3 “Beyond The Hype” Questions, Part 5 of 6
June 14th, 2007 by Galba Bright
In his Beyond The Hype 3 of 3 post Anthony Mersino assesses the strengths and weaknesses of training, coaching and books in helping a person to increase their EQ
Here’s my answer to Anthony’s question about how valuable personal coaching can be when it comes to improving your EQ.
Here is Sarah Fister Gale’sBeyond The Hype Article
For a quick read, scan the bullet points in the table below. My detailed ideas are outlined below.
What Kind of Coaching?
In this article, I’m referring to a situation where you choose to have private one to one coaching. I am not describing a case where an organisation provides EQ coaching for you as a “stand alone” service, or where the company offers you coaching as a complement or follow up to an EQ Learning Programme.
Coaching Is All About You
Unlike a Learning Programme, which has to address the needs and learning styles of several different participants, coaching can (and should) be tailored to your specific needs and priorities. HOWEVER to make the most of this opportunity, you must be highly motivated to achieve your goals.You must take charge and set your objectives. It’s critically important that you commit to doing the necessary follow up steps between each coaching session.
Choose Your Coach Carefully
In order to enjioy the benefits of Emotional Intelligence coaching, you must ensure that you hire a coach who has the appropriate skills. You must decide which of the following criteria are important to you:
1.Is your coach certified?
2.What Emotional Intelligence models does s/he use?
3. What is the coaches’ approach?
Some coaches adopt quite an aggressive approach. This is often based upon a model developed in professional sport. Others base their methods on the discipline of psychotherapy. There is a wide variety of approaches that lie between these two extremes.
You Must Take Responsibility
To improve your Emotional Intelligence through coaching, you must be willing to review your behaviour and develop deeper insights into why you do what you do. A coach can help you identify blind spots that you may have. S/he and can also help you to gain a deeper appreciation of your strengths and weaknesses. HOWEVER a coach is your guide or your supportWhen you hire a coach you make a significant commitment. You need to answer the question Do You Act With Initiative?
with a resounding YES.
One to one coaching may be perceived as costly. You will need to identify the value (monetary and non-monetary) and compare it with the value that you expect to receive from your investment in coaching fees.
Coaching Can Produce Lasting Improvements
Because coaching can be ongoing, is personalised and requires deep commitment on your part, it has the potential to bring aboutlasting improvements in your quality of life. It can also help you to be more successful in your career . Emotional Intelligence Coaching is an evolving field.You might benefit from coaching yourself, whilst reading EQ materials.
Summary
In this article, I’ve put the benefits of personal coaching under the microscope. In previous parts of this series, I’ve discussed the benefits of EQ Learning Programmes. I’ve also argued that books can be a very good tool for increasing your Emotional Intelligence.
If I was to choose the best method for making a lasting improvement in your Emotional Intelligence, I’d go for coaching.
In the final part of this series, I’ll tell you about The Guaranteed Way to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence.
Popularity: 82% [?]
Every week, I write 3 original articles that help you improve your Emotional Intelligence. If you're new here, feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
License
This work is published under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Posted in Emotional Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Competencies, Blog, Managing Yourself, Self Awareness |
