Why I Became A Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach in 2013

For the entire year of 2012, I mentored under someone I consider to be an expert in CliftonStrengths™ Coaching. The year I invested under my mentor working with technology-gifted coaching clients was priceless to my development as a Career Coach who leverages the CliftonStrengths assessment in his coaching practice.

I’ve been privileged to work with some of the smartest people on the planet as my coaching clients. Strengths Coaching provides a rock-solid foundation for building authentic, Self-Awareness.

One of my entrepreneur real estate investor clients shared her thoughts after we completed her Strengths Development Coaching.

“Without having you by my side, I wouldn’t have left my comfort zone or confronted my fears. Thank you for helping me to develop authentic self-confidence.”

— Debbie, Real Estate Investor

Even with sound Strengths Coaching training and experience under my belt, I knew there was something more I could be delivering to my clients to guide them to their future success.  

It was late in 2013 when I ran across an opportunity to work with instructors in Denver who both possessed Ph.D. education in psychology. It was through this mentoring that I was trained and certified as an Emotional Intelligence coach.

When my clients learn their potential Strengths, they discover that when their Strengths are intentional, fine-tuned, and polished, the output from their Strengths is unstoppable.

On the flip-side, when a potential Strength is operating in its infancy stage and it is still an unpolished Trait, the output an unpolished Trait can produce can often result in more harm than good.

This poor performance that comes from an unpolished Trait is often tied to behavior that can be measured by an Emotional Intelligence measurement tool I leverage called EQ-i 2.0. This is a tool that can only be purchased and evaluated by someone who has been trained and certified in the use of the tool.

Emotional Intelligence or EQ (Emotional Quotient) enables my coaching clients to truly discover, develop, polish and fine-tune the best versions of themselves. They know exactly and precisely who they are and who they are not. The deeply understand themselves, how and why they do what they do, and they gain strategies to generate their best performance.

My clients also gain an understanding of how they are coming across to other people. Once they know how they are being perceived, they are in a position to choose behaviors that will enhance their audience’s perception of them.

Combining Strengths Coaching with Emotional Intelligence Coaching is one of the strongest Strategic moves I’ve ever made on behalf of my clients. Not sold on this EQ idea yourself?

This is what Jack Welch had to say about Emotional Intelligence.

“No doubt emotional intelligence is rarer than book smarts, but my experience says it is actually more important in the making of a leader. You just can’t ignore it.”

— Jack Welch

This is what one of my “C Suite” Emotional Intelligence Coaching clients had to share about his journey towards developing healthy Emotional Intelligence.

“You’ve taught me that connecting with people on an emotional level is significantly more effective and more positive than my formerly, pure left-brain approach, of proving my point with charts, graphs, and data.”

— Tom, CISO

Why should you want to discover and develop your unique potential Strengths?

• Once you take the CliftonStrengths™ Assessment, 33,000,000 more people will have to take the assessment before a match to your Top 5 potential Strengths is discovered. You really are this unique! You should discover exactly and precisely how unique you truly are and learn how to articulate what is unique about you in a confident manner.
• My coaching clients ace interviews. They know exactly who they are and who they are not. The result of Strengths Discovery is crystal-clear Self-Awareness. Psychological research suggests that only 10% of the population possesses accurate and authentic Self-Awareness. You could join this small percentage of the population.
• People who invest time and energy to do more than just read their Strengths report, people who actually invest in developing their Strengths, learn when to say Yes and when to say No. No more settling for what one CAN do. My clients hold out for what they SHOULD do in order to produce the best version of themselves.
• The list goes on…

What’s the benefit of discovering and developing one’s Emotional Intelligence?

• People who possess strong Emotional Intelligence know precisely who they are and who they are not.
• Emotionally Intelligent people understand what’s going on in their own minds.
• Emotionally Intelligent people understand how they come across to others.
• Emotionally Intelligent people learn to strategically adjust the way they come across to others in order to produce more desirable outcomes.
• Emotionally Intelligent people are equipped to build deep, meaningful, authentic, and trusting relationships.
• Emotionally Intelligent people can become the greatest bosses their employees have ever had.
• The list goes on…

One of my Emotional Intelligence Coaching clients said it this way.

“You didn’t just change my profession. You changed my life and my marriage. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without your help.”

— Duaine, "C" Suite Executive

Who Benefits From This Coaching?

The coaching I deliver to my clients isn’t just for executives. My coaching clients range from 24-years-old to 60-something years old. They’re high performing people who desire to take their personal and professional performance to the next level.

If you’d like to take your personal and professional performance to the next level, Schedule a call with me to discover how.

Jeff Snyder’s, CliftonStrengths Coaching, Emotional Intelligence Coaching, Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

Connecting With People at an Emotional Level Produces Results

The Value of Connecting at an Emotional Level

Transformational Personal Breakthrough

When through emotional intelligence coaching, a brilliant technologist experiences this kind of transformational personal breakthrough, his career is on the verge of escalating to the next level.

“Connecting with people on an emotional level is significantly more effective and more positive than my formerly, pure left-brain approach, of proving my point with charts, graphs, and data.”

— C Suite Executive

Jeff Snyder's, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

Today, I’m Writing to You from The Future

Looking Back At 2017

Seriously, I’m in the future and I’m looking back at 2017. My top Strength is called Futuristic®.  Futuristic® translates to Visionary. I’ve always seen down the road further than most people. This skill serves my coaching clients well when I'm working with them on developing a career road map that will impact their career future.

Look at a few "C" level job descriptions. Leadership job descriptions routinely ask for Visionary, Strategic, Leadership. 

To make this delivery even more powerful, I slip in my number 2 Strength, Strategic®. When I add this strength to my Futuristic®, I’m able to not only see down the road, I’m also able to build strategic paths to get from here to there.

Futuristic® IN Dallas, Texas

Four years ago, I spoke at a technology event in Dallas, Texas.  Following my talk, a "C" suite executive came from the back of the room to speak with me. He recognized my Futuristic® message and said: "I need that". When I asked what it was that he needed, he replied, "I need all of that and whatever you might have in your back pocket."

I've been privileged to work with this "C" suite executive in a coaching capacity ever since. This is where he is today after working with me to understand his Strengths, to improve his Self-Awareness and to improve his Emotional Intelligence.

“• I now pick up on other’s behaviors that I
didn’t notice before because I was too busy
focusing on myself.
• You learn to break through other’s acts. It’s
like you learn the code to decode other’s
sincerity or lack thereof.
• I’ve become much more efficient and
effective in my relationships.
• Knowing your Emotional Intelligence causes
you to make a lot of adjustments to yourself.
• Developing EQ has pushed me to learn how
to be a Strategic leader and I no longer feel
the need to convince others that I know
everything.
”

— "C" Suite Executive

Just to be fair, it turns out that the person who made his way from the back of the room is also Futuristic® and Strategic® as I am. We've worked hard to achieve what you just read above.  This is not how the "C" Suite leader was thinking when we first met.

Futuristic® in Denver, Colorado

Just over three years ago, I stood in front of a group of smart cyber security professionals as their invited speaker. I talked to this group about the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EI) or sometimes called, Emotional Quotient, (EQ) and how working with a skilled Emotional Intelligence Coach to develop higher EQ would become a career differentiating decision.
 

Futuristic® in Las Vegas, Nevada

Three years ago, this month, I stood in front of a group of “C” Suite executives in Las Vegas as a speaker. I talked to this group about moving past sole reliance on their high IQs to develop high EQ as well. Did anybody hear me?  Yes, a few people did.

Articles I’ve read recently predicting the future in 2020 and 2025 suggest that Emotional Intelligence is a hot skill to possess in the future.

Experience the Future Now!

The 2020 and 2025 articles aren’t wrong. I became trained and certified to coach Emotional Intelligence skills in 2014 because I saw EQ becoming a must-have set of skills not for 2020 or 2025 but for now.  Right now, in 2017.

Don’t Procrastinate

Yesterday, I received a message from someone I originally spoke with in August of 2015.  I distinctly remember the 2015 conversation. I recall that the person on the other end of my phone resonated with what I was sharing at the time but he didn’t take immediate action. Our conversation centered around Self-Awareness, Strengths, and Emotional Intelligence topics.

Yesterday’s message to me from this person read like this:

““Jeff, I’m ready for some professional coaching if you are still providing consultation. My number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. I’ve learned a lot the past 2-3 years, the hard way. I should have called you sooner.””

Do It Now!

The issues referenced in this email include this person’s Strengths, Self-Awareness and his need to develop more polished Emotional Intelligence.  I can help this person today. I could also have helped this person two years ago and he likely would have been able to skip some of the lessons he has learned “the hard way”.

Looking Back From the Future

As I look back at 2017 from the future, I’m 100% certain that those high IQ professionals I’m privileged to serve today, where we’re working to develop stronger Self-Awareness and stronger Emotional Intelligence, will already be ready for action when 2020 and 2025 arrive.

The truth is that those who engage in this type of coaching today will be well-ahead of the curve when 2020 and 2025 arrive.

Don’t wait for tomorrow to do what you could do today. That’s my Activator® (Let’s Go) speaking!

Jeff Snyder’s, Jeff Snyder Coaching Blog, 719.686.8810

One “C” Suite Leader’s Personal Benefits from Developing Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Intelligence

The term “emotional intelligence” was coined and formally defined by John (Jack) Mayer of the University of New Hampshire and Peter Salovey of Yale University in 1990.

Jack Mayer and Peter Salovey define Emotional Intelligence as “the ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional meanings, and to reflectively regulate emotions in ways that promote emotional and intellectual growth.”

Research has shown that there is no difference between emotional intelligence in men and women. Women do however frequently score higher in some emotional intelligence skills than most men.

Men are more likely to dismiss the value of emotional intelligence than women.

A “C” suite coaching client of mine who has been working with me as his coach for several years now, shared these ideas with me yesterday.

Benefits of Emotional Intelligence

• “I’ve become much more efficient in my relationships.”
• “I now pick up on other people’s behaviors that I didn’t notice before because I was too busy focusing on myself.”
• “When you understand emotional intelligence, you learn to break through other people’s acts.  It’s as if you learn how to decode other’s sincerity or lack thereof.”
• “Knowing my emotional intelligence has caused me to make a lot of behavioral adjustments that I could have never made before when I was unaware of how I was coming across to others.”
• “Developing EQ has pushed me to learn how to leverage my gift as a Strategic leader and I no longer feel the need to convince others that I know everything. I stick to the strategy and delegate the details to people on my team who are more capable of carrying out detailed assignments.”
• “My recent presentation to the Audit Committee was a 10 on a scale of 10.  My presentation to the Board of Directors was a 9.5 on a scale of 10. These ratings came to me from my boss.”

This was one of my most favorite conversations of all time. To have worked with someone for several years to improve behavior, the most difficult task on the planet, and to learn about these kinds of results was priceless.  Then the feedback got even better from my perspective.

“What you’ve exposed me to today has touched me at the core of my being. You are amazingly talented at coaching.”

— "C" Suite Executive

While these are not the only benefits to be gained by understanding one’s emotional intelligence, these are benefits that came to my client’s mind in one conversation.

This “C” suite executive’s life has changed because of the work we’ve done together to improve his emotional intelligence. No, I’m not guessing at this. I’ve been told on many occasions by this same client that the work we’ve done together has impacted him professionally as well as at home with his wife and his son.

It’s never too late to learn the current state of your own emotional intelligence. It's also not too late to learn how to improve your emotional intelligence.  The benefits of doing so are virtually endless. The sooner you get started the more time there is to create lasting impact.

Jeff Snyder is a Certified Emotional Intelligence Coaching delivering his Emotional Intelligence Coaching services through Jeff Snyder Coaching.

TOP 10 Business Skills for 2020

CREDIT: Future of Jobs Report, World Economic Forum

Top 10 skills required in 2020 according to the World Economic Forum report

All of the top 2020 skills listed above can be measured with the combination of the Clifton StrengthsFinder and the EQi-2.0 Emotional Quotient Inventory.

Your Unique Strengths

In the hands of an experienced Strengths Coach, the results of the Clifton StrengthsFinder™ can be interpreted to show a coaching client exactly and precisely how they are internally wired.  The 34 traits represented in the Clifton StrengthsFinder™ are broken down into Strategic Thinking Traits, Influencing Traits, Relationship Building Traits and Executing Traits. How a person's traits uniquely line up determine whether they'd be a better Engineer or a better Engineering Manager, a better Accountant or a better Chief Financial Officer and so on.

Notice in the chart above for example that People Management, Coordinating with Others (Collaboration) and Emotional Intelligence are all people-oriented topics.  People skills or Soft skills are, have been and will continue to be highly valuable skills moving into the future.

Emotional Intelligence

The EQi-2.0 Emotional Quotient® Inventory is an assessment used to measure a person's Emotional Intelligence.  This assessment can only be purchased and interpreted by someone who has invested in training and certification through the assessment's owner.

Through this assessment, a Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach can show their client where their Emotional Intelligence stands relative to other people who do similar work. The good news is that the 15 different emotional intelligence skills measured by the EQi-2.0® can be improved upon when working with an experienced coach.

The business wants, needs and expects job candidates who have a blend of Strategic Thinking skills and Emotional Intelligence skills to name just a few.  It takes time to fine-tune and polish the traits found in the Clifton StrengthsFinder™ into Strengths.  It also takes time to fine-tune and polish the skills found in the EQi-2.0 assessment.  

Those who invest themselves to learn about their natural Strengths and those who invest in themselves to improve their current level of Emotional Intelligence are the individuals who will earn the best jobs of the future.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Strengths Coaching and Emotional Intelligence Coaching…Why?

I was recently asked why I offer both Strengths Coaching and Emotional Intelligence Coaching. 

Strengths Coaching focuses on what a person has potential to be great at based on their natural giftedness. Because I work heavily with people who are gifted technologists, I have built up enough data and experience to understand the uniqueness of the gifted technologists I’m privileged to serve.  When I get to pass this understanding on to the gifted technologists who trust me to coach them, I get to help my coaching clients take their personal game to a new level. 

Maximizer

This work taps into the Maximizer (one of my top strengths) in me. By default, my Maximizer causes me to focus on taking good to great all the time.  I love to show my clients how they can turn their good performance into a great performance.

Gifted Technologists

My work goes beyond working with gifted technologists.  My unique experience also enables me to show some of my clients how their unique giftedness sets them up to either become or to fine-tune their leadership abilities if they're already in leadership. 

The days when I get to coach someone who has potential they didn’t know they had before we got together are some of my best days!

Weaknesses

Because everyone I coach is a human being, there is a 100% chance that every one of my coaching clients have weaknesses.  As a Strengths Coach, I have determined that it makes no sense at all to try to help my clients turn their weaknesses into strengths.  It simply doesn’t work.

What does work is the effort I invest with my clients to strengthen their strengths while showing them how to build strategies around their weaknesses so their weaknesses don’t get in the way of their strengths. Strategies can’t be built around topics that are not clearly understood.

Emotional Intelligence

It was my observation that everyone has weaknesses that led me to discover a way to become trained and certified in Emotional Intelligence Coaching. 

Emotional Intelligence shows me how my clients perceive themselves.  Sometimes this self-perception is right and sometimes it is wrong.  I can also see how my clients are likely perceived by other people.  When there is a gap between how my clients perceive themselves and how they come across to other people, there is work to be done.

The good news here is that a person’s Emotional Intelligence can be improved upon.  In my coaching practice, these are the Emotional Intelligence skill we measure and work to improve based on each coaching client’s unique needs.

Emotional Intelligence

Self-Perception

Self-Regard, Self-Actualization, Emotional Self-Awareness

Self-Expression

Emotional Expression, Assertiveness, Independence

Interpersonal

Interpersonal Relationships, Empathy, Social Responsibility

Decision Making

Problem Solving, Reality Testing, Impulse Control

Stress Management

Flexibility, Stress Tolerance, Optimism

Working with my clients as an Emotional Intelligence Coach to improve their Emotional Intelligence is the most difficult and the most impactful and rewarding work I do.  When a person works to improve their behavior, the behavior that impacts other people and progress is made, this is the most impactful work I do and it is one of the greatest personal and professional investments my clients can possibly make.

Better behavior leads to all kinds of positive results.  When my clients are focused on doing work that aligns with their top strengths and they are focused on delivering their work with their best behavior attached, the result for my clients is their best performance. 

Jeff Snyder Coaching, 719.686.881

“I’m an Alpha Male” he told me

That’s what my caller told me during our conversation.  I’m not sure how you define “Alpha Male” so here's what came to my mind. 

I interpreted the comment in context of this conversation to mean that the person on the other end of my phone had a need to tell me he was a “Big Dog” and he was used to being in charge. 

The Alpha Males and Alpha Females I know who are impressive leaders may feel the need to tell others they are “Alpha” but they turn on their Impulse Control and they don't say what might be on their minds.

The "Alpha" leaders I know through my leadership coaching work more often than not possess the Command strength near the top of their StrengthsFinder report.  

Command as defined by the Clifton Strengthsfinder:  People exceptionally talented in the Command theme have presence.  They can take control of a situation and make decisions.  

Only 5% of the +-15 Million people who have taken a Clifton StrengthsFinder have the Command trait showing up in their top 5 traits.  Out of 34 traits that show up on the StrengthsFinder report, Command comes in 34th in terms of frequency. Command is rare.

Successful "Alpha" people tend to operate with these characteristics:

• They inspire trust by being honest and by demonstrating high integrity
• They are decisive
• They have vision and they are able to clearly communiate their vision
• They are people whose words you might not like but you always know where they stand
• They are humble
• They’re leaders

Leaders don’t need to tell others that they’re leaders.  They simply do what leaders do.

Jeff Snyder Coaching, Leadership Coach, 719.686.8810

What Is Strengths Coaching?

What Is Strengths Coaching?

The Strengths Coaching I’ll refer to here is what happens after a person takes a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment.  The report that comes from taking a Clifton StrengthsFinder shows a person’s totally unique human makeup or wiring as I like to call it, based on how their 34 traits line up.

The results of this assessment don’t throw a person into a box or category that someone else created.  This assessment brilliantly shows a person how entirely unique they are.  As a Strengths Coach, I get to show my clients what to do with their uniqueness.  I’m passionate about this work. 

“Millennials love not being put into a box by the way”

Traits / Strengths

The traits at or near the top of someone’s Clifton StrengthsFinder report are generally thought to be someone’s Strengths.  This is true if a person is aware of their dominant traits and if they’re actively working to leverage their dominate traits to create the best possible version of themselves.

I spoke in front of an audience of approximately 75 people.  I asked the audience to raise their hand of they had ever taken a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment.  My best guess is that as many as 60 out of 75 hands went up.

I then asked those who had raised their hand to keep their hand up if they had done anything with their StrengthsFinder assessment results.  Again, my best guess suggests that approximately 10 hands remained raised and as many as 50 hands went down.

Eye Opener

This was an eye opening experience for me. At that moment, I began to understand why so many people I encounter think they know their strengths.  In reality, these people might know the words that sit on an assessment report but if they’ve never gone beyond the word descriptions on the assessment report, they likely don’t know their unique personal strengths and more importantly, how those strengths operate.

My Strengths Coaching Process

• Begins with my client taking a Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment.

• What: In our first session together, I help my client to understand what their report says, how to read and interpret their report and we set the ground work for our second meeting.

• Why: In our second session together, my focus is on interactively taking my client on a deep dive into their unique top traits.  My goal here is to help my client see how and why their unique traits cause them to operate the way they do.  Simultaneously, my client will learn how their unique traits could be coming across to other people. It is during this second meeting that “Ah Ha” moments and “Light bulb” moments frequently occur.  This is when my clients start to see not just what dots are sitting on their report but they start to see how their dots work together to make them the unique person they are.

• How: In our next meeting, this is when I build our meeting around the homework my client worked on after our second meeting.  During the homework stage, I find that many of my clients start to develop clarity around what they uniquely have to offer.  Once the switch flips in my client’s mine, it is now time to start working on how they can leverage their unique giftedness to create their best performance.

• Leverage: In our fourth meeting, this is where I apply my 26+ years of experience as a professional recruiter to help my clients to create a personal strategy around their unique Strengths.  By strategy I’m referring to what my client will do with their new-found understanding of how to create their own best performance. For some of my clients, this means making course adjustments in the job they already have in the company they’re already in.  Some of my clients come to the realization that they might be in the wrong job or that they might be in the right or wrong job in the wrong company.  Other clients who had been scratching an entrepreneurial itch now have the clarity to see that stepping out to start their own business of some sort is the right personal decision.

Bottom Line

What matters to me is that each and every Strengths Coaching client I’m privileged to work with is able to move forward with enhanced Clarity, Direction, Confidence and a Strategic Plan to know how to get to their next destination.

What's Next?

Many of my Strengths Coaching clients learn so much about themselves through the Strengths Coaching experience that they stick with me to work on improving their Emotional Intelligence.  In addition to being a Strengths Coach, I am also a Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach.  The work I do around Emotional Intelligence Coaching is the most deeply impacting work I’ve been privileged to do with other people in my entire career.

The combination of Strengths Coaching and Emotional Intelligence Coaching is what moves my clients from “Good to Great” and I’m fortunate enough to go along for the ride. 

Jeff Snyder Coaching

Human Behavioral Change Is Really Difficult and Potentially Priceless When It Happens

If you figure it out or if someone tells you that something in your behavior is getting in the way of your progress and you decide that it’s time to address that behavior, there are a few things you should know about behavioral change.

The behavior that is getting in the way of your progress likely didn’t start yesterday.  Therefore, fixing a negative behavior isn’t going to happen as soon as tomorrow. Most human behaviors are deeply ingrained because we’ve been practicing our bad behaviors for a long time.

The idea of changing human behavior is possible and frequently very fruitful but it is also one of the most difficult endeavors a person can take on.  The behavior that is deeply ingrained and practiced will take time to unravel and to improve.

Anyone who is serious about changing behaviors that might be holding back their progress can change their behavior.  There is no magic wand or pixie dust available to facilitate human behavioral change.  A properly trained emotional intelligence coach can assist his / her client in making positive change and the benefits of doing so can be priceless.

What does changing human behavior look like?  Here are just a few examples.

Impulse Control

The smartest person in the room frequently has the impulse to let others know how smart they are.  Learning how to control this impulse and adding a scoop of humility can do wonders for this person’s personal and professional progress. Impulse Control is an Emotional Intelligence skill that can be improved upon.

Listening

It has been said that most people listen in order to determine how best to formulate what they’re going to say next.  In other words, they aren’t really listening to actually hear and understand what someone else has to say. They're listening to build their speaking strategy. 

A different listening approach would be to listen with the intention of understanding the person who is speaking.  This change in approach can radically change the results of a conversation.

Winning Too Much

Many people who in leadership roles are highly competitive people who need to win all the time.  The down-side of being wired like this is the tendency for such a person to step in and give his / her team the answers to a problem.  By simply (not so simple for this person) stepping back and allowing one’s team to formulate an answer to a problem, a highly competitive, win at all costs type of leader can dramatically boost his / her team’s willingness to contribute to problem solving in the future.

People who consider how their behavior impacts the audience around them and people who strive to achieve balance in their behavior are the people who will achieve the most desirable results in all facets of life. This is simple to say and very difficult to achieve. 

As difficult as it is to achieve behavioral change, the results of changing negative behavior can be priceless.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

The "Smartest Person in the Room Syndrome"

Perhaps you’ve encountered this person?

The smartest person in the room tends to dominate meetings. They don’t let others add a word to their one-sided conversations. They have a consistent need to let others know how intelligent they are. More often than not, they truly are the person in the room who was gifted with the highest IQ.

When it comes to IQ (cognitive skills), the smartest person in the room frequently possesses more intellectual, analytical, logical and rational abilities than everyone else. They are drawn to highly analytical careers such as engineering, information technology or cyber security. These are careers where exceptionally high IQ serves one well.

It is this exceptionally high IQ that enables the smartest person in the room to excel to a certain level. At some point though, the IQ that got the smartest person in the room to where they are will no longer propel them forward to the next level of career success.

Research suggests that IQ can be responsible for as much as +-20% of one’s career success but more often than not, IQ is responsible for as little as 6% of career success.

Is the smartest person in the room doomed to hit a glass ceiling in their career? Often times the answer is yes and the reason is behavior. The smartest person in the room frequently leaves a trail of relationship carnage behind them. They may not wake up every morning thinking about whom they can step on that day, but throughout the day, if they behave in ways that are natural to them, they will step on other people.

What are some of the characteristics of the smartest person in the room?

• Talk more than they listen.
• Fail to consider other’s points of view.
• Have a constant need to be right and to win.
• Share opinions even when the topic they have an opinion on is not their expertise.
• Frequently not teachable because their regard for themselves is inflated.
• Fails to understand how they come across to others.
• Low in empathy.

Is there a cure for “The Smartest Person in the Room Syndrome”?

There absolutely is a cure if the smartest person in the room can humble themselves to not just accept coaching, but they need to humble themselves to actively participate in and work on their coaching. It’s not a matter of turning weaknesses into strengths. Addressing behavioral change is more about creating strategies to manage behaviors that could impact others in an adverse way.

IQ is generally thought of as being stagnant. In other words, you're as smart today as you're ever going to be. Emotional Intelligence is generally thought to be flexible in that the skills that make up Emotional Intelligence can be adjusted through coaching.

The "Smartest Person In the Room"...with a Behavioral Strategy

A retired military 2 Star General told me a story while we shared a meal. He asked me to take a look at a person I could see over his shoulder at the next table. He asked me if I wanted to know how that person became a 4 Star General when my meal companion had only reached 2 Stars. Not that becoming a 2 Star General is an easy task but my companion really wanted me to understand how his friend and colleague reached the 4 Star level of success.

Of course I wanted to know. The 2 Star General explained to me that he and the 4 Star General graduated from the same class in the military academy they both attended. They both started out with the same credentials to begin their military careers. The game-changer for the 4 Star General was his ability to be the smartest person in the room more often than not throughout his career but he learned to suppress his need to let everyone know that he was so smart.

The 2 Star General told me that the 4 Star General, whom he admired as both a friend and career colleague, excelled in everything he did because he was intellectually gifted but he learned quickly that his career would take off if he learned how to treat people with respect.

Some of the characteristics that enabled the 4 Star General to excel include:

• Listened more than he talked.
• Let other people win whenever possible.
• Considered other people’s points of view.
• Shared opinions when he was asked for his opinions and not just because he possessed an answer.
• Was teachable, trainable and receptive to being coached.
• Exhibited humility.
• Developed empathy for others.

The 4 Star General developed and mastered Emotional Intelligence. Think about it. The 4 Star General had to have a high IQ in order to get into a military academy. He had to have an exceptionally high IQ in order to graduate at or near the top of his academy class.

The 2 Star General was confident that it was the 4 Star General’s ability to develop trust with those around him, his ability to humble himself and his ability to step into others’ shoes to consider their needs and their points of view that caused his career to excel.

Jeff Snyder Coaching

I Read the Book...I'm an Expert Now!

“Many people have an incomplete sense of how to learn from books.  They make the mistake of reading a book and deciding they know the information in it, but put the book down before they have actually mastered the information – as it applies to their life – and poof!  The knowledge they gained – and the benefit they could have derived – from reading the book is gone.  It didn’t have anywhere to stick, and so the potential wisdom fades away.”  Angela E. Lauria

This paragraph comes from a book I’m reading called “The Difference”.  It’s a book that outlines how to go about writing a book.  This particular paragraph caught my attention because I’ve heard people tell me many times that they’ve read books on Strengths or they’ve read books on Emotional Intelligence. 

These are the people who don’t usually see any value in strengths coaching or emotional intelligence coaching because they have already learned everything there is to learn about strengths and emotional intelligence. 

The other reason that the quoted paragraph caught my attention was a personal experience I had. In the 1995 timeframe, just after I started my business at the age of 27, I read a book called “The E Myth”.  Since I was young and I hadn’t had time to make many entrepreneurial mistakes yet, the book didn’t mean much to me.

Twenty years later in 2015, I picked up “The E Myth” again.  This time, I had 20 years of experience with both mistakes and successes.  This time around, I highlighted half of the book because it made sense to me.  If you have read a book on Strengths or Emotional Intelligence, great job for taking the first step.  You know what both topics are about. 

I encourage you to take the next step to gain an understanding of how your unique personal strengths impact your life and how your personal emotional intelligence impacts your life and the lives of those around you.  It is after this second step that you might be in a position to learn to leverage your unique personal strengths and your unique emotional intelligence.

Jeff Snyder Coaching