket of cool water within grabbing distance.
In the weeks since I first wrote this, much has changed in the world. We will have the opportunity to work towards a future without hate; without fear; without a cynical and mortally willful ignorance of reality.
What excites me is the chance to combine my experience in visual storytelling with a new [to me] medium: to craft new ways to make the material accessible, educational, and fun. To build an equitable future, we need more compassion. I hope that First Person Plural will make that abundantly clear, and give listeners a chance to build the skills of emotional intelligence—the vernacular of compassion—in themselves.
We have some exciting episodes in production, and I can’t wait to have you all join us in this endeavor!
Exciting, compelling, and grounded in new research on meditation, this is a rare audiobook with powerful insights that can change us at the deepest level.
The complete collection of 12 Emotional and Social Intelligence Leadership Competency primers, written by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and fellow thought leaders.
