Intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligence

Let’s look at EQ and the aspects it focuses on. Goleman (and others) categorise five domains of EQ:

It can be quite tricky interpreting other people’s behaviour - sometimes our interpretation says more about us than the other person.

At a recent National Rugby League match, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott was booed by a crowd of 80,000 people.

You’ll notice in the video the PM smiles when he hears the booing, steps forward, waves to the crowd, steps back and continues to smile and laugh.  Depending on a lot of factors (including who you vote for), you might interpret his behaviour as:

• very reasonable – what else could he have done?
• typical of his arrogance – he doesn’t care that people hate him
• or something else, depending on how you interpret the body language displayed.

This example highlights that, in order to accurately understand other people’s behaviour, you need to understand your own behaviour, including your biases and limitations.

A question commonly asked at job interviews and that is often not answered well by applicants is: “What is your greatest weakness?” Applicants are generally able to list lots of strengths but flounder when asked to identify a weakness – or if they do identify a weakness, they often try to make it appear as a strength, which might not work.