Know Thy Self. Love Thy Self.
When you know yourself you are empowered.
When you accept yourself you are invincible.
Tina Lifford
There is extensive discussion on emotional intelligence, and the impact that it has on our self-awareness, self-agency, and self-acceptance. We also know that gaining this wisdom and journeying through discovery would serve us well in business and in life.
Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace
A lot of the work of emotional intelligence in the workplace has been centered on medium-sized businesses or large corporate settings. This is important work as those businesses have teams and emotional intelligence workshops are amazing tools for team development and dynamics.
When you’re an entrepreneur working on your own or with a small team, this may not be the type of work that you considered. However, I believe that you should consider it. Frankly, if you have any type of relationship with another human in a personal or professional setting, you should consider it. Yep – that means all of us.
The Lumina Learning Organization
There are many resources out there, but the tool that I have used over the past 15 years, and highly recommend, is through an organization called Lumina Learning. Let me share a bit about Lumina Learning and why I decided to become a practitioner to further support my clients.
Lumina Learning is a global network of experts and practitioners across 40 countries worldwide. Lumina’s innovative personalised development tools are highly effective for individuals, teams, and organizations. These tools are research-based with foundations in Jungian and Big5 models. The foundation tool, Lumina Spark, retains the benefits of the Jungian approach of valuing both ends of each polarity and has been developed based on the Big5 research.
Lumina Spark Questionnaire Provides True Choice
The factor that drew me to Lumina Spark is that the questionnaire measures both ends of the polarity separately. In contrast, most Jungian instruments ask questions such as "Do you prefer to go to parties or stay in and read a book?" This 'forced choice' means the learner must declare themselves as either extraverted (a party goer) or introverted (a book reader). This forced choice is in fact a false choice.
With Lumina Spark, learners are not expected to make a false choice. Each concept from both ends of the polarity is assessed by a separate question. Thus, learners may choose to declare they like to go to parties, and they like to stay in and read books (or neither).
This is achieved using a five-point Likert scale to provide the learner with more responses so that they can accurately express their views. Further, by measuring 3 personas (underlying, everyday, and overextended) Lumina Learning creates one portrait which reveals all of your personality.
Lumina Digital Platform with Spark Coach + Lumina Splash app
The biggest attractor for me is the digital platform, moving beyond the traditional paper report received at a workshop or downloaded in document form. The Lumina platform provides online to access Spark Coach, which is a coaching tool that supports you in taking that paper report from stagnate document to information and resources that increase your emotional intelligence, self-awareness, self-agency, and self-acceptance.
The perfect partner in this online learning is the Lumina Splash app which allows you to carry the wisdom with you. To learn on the go and lean into the wisdom in the moment. Over the 15 years the tool has moved from a binder on my shelf that I refer to a few times a year to an app that is with me at all times.
Now, when I need to journey to composure, I can pick up my phone and remind myself of the techniques that will serve me well. As I prepare for a meeting with individuals that reside on the other side of the spectrum, I check on what approach will best serve them well and therefore ensure the most effective exchange possible.
What could this mean for you?
Do you have conversations with clients, family members or friends that approach life differently than you? Maybe they take longer pauses before they speak? Maybe they need data and facts while making a decision? Or maybe, when they are upset, they get really quiet?
If you have relationships with people (yes, even your children and spouse) you will benefit from this wisdom. You will learn more about yourself and how to effectively navigate conversations and relationships with others.
Knowing Yourself is the Beginning of all Wisdom.
Aristotle.
