Transcription
You cannot read the room if you can't read yourself. And you cannot manage other people's emotions if you can't manage your own. And I think the reason that most communication training fails is that it skips straight to step three.
If you don't know me, my name is Rob. I help leaders and executives communicate with impact through compelling storytelling. And there is some fascinating research by a guy called Daniel Gleman who says that 58% of your professional success is actually linked to emotional intelligence or EQ. And it's actually a stronger predictor than IQ. And there are four pillars of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. So self-awareness and self-management comes first. Everything else is built on top of that. And emotional intelligence is the master key to the game, I think, of communication, but most of us never train it. And these three things are going to help you change that.
So number one is the 1% method. Aim to be just 1% better each day at recognizing and responding to your emotional triggers. So not some dramatic overhaul, just little bits of improvement. So notice when your tone shifts, notice when you start defending a position. Notice when you check out of a conversation, and that 1% will compound over time.
Number two, journaling. Doesn't really matter what you journal. Pick like three things you're grateful for each day or a moment that triggered you. Or you can map out your meetings and use emoji tags for events to look for patterns. So that means if you know that every Tuesday afternoon after your meeting with a certain person, you feel very defensive, then you can name it and then you can deal with it.
And number three, role play. Practice your difficult conversations with a trusted colleague or a friend. Have them push back and just notice what happens to your body. Notice what happens to your voice. The reps in low stakes environments are what save you in the really high stakes ones.
But just start with the simplest. Tonight, I want you to write down three things you're grateful for and one moment that triggered you. And then name the emotion. Don't analyze it. Don't go too far into it. Just name it. Do that for a week and then see how you've changed. Follow for more content like