1. Emotional intelligence

Subject title Emotional intelligence

Purpose of the activity To introduce participants with the principles of operation of the square of emotional intelligence and to teach young people to apply them in everyday life.

Duration: 2-4 hours.

Location and tools The presentation requires a projector, writing board, paper and writing tools for participants as well as tables, chairs and „Dixit“ game cards.

Number of participants 10-20 participants.

Acquaintance/ team building methods

Practical tasks „Dixit“ game cards are used. At the beginning of the session, participants are invited to choose a card with a picture that best reflects their emotional well-being over the past month. Each participant introduces himself/herself and says why he/she chose exactly that card. A person who is leading the session asks participants to keep these cards until the end of the session.

It is suggested to form practical tasks for the corresponding theoretical part, in order to encourage participants to delve into each of the four parts of the emotional square. Participants can answer the questions in the tasks individually, by answering them in writing only for themselves, or in groups, in pairs orally (this will strengthen the connection between the participants). I OTHERS

I UNDERSTAND

CONSCIOUSNESS

Answer the following questions for yourself: 1. Do I like the person I became? Why? 2. How do I rate my current quality of life? Why so exactly? What do I need to improve my quality of life? 3. What do I have to deal with every day? In what ways do I do this? What are the results? EMPATHY

Answer the following questions for yourself:

1. In what cases is it easy (good) for people around me to communicate with me? What factors determine that? 2. How do I understand that it is easy (good) for people around me to communicate with me? 3. In what cases is it difficult for people around me to communicate with me? What factors determine that? 4. What decisions do I make when I realize that the people around me are having a hard time with me?

I CONTROL

SELF-REGULATION

Participants are invited to choose any story of their life when they have experienced strong destructive emotions, and to describe the emotional state of that situation. Tell how they dealt with their inner emotions. Are all the emotions released at this moment? Were all the emotions regulated and controlled? What positive life lesson did this situation teach them? INFLUENCE

Participants are invited to assess their level of leadership and influence. What determines leadership or lack of leadership expression? How do they feel about it? Are they satisfied with the current situation? If they are not satisfied, what should they do to change the situation? It is also possible to review a list of different wellknown world leaders and discuss what led to their leadership and emotional impact.

End of session reflection methods At the end of the session, participants are invited to look again at the chosen card (take a new one or choose more if necessary) and describe their last month‘s emotions, perceptions, assessments as accurately as possible, also based on the knowledge acquired during the session.

THEORETICAL INFORMATION

In today‘s constantly accelerating world, in addition to digital and professional skills, general, or so-called soft skills, are also starting to play an important role and they cover a wide range of competencies relevant to personal effectiveness. More and more people are talking openly about the concept of emotional intelligence and the importance of well-educated emotional intelligence. In the past, realizing oneself in the labour market was only about the relevance of the intelligence quotient (IQ), but gradually, when deciding whether to hire or promote an employee, the personality‘s emotional quotient (EQ) or emotional intelligence quotient (EIQ) begins to take leading positions. Some employers evaluate the emotional intelligence of candidates for job positions or team members more intuitively, i.e. by asking certain relevant questions related to their institution and/or teamwork, the answers to which help to better understand how the candidate would behave in one situation or another or solve various problems that arise. Other employers have developed tests that reveal more accurate information about candidates‘ emotional quotient (EQ) (emotional intelligence quotient (EIQ)).

Here are some characteristics of employees with welldeveloped emotional intelligence: • they are able to set priorities and focus; • they do more than is required of them without expecting a reward immediately; • they are brave thinkers and they are not afraid to express their opinions and do that correctly; • they neutralize „toxic“ team members by controlling their emotions and collaborating; • they are reliable and responsible and they do not hide their mistakes; • in the event of a conflict, they are able to defend their position calmly and firmly; • they do not overlook the slightest imperfection and see a way out of any problem; • control their ambitions, are able to admit that they were wrong. The whole theory of emotional intelligence is based on a journey of multi-level personal consciousness by perceiving and analysing primarily one’s own emotions, and at the same time empathically perceiving the other person’s feelings and motives.

I UNDERSTAND

I CONTROL I OTHERS

CONSCIOUSNESS EMPATHY

SELFREGULATION INFLUENCE

Personal development and growth in the field of strengthening emotional intelligence occurs in the below described order:

CONSCIOUSNESS

• It is an individual‘s ability to develop an awareness of and to analyse oneself, experienced emotions, feelings, actions taken, self-expression in the environment and the environment itself. • „First of all, I consciously analyse myself (selfreflection), I understand myself, my feelings, motives, intentions and purposes.“

SELF-REGULATION

• It is an individual‘s ability to identify, analyse, understand, clearly name the emotions experienced and the stimuli that caused them. After naming and identifying them, be able to learn from the current situation and transform destructive emotions into positive ones.

• “By understanding my feelings, motives, actions‘ strategies, I consciously control the emotions that I experience, with specific tools, methods and knowledge of how to do it.“

EMPATHY

• It is a person‘s ability to express himself/herself correctly in every situation, depending on the circumstances, and to react respectfully to all situations, to communicate in accordance with the principles of respect and environmental friendliness. • “I master well the tools of self-awareness and selfregulation, therefore at the same time I am able to analyse and understand another person‘s feelings, motives, intentions and to correctly experience with another person his/her emotions and experiences.“

INFLUENCE

• It is a person‘s ability to inspire and lead other people and to be an authority in the team, to influence the team‘s decisions by providing its members security and accompanying them. • „I master well the tools of self-awareness and selfregulation, therefore I can penetrate and analyse other people‘s behaviour patterns and influence the other person‘s emotions.“

Each of the following four parts has its possible positive and negative forms of expression.

CONSCIOUSNESS POSITIVE EXPRESSION

Self-reflection – a tendency to analyse oneself by properly completing and selfassessing each cycle of experience and learning. Overthinking – stuck in the ongoing process of evaluation and selfassessment, constantly delving into something and analysing something.

NEGATIVE EXPRESSION

SELF-REGULATION

Emotion management – conscious observation, regulation and transformation of emotions. Self-control – a forced repression and suppression of emotions which may lead to adverse effects and psychosomatic disorders.

EMPATHY

INFLUENCE

Emotional support – the ability to provide psychological, emotional support and to quickly orient oneself in the emotional backgrounds of ongoing situations. Emotional donation – the tendency to excessively share your time, emotional resources, attention – all of this leads to burn-out and emotional exhaustion.

Emotional leadership – an ability to communicate effectively, empathetically understanding and getting to know each member of the team. Manipulation – the subtle conscious or unconscious use of knowledge about another individual's personal and emotional qualities without their knowledge to achieve personal goals.

In terms of strengthening the personality of the young person in each of the four main elements of the emotional square in their positive expressions and the neutralization of negative expressions, the set challenges and learning vectors can also be represented in a separate table:

CONSCIOUSNESS STRENGTHENING POSITIVE EXPRESSION

Strengthening the ability of self-reflection – learning to consciously analyse one’s well-being in every process of life. Developing and expanding emotional vocabulary in order to get to know your emotions better.

NEUTRALIZING NEGATIVE EXPRESSION

Neutralizing the expression of over-valuation – learning to set certain boundaries and time frames in each process of reflection and self-reflection without getting stuck in it for too long.

SELF-REGULATION

Emotion management – learning to accept every emerging emotion, to understand the content it conveys, and to neutralize or transform negative emotion into the positive one. Self-control – analysing what happens at the emotional, physical, and mental levels when emotions are repressed and suppressed.

EMPATHY

INFLUENCE

Emotional support – exploring people’s choices without judging them and without explaining their behaviour by the fact that their character does not change. Learning to repeat another person’s position without experiencing inner resistance. Strengthening critical thinking.

Emotional leadership – raising other people’s self-esteem by envisaging their strengths. Neutralizing team members’ weaknesses by correctly expressing feedback and supporting their personal challenges. Tension reduction by communicating and collaborating. Emotional donation – learning to set personal boundaries when interacting with other people. Monitoring communication with people: with whom one feels an increase in the amount of energy, and with whom – fatigue, as well as control of all types of communication.

Manipulation – learning not to flaunt against other people. Adherence to the principles of environmental friendliness and establishment of communication which is based on the value of respect which is considered the basis.