Emotional Intelligence Reflection

I accessed a 40 question Emotional Intelligence test through the Global Leadership Foundations’ online website. The specific levels of EI, self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and social management each had 10 questions. From each of those questions, I scored accordingly: 

From these scores, I interpret that I have fair emotional intelligence. It is neither good nor bad but it certainly has room for improvement. Prior to this test, I had thought myself to have better self-awareness than what I had scored. However, after reflecting on my score, there have been occasions where I’ve been told that my body language doesn’t match my tone and it can come across as rudeness or disinterest. I am aware that my social skills could use improvement and perhaps the best way to improve my self-awareness skills would be to have someone mirror my body language. In this case, I would be able to see how my body language could be off-putting or deceptive. “Seeing is believing”, if I can see how I act, I can accept that it truly occurs and I can reflect from it. Reflecting would allow me to put myself in someone else’s position and witness how self-awareness and body language play a critical role in how we are perceived by others, especially in a professional environment. Self-awareness is not only important for everyday interactions, professional or nonprofessional, but also in being a successful leader. The body language of others impacts the way we respond in social situations. A successful leader can portray confidence despite feeling unease. The ability to have self-awareness is critical in maintaining poise in stressful situations.  

In terms of self-management, I have always been an organized and deliberate person. I suppose this is my form of maintaining control and alleviating anxiety from not being able to predict the unknown. Ironically, this could explain my poor score in social management. Being unable to control or predict the actions of others is something that I struggle with and therefore I am not always receptive to what others say or do. Improving my self-management skills would require me to actually contradict my score by decreasing it. If I have less of a focus on controlling myself and the others around me, then perhaps I would be more receptive to unplanned events or actions. I believe this to be most of the reason why I find an interest in emergency medicine, it allows me to step outside my comfort zone.

I have always thought of myself to be patient. I attempt to consider all sides of a story before I begin to judge or take action. I know that I was not always like this and I think the majority of that change has to do with not only personal growth but also entering into the medical field. The medical field has taught me that not everything is as it seems. Interpreting a statement on paper doesn’t allow for a thorough understanding of someone’s circumstances when compared to physically speaking with them. There’s always room for improvement, I know that I still jump to judgment on occasions but I am able to reorganize my judgment when it is not appropriate. There is always room to improve my social awareness, especially in an ever-changing society. I believe someone’s level of social awareness can be contributed to the way in which they were raised (open-minded or close-minded). Improving social awareness can be difficult, especially if it contradicts the ways in which someone was raised, but it is never a bad thing to open up our minds and be privy and respectful of how someone else lives. I also believe judgment cannot and should not interfere with the ability to provide safe and effective care to every patient. 

I didn’t believe myself to have poor social management skills. I am courteous of others and their beliefs. I am completely capable of being focused in an emergency situation and not allowing emotions to overwhelm me. I value teamwork and I always appreciate input from others. I think perhaps my poor social management skills are a reflection of how I feel about myself when I’m not in situations where I must care for others. I am very much someone who prefers to bury my emotions until they peak and resurface at my most fragile times. I don’t like to be vulnerable and I associate emotions with being vulnerable. In social situations, such as working with others, I am very flexible and I enjoy brainstorming as a group. My 5/10 score is very much reflective of my personal feelings of myself and not a reflection of my ability to work with others. From this, I recognize the importance of improving my psyche so that it does not interfere with how I care for others. I imagine this is only improved with counseling but acknowledging that it is a problem is a good start.