Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Dr. Travis Bradberry and Dr. Jean Greaves

“The only promise for a better tomorrow is to grow today.” John Maxwell

I recently had the opportunity to meet with a Learning and Development executive at a local company where I live. I’d never met her before, nor would I have ever thought to reach out for coffee.

I’m glad I did. Because when we met, I left with a lot more than milk and espresso.

When I met with this executive, I wasn’t sure how the conversation would go. All of the normal thoughts we experience when we meet someone new flooded through my thoughts. It took me 40 minutes to drive to where we were meeting, and my mind was racing the whole way.

Just reaching out for the meeting was a step of courage. And then, I had to meet.

Whenever you meet with someone you’re learning from, it’s helpful to come prepared—prepared with real questions (typically you’ve emailed those before your meeting) and an open heart to let the conversation go where it may. I had objectives, but what came out of the meeting was far greater than I could ever have planned.

But, if I hadn’t prepared for mining, I wouldn’t have struck gold.

One of the many takeaways of this meeting was this book: Emotional Intelligence 2.0. It was the first time I’ve read it, but it’s not the first time I’d ever heard of it. As I’ve read more and more leadership and personal growth books over the years, this one kept coming up as one to read. It probably ended up on my “to be read” list on my Notes app multiple times, but I just never got around to actually purchasing it.

When I left this meeting, I went right to Amazon and said, “Yes please.”

If I hadn’t prepared for mining, I wouldn’t have struck gold.

Emotional Intelligence 2.0 is one of those books that helps reveal one of the many facets of how we think, feel and interact with ourselves and our relationships. It includes a code for an online test at talentsmarteq.com in which you get an idea of your EQ.

“EQ is so critical to success that it accounts for 58 percent of performance in all types of jobs. It’s the single biggest predictor of performance in the workplace and the strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence.” (Dr. Travis Bradberry and Dr. Jean Greaves)

It’s part of the triad of what makes you, you—alongside IQ and personality. The greatest piece of hope in this book is the invitation for the process. The book is high level overview of what EQ is, what it means for you at home and at work, and then techniques to help improve your EQ in the four areas it covers: Self Awareness, Self Management, Relationship Awareness and Relationship Management.

And that’s it. 

It’s short, it’s simple, it’s a small book, and, as most books do, gave me an awareness for growth and tips I could work on right away.

I already knew I could grow in self management. I’m naturally an emotionally driven person, and that often got the best of me. I longed to be like others I’ve met who were more even keel and I felt could manage any situation thrown in their way. I couldn’t do that. And this book gave me hope.

Hope isn’t a strategy though. It also gave me help, help I could implement right away. 

And I’ve already seen the fruit of self-management at home. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the flood of emotions flying everywhere in our house with the fluctuating emotions of four kids ranging from ten to three.

I know I’ll be back to read this book again. When books are so jam-packed with practical application it’s not fair to yourself to think you’ll remember all of it. It’s not helpful, but when you can take one thing, just one little piece of advice, then work on it in your life—the book is worth it. Then, in about 6 months to a year, I’ll pick it up again and work on another area of self management to help me better serve my family and my community.

“In order to be successful and fulfilled nowadays, you must learn to maximize your EQ skills, for those who employ a unique blend of reasons dn feeling achieve the greatest results.” (Dr. Travis Bradberry and Dr. Jean Greaves)

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