Emotional Intelligence and Management – How Self-Aware are You?

By Lisa Heay, Marketing Planning Manager at Heinz Marketing
I recently attended another management workshop – Next Level Leadership Development, the second in a series following a New Manager Development Workshop I attended back in January of this year. What surprised me most about this workshop was it didn’t just include tips and strategies to lead others or how to approach conflict management, but it was instead heavily focused on looking inwards at myself – do I have the emotional intelligence required to be an effective leader?
Emotional intelligence is defined as “the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.” I hadn’t arrived thinking it’d be an exercise in evaluating myself, but this workshop forced us to look introspectively. Am I self-aware? Do I know my own strengths, weaknesses, drivers, values, and the impact I have on others? Can I manage