Consider this scenario: Jack is a 30 year-old accountant in an international finance company. His manager regards him as being a very competent and diligent person who has a great deal of integrity.
The company is currently identifying 10 - 15 young managers that are seen to have high potential. Jack's name has been mentioned on a few occasions by come of the other senior managers as someone with a lot of potential.
By taking the ECR™ self-assessment both Jack and his manager will gain a better insight into his EQ strengths. Once he completes the assessment, Jack will receive an 18 page report and one-to-one feedback from his coach. His manager will then be able to assess his suitability for promotion and to outline the various skills and competencies which he will need to develop in order to make his case more favourable.
Now let's have a look at his profile summary on the ECR™.
Evaluating Jack's ECR™ Report
After examining Jack's individual report, we can gain some insight into his potential as a leader.
What does Jack's profile suggest about his current levels of Emotional Intelligence?
Overall, we can see from the report that his level of EQ is very positive and is in the effective range, and typical of the general population. However, what the report also tells us, is that he has scope to improve his three lowest competencies - relationship skills, adaptability and particularly his empathy.
What strengths does Jack bring to his current role in the organization?
Jack brings great strengths to his current role particularly in the areas of self-confidence and optimism. He has good levels of self-regard and can sustain high levels of motivation. He appears to work well under pressure and maintains a positive outlook in the face of setbacks.
What are the challenges Jack might encounter if he was placed in charge of a large team?
While Jack is clearly competent in his job, his interpersonal skills are clearly in need of development if he is to get the best out of his team and progress to a more senior position within the organization. If he does not address these areas, he could be in danger of de-motivating his team and not achieving his potential.
What are the specific competencies and skills that Jack needs to develop if he is to step up to leadership positions?
Jack needs to develop his interpersonal skills, particularly empathy, and to adopt a more open and adaptable approach. He needs to take greater interest in his team and spend more one-to-one time with them. He would be advised to ask for other people's opinions more often and genuinely listen to their point of view before rushing in with his own viewpoints.
If you are interested in taking an ECR™ assessment and receiving a comprehensive ECR development report, visit on EQ products page. Alternatively, if you have in questions about using our assessment within your organization we'd love to hear from you: contact us
The Emotional Intelligence Sports Inventory (ESi™):
John Haime & Martyn Newman
How many athletes and coaches really understand the mental part of sports?
How many are diligent in trying to improve this critical area of performance?
We all know the vital importance of the mental and emotional game in athletics, where performance in athletes is always separated by their mental and emotional capabilities. “Mentally tough” athletes can perform under the high levels of athletic pressure, they are consistent, they make clear decisions and they save their best performances for when it really counts. As the athlete moves to higher levels, the mental and emotional skills become the clear separator between contenders and pretenders.
Coaches and athletes know this so why isn’t mental and emotional development more of a priority?
Most coaching models have one clear limitation. While coaches are often strong in the technical, physical and strategy parts of coaching, the mental/emotional part of the coaching model is normally the weak link. Simply, the technical, physical and strategy are easily quantified with drills, physical training, chalkboard discussions, video and other tools to help the athlete become bigger, faster and stronger. But, the conversation between coach and athlete to help the athlete become more self-aware, more resilient, more confident or more optimistic is not quite as quantifiable, can be difficult and awkward for the coach – and often avoided all together.
The corporate world has leveraged the latest technologies and created tools that quantify behaviors that separate average and outstanding performers. Since the late 90s, organizations have utilized “Emotional Intelligence” tools to highlight strengths and limitations in leaders and coach these leaders to higher performance. The tools have been simple and easy to use offered in handsome online formats, utilizing powerful, up-to-date technology.
If this can be done in the corporate world, is it possible to create a tool that could do the same thing in the athletic world – specifically for athletes?
The answer is yes, and the simple, science-based Emotional Intelligence Sports Inventory (ESi™) is the new tool that can be used by coaches to strengthen their coaching models and inspire athletes to improve their performances.
Developed over a five year period by collecting and analysing data from some of the world’s most elite athletes, the ESi™ represents an exciting advance in our understanding of the building blocks that are scientifically linked to elite sports performance. Unlike traditional, personality based psychological inventories that measure general personality traits, the ESi™ was specifically designed and developed to measure the mental and emotional “fundamentals” of athletes.
Performance data was collected from amateur and professional athletes from around the world in a wide range of sports. It was then scientifically validated by comparing results with a number of other well-established measures of sports performance. The ESi™ was then administered to professional groups of international elite athletes – including national sports teams. Results revealed strong relationships between the 10 mental and emotional fundamentals or “competencies” defined and measured by the ESi™and outstanding sports performance.
Recent independent studies have provided additional support for the accuracy and reliability of the tool and further international research projects are currently being completed by Universities in Ireland, Wales, Finland, Singapore, China and Korea.
Of course, the real value of the ESi™ is not only in being able to measure mental and emotional skills, but in delivering a blueprint to develop them. By focussing on measuring emotional competencies rather than measuring personality traits, the ESi™ provides coaches with a clear roadmap to assist athletes in developing measurable improvements in their skills.
Feedback from some of the world’s top professional coaches has confirmed the immediate benefits that the ESi™ delivers. Comments such as those from top PGA golf coach Steve Bann are typical:
“the ESi™ is an accurate and useful assessment tool … both Stuart Appleby and Nick Flanagan had immediate tournament success as a result of implementing the recommended strategies after taking this assessment.”
Leah Allinger, Assistant Coach of the National Champion, University of British Columbia Women’s Volleyball team outlines a benefit of the ESi™ for her high level team:
“the ESi™ really created awareness for our players of what they might like to work on and helped them understand how important mental and emotional preparation is to competing and winning.”
Both individual athletes and teams are using the ESi™ and getting to the next level in their mental and emotional athletic development.
The ESi™ is a brief, simple-to-use measure that can be completed online in only 20 minutes. Along with scores on the ten mental and emotional skills that support elite performance, the ESi™ Sports Report is packed with eighteen pages of individualized coaching tips and tactics for developing sustained performance. The package also includes a developmental “Action Plan” helping coach and athlete apply the results to their everyday performance.
The ESi™ represents an innovation in the field of sports psychology and early indications are that developing mental toughness for sustained sports performance just got a whole lot easier!
For information about the ESi™ see www.rochemartin.com/emotional-intelligence-sports-inventory
Most of us agree that great leaders are those that inspire us to act and give us a sense of purpose that has little to do with any external incentive or reward. They have a remarkable ability to tap into the very personal, intrinsic motivations that drive each of us and help us reach for something better in ourselves. And we know that people who love going to work, are more creative and more productive, and they treat their colleagues, clients and customers better.
Imagine if more people inside the organization could learn to think, act and communicate like those who inspire us? Leadership abilities, such as those described by emotional intelligence (EQ), explain what leaders do, but not why they perform. Furthermore, knowing what to do is all very well, but the big question is how to do it.
According to more than 20 years of research in psychology, there are at least seven common factors that contribute to creating positive behavior change.
1. Engagement
Being clear about your aspirations and dreams, and being able to articulate the values that shape your beliefs, goes to the very heart of great leadership. Your job as a leader is to tell and re-tell the story of why you do what you do, and what your business is capable of achieving. Most importantly, it is about enabling people to understand the value of their contribution to the story.
2. Benchmarking: Self-Discovery & Self-Directed Change
Even when people are motivated to develop their EQ and leadership skills, they can often remain unclear about how to do so – until they become aware of how they measure up. There are many ways of gaining feedback on performance, but by far the most credible and compelling way is to benchmark emotional and social competencies and provide feedback using high-quality psychometric assessment tools.
3. Create Manageable, Measurable Goals & Share Them
Performance in training programs improves dramatically when participants set explicit goals for change. In fact, the motivating power of such goals is greatly enhanced when they are declared publicly and put in writing. Even Benjamin Franklin insisted that setting daily and weekly goals was indispensable to becoming a virtuous person!
4. Model The Skills
Provide people with opportunities to observe the skills they want to acquire. Modeling is a more effective learning method than simply being told about the skills because it requires greater attention and accelerates learning.
5. Practice New Skills & Provide Feedback
A common mistake in EQ training is to assume that leaders can acquire these behaviors quickly by attending motivational seminars. Although these activities can certainly inspire the desire to change, real behavioral change requires practice and repetition over an extended period.
Organizational psychologists have long known that consistent constructive feedback is the most effective way to motivate people and provide direction.
6. Provide Follow-Up Support
Research has shown that the value of learning is maintained, if not greatly enhanced, when people receive targeted coaching support from a reinforcing reference group or an individual. In other words, providing coaching and mentoring to people on the job contributes greatly to positive change.
7. Evaluate Change
Documenting individual progress by evaluating changes in both understanding and behavior reinforces learning, charts the way forward and demonstrates return on investment. Nothing succeeds like success.
The seven elements described here represent the why of building sustainable leadership skills and are the core features of the revolutionary online leadership development tool - SmartCoach™.
Find out how SmartCoach can help you build an inspiring leadership culture today.
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