Competencies in Details
In this section you will see a definition of each competency plus your scores. The people who provide feedback are called “raters” and, depending how your project was created, you could have many different groups of raters.
In the following charts you will see responses from different groups of raters. “All others” is a compilation of all the people who provided feedback, excluding your own feedback. “All others” may be further broken down into subgroups. However, this will only be done when it will not compromise the anonymity of any of your raters, thus not all categories of raters will necessarily be shown separately.
1. Enhance Emotional Literacy
Definition: Accurately identifying and interpreting both simple and com- pound feelings.
Importance: Emotions are chemicals, a form of neurotransmitters, that provide data about yourself and others; emotions are a feedback system delivering information that drives behavior and decisions. Emotional literacy is the capacity to access and interpret that data.
Emotional literacy helps you notice, name, and understand feelings. This critical information about you (and about others), gives you insight into the core drivers of behavior. Such understanding is also key to managing your reactions.
2. Recognise Patterns
Definition: Acknowledging frequently recurring reactions and behav- iors.
Importance: Sometimes people assess new situations and respond care-
fully and thoughtfully, but frequently they run on autopilot, reacting un-
consciously, based on habit. In part it’s because the human brain is
wired to form and follow neural pathways. Left unconscious, these pat-
terns can inhibit optimal performance because they are a generalized response rather than one carefully tailored to the current situation.
Recognizing Patterns helps you track and monitor your reactions – which is an essential step to managing them. Recognizing your own patterns will also help you see others’ patterns – which will be invaluable in coaching others off of autopilot as well.
3. Apply Consequential Thinking
Definition: Evaluating the costs and benefits of your choices.
Importance: This skill helps you assess your decisions and their effects. It is key to managing your impulses and acting intentionally (rather than reacting). It’s a process of analyzing and reflecting, using both thoughts and feelings, to identify a response that is optimal for yourself and oth- ers.
This competence is critical for making a strategic plan that accounts for the human dynamics – and for managing your own behavior as you execute that plan.
4. Navigate Emotions
Definition: Assessing, harnessing, and transforming emotions as a strategic resource.
Importance: People are often told to control their emotions, to suppress feelings like anger, joy, or fear, and eliminate them from the decision- making process. However, feelings provide insight and energy; they drive decision-making and behavior – without emotion people literally cannot make decisions.
So rather than ignoring feelings or controlling them through sheer force of will, this competence lets you manage emotions, gain valuable insight from them, and then transform them so you create feelings that are helpful to you and others.
5. Engage Intrinsic Motivation
Definition: Gaining energy from personal values and commitments vs. being driven by external forces.
Importance: People who require external reinforcement to be motivated are always at the mercy of others’ approval or reward system. This ulti- mately reduces self-efficacy.
Engaging Intrinsic Motivation helps you develop and use lasting inner
drivers. This allows you to stand up, challenge the status quo, take risks, and persevere when the going is tough — and it helps you inspire that in others.
6. Exercise Optimism
Definition: Taking a proactive perspective of hope and possibility.
Importance: This learned way of thinking + feeling gives you ownership of your decisions and outcomes. Everyone uses both optimistic and pes- simistic styles of feeling + thinking, some tend to use one more often.
An optimistic outlook increases the pool of choices and the opportunity
for success. This provides a solution-oriented approach, helps you in-
novate, and allows you to engage others’ positive energy. Optimism helps you see beyond the present and take ownership of the future.
7. Increase Empathy
Definition: Recognizing and appropriately responding to others’ emo- tions
Importance: Empathy is a nonjudgmental openness to others’ feelings and experiences that builds connection and awareness. It starts by notic- ing both the pleasant and unpleasant feelings and genuinely caring what the other person is experiencing. The next steps include listening, shar- ing, and responding in a way that shows your concern.
Empathy is key to understanding others and forming enduring and trusting relationships. It ensures you take other people into account in your decision-making and gives them a rock-solid assurance that you are on the same team.
8. Pursue Noble Goals
Definition: Connecting your daily choices with your overarching sense of purpose.
Importance: Noble Goals activate all of the other competencies in the Six Seconds Model. When people examine their personal vision, mission, and legacy, and use that conviction to set their goals and objectives, emotional intelligence gains relevance and power.
When you are clear about your Noble Goal, you feel compelled to pay fierce attention to your daily choices to ensure that you are not undermining your life’s purpose. Pursuing a Noble Goal facilitates integrity and ethical behavior, which helps you maintain focus, inspire others, and access your full power and potential.
